President Donald Trump meets families of Israelis who were taken hostage by Hamas

Donald Trump also boasted about how the Israel-Hamas war wouldn’t have started had he been the President instead of Joe Biden.

Updated on: Jan 21, 2025, 11:42:32 IST

By HT News Desk

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Families of Israeli hostages, including several with family members still in captivity and others whose loved ones have passed away, attended the inauguration parade of US President Donald Trump on Monday.

President Donald Trump greets families of hostages held in Gaza at an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP)

Trump welcomed home people released by the Palestinian militant group Hamas as part of its ceasefire deal with Israel. The Republican also boasted about how the Israel-Hamas war wouldn’t have started had he been the President instead of Biden.

The President also seemed to mix up the Middle East's conflict with the Ukraine war. "Three years. It’s ridiculous,” news agency AP quoted Trump as saying.

Follow live updates from Donald Trump's inauguration

The parade celebrated the return of three Israeli hostages on Sunday. Trump’s appointee for Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, kicked off the speaking portion following the parade, which also honoured a rallygoer killed during an assassination attempt against Trump.

The parade included students from US Vice President JD Vance’s high school and Trump’s military academy.

New York Military Academy students, a private school, also marched in the parade. Trump graduated from this school in 1964 and is also a distinguished alumnus.

Marching band and cheerleaders from Ohio’s Middletown High School, where Vance graduated in 2003, also participated.

Emergency officials and first responders during an attempted assassination against Trump in Pennsylvania also joined the event.

Also read | Gaza ceasefire: Beginning of war's end? Hostage release brings hope | Pics

Trump's promise

Trump mentioned people charged in connection with the US capitol riots of January 6 as “hostages” and announced that he would pardon them.

“Tonight I’m going to be signing on the January 6 hostages, pardons, to get them out. And as soon as I leave I’m going to the Oval Office and we’ll be signing pardons for a lot of people. A lot of people,” Trump said, using a shorthand for people charged with crimes for their alleged actions.

(With AP inputs)

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