Trump: I’ll decide one state or two for Mideast peace

Dubai: A day after hailing a “historic dawn” in the Middle East, US President Donald Trump said he will decide “what’s right” for the region’s future — including whether peace means one state or two — as a US-brokered Gaza truce held its fifth day on Tuesday.

Trump’s comments came after his whirlwind visit to Egypt’s Sharm Al Sheikh on Monday, where he joined regional leaders in signing a declaration that ended two years of war between Israel and Hamas. The agreement, described by Trump as “the most significant peace breakthrough in decades,” secured a ceasefire, the release of remaining Israeli hostages, and the opening of humanitarian corridors into Gaza.

“A lot of people like the one-state solution, some like the two-state solution,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on his return to Washington. “We’ll have to see. I will decide what I think is right, but I’ll be in coordination with other states and other countries.”

Even as Trump praised the deal, violence flared in Gaza City and Khan Yunis on Tuesday.

Gaza’s civil defence agency, run by Hamas, said six Palestinians were killed in two incidents when Israeli forces opened fire on civilians inspecting their homes.

“Israeli quadcopter drones opened fire on civilians in Shujaiya,” said Mahmud Bassal, the agency’s spokesman.

The Israeli military said troops fired after “several suspects were identified crossing the yellow line and approaching IDF positions in northern Gaza.”

“Attempts were made to distance the suspects,” the army said. “They did not comply and continued approaching the troops, who opened fire to remove the threat.”

In a separate incident in Al Fukhari, southeast of Khan Yunis, one person was killed in what Gaza officials described as a drone strike on a group of civilians. The Israeli army said the group had posed “an immediate threat” to troops near a dismantled Hamas weapons site.

Media restrictions in Gaza have made independent verification of the casualties difficult.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, condemned the renewed killings, saying Israel’s actions made a mockery of the ceasefire.

“Again: Ceasefire according to Israel = ‘you cease, I fire,’” she wrote on X. “Calling it ‘peace’ is both an insult and a distraction.”

The 20-point Sharm Al Sheikh declaration calls for a “credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood,” and pledges US-led talks to define a political horizon for peaceful coexistence.

Trump said reconstruction and reform must come first.

“When Gaza redevelopment advances and reform takes hold, the conditions will finally be right for lasting peace,” he said.

For now, though, as guns fall silent in Gaza, new flashes of violence are already testing whether the dawn Trump proclaimed can truly become day.