Trump’s Gaza breakthrough sparks global praise — and credit confusion

President Donald Trump alluded to weak world leaders present at a global summit in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday on the future of the war-torn Gaza Strip, indirectly rebuking their counterproductive role in shutting down Israel’s war against the Hamas terrorist movement.

Asked about world leaders he sees as weak at the meeting venue in Egypt, Trump said: “I’m not going to comment on that. But you probably know who they are… There was a couple in the room.”

While Western leaders and the United Nations Secretary-General try to share Trump’s Middle East success in ending the Hamas-Israel war, experienced Middle East observers note that Trump primarily expressed his gratitude to Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, as well as Qatar and Egypt, excluding his traditional Western allies.

TRUMP PLANS A CUTE TRIP TO ISRAEL AND EGYPT BEFORE RETURNING TO THE WHITE HOUSE TO DONATE CHARLIE KIRK

NETANYAHU, TRUMP AS ISRAEL’S ‘GREATEST FRIEND’ THE LAST LIVING HOSTAGES WERE RELEASED

On Sunday, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee issued a scathing rebuke to British Education Minister Bridget Phillipson, who said of Trump’s peace achievement: “We played a significant role behind the scenes in shaping this.” Huckabee fired back: “I assure you he is delusional. He can thank @realDonaldTrump at any time just to make things right.”

French President Emmanuel Macron was criticized by Trump for his attempt to recognize the Palestinian state. Trump had previously said of Macron’s role in recognizing the Palestinian state: “It doesn’t matter what he says.”

Observers also noted an awkward handshake that lasted 26 seconds at a summit between the two in Egypt on Tuesday.

Last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized Australia, Canada, Britain and France for recognizing a Palestinian state because it made it “difficult” to end the war. Rubio added that accepting a Palestinian state “encourages” Hamas. Rubio said he had communicated the US position to its Western allies.

Rejection. British Colonel Richard Kemp, who spent time in Gaza during the war, which lasted more than two years, wrote about

Richard Goldberg, a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former National Security Council official, told Fox News Digital: “We know that Hamas will retreat again and again whenever there is a possibility of U.N. Security Council action to pressure Israel, when Britain or Canada announce an arms embargo on Israel, when French President Emmanuel Macron mounts a push for recognition of a Palestinian state.

Despite all this, it is happening right now, because a man said to their faces in front of the world: I don’t care what you say or do, as long as the hostages don’t come home, I will help Israel open the gates of hell.”

U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron shake hands while posing for photos at a summit of world leaders on ending the Gaza war amid a U.S.-brokered prisoner-hostage swap and ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Oct. 13, 2025. (REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/Pool)

He added: “This is also a lesson for what happens next: Trump holds the cards for success or failure in demilitarizing Gaza and deradicalizing the Palestinians. If Trump lets the Europeans or the UN handle the job, his plan is doomed to fail; if he keeps the sword of Damocles hanging over the process, he may still succeed.”

Special envoy Steve Witkoff later thanked the UK’s national security adviser in a statement on

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SHARM EL SHEIKH, EGYPT – OCTOBER 13: U.S. President Donald Trump (R) greets UN Secretary-General António Guterres during a summit of European and Middle Eastern leaders in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, on October 13, 2025. President Trump is in Egypt to meet with European and Middle Eastern leaders at what has been billed as an international peace summit, following the start of a US-brokered ceasefire agreement to end the war in the Gaza Strip. (Photo: Evan Vucci – Pool/Getty Images) (Getty)

“Israel is finally seeing the hostages return home and perhaps the guns falling silent,” UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer warned on Fox News Digital. “But let the world remember that this would have ended much sooner if so many people around the world, from UN officials to so-called human rights groups like Amnesty International, had not spent two years justifying Hamas rather than confronting it.” “He could.”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who also flew to Egypt for the signature, was subjected to intense criticism in the German media for allegedly trying to enjoy Trump’s victory after imposing an arms embargo on the Israeli army. Israeli tanks are dependent on German technological parts and Merz’s banned deliveries.

Writing on the website of the conservative news outlet NIUS, editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt said Merz “provided air support to Hamas and at the same time denied Israel the weapons it needed to fight Hamas.” It withdrew its support for Jews but increased financial support for UNRWA, the proven Hamas front organization directly involved in the October 7 attack.” The air power reference was Merz’s decision to send humanitarian aid to Gaza via airlift deliveries. Hamas has repeatedly stolen aid meant for the Palestinian people.