US President Donald Trump, addressing the country’s Congress for the first time since returning to office, barely spoke about Israel’s war on Gaza or the ongoing ceasefire efforts, according to Al Jazeera.

He said his administration is “bringing back our hostages from Gaza”, and talked up the agreements to establish formal relations between Israel and Arab states, suggesting that more deals may be on the way, Al Jazeera noted.

“In my first term, we achieved one of the most groundbreaking peace agreements in generations, the Abraham Accords,” he said, referring to the normalisation treaties.

“Then and now, we’re going to build on that foundation to create a more peaceful and prosperous future for the entire region. A lot of things are happening in the Middle East — rough neighbourhood.”

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