Nobel Prize sought for trump

JERUSALEM (AFP) — An Israeli advocacy group campaigning for the release of hostages in Gaza on Monday, the eve of the second anniversary of the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas militants, called for United States President Donald Trump to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his “determination to bring peace” to the region.

In a letter sent to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said, “In this past year, no leader or organization has contributed more to peace around the world than President Trump.”

“We strongly urge you to award President Trump the Nobel Peace Prize because he has vowed he will not rest and will not stop until every last hostage is back home,” the forum said in a statement, citing the letter.

“At this very moment, President Trump’s comprehensive plan to release all remaining hostages and finally end this terrible war is on the table,” it added.

The call comes as high-stakes negotiations between Israel and Hamas are set to begin later on Monday in Egypt, based on a 20-point plan announced by Trump last week.

Trump has publicly said he wants the Nobel Peace Prize, though experts say his chances are slim.

The US leader claims to have resolved six or seven wars in as many months — a figure experts say is grossly exaggerated.

Meanwhile, Israel marks the second anniversary of the Hamas attack with memorials on Tuesday.

Two years ago to the day, at the close of the Jewish festival of Sukkot, the Palestinian militants launched a massive assault on Israel, breaching the Gaza-Israel border, storming southern Israeli communities and a desert music festival with gunfire, rockets and grenades.

The attack, the deadliest in Israel history, killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse tally based on official Israeli figures.

Militants also took 251 people hostage into Gaza, of whom 47 remain captive, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza by air, land and sea has killed at least 67,160 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.

Their data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates that over half of the dead are women and children.

Entire neighborhoods have been flattened, with homes, hospitals, schools and water networks in ruins.

Hundreds of thousands of homeless Gazans now shelter in overcrowded camps and open areas with little access to food, water or sanitation.