Hillary Clinton offers unexpected compliment to Trump over Gaza deal

Hillary Clinton has publicly praised Donald Trump for his role in brokering a landmark Gaza peace deal that could bring an end to two years of bloodshed in the region.

The 2016 Democratic presidential nominee said she 'really commended Trump and his administration' for their work in securing the agreement between Israel and Hamas.

The statement, a rare moment of bi-partisan praise, marks a surprising reversal of tone for Clinton. 

'I really commend President Trump and his administration, as well as Arab leaders in the region, for making the commitment to the 20-point plan and seeing a path forward for what's often called the day after,' Clinton told CBS News in a lengthy interview.

Israelis on Monday welcomed home the last living hostages from devastated Gaza and mourn the return of the dead, in the key exchange of the breakthrough ceasefire after two years of war. 

Palestinians awaited the release of hundreds of prisoners held by Israel. 

Trump was also in the region along with other leaders to discuss the US-proposed deal and postwar plans on Monday morning.  

Hamas agreed to Trump's 20-point peace plan, which calls for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in stages, the release of remaining hostages, and the disarmament of Hamas.

The deal, already being hailed as the most significant breakthrough in Middle East diplomacy in decades, could finally end the two-year war that has devastated Gaza and strained Israel's international standing.

During the interview Clinton said she was 'cautiously optimistic' but warned that the process would require patience and diligence from all sides.

'That's not self-evident,' she said when asked if she believed this would end the war. 'It's going to take a lot of work. It's going to take a lot of coordination.'

Clinton also said she hoped the US and other global powers would throw their full weight behind the plan to ensure its success. 

'Let's now support this process and bring it together, not just in a nonpartisan way in our own country, but literally internationally as a great global commitment to try to bring peace, security, stability, and a better future to the Middle East,' she said. 

The former secretary of state noted that Trump's negotiators capitalized on a critical opening after Israel's controversial strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar in September - an attack Clinton described as 'ill-advised' and a 'strategic error.' 

'That provided an opening for both President Trump and his representatives to marshal all of the regional powers, including, of course, Qatar, but also to make it clear to Israel, "No, this is now enough. We cannot continue this. This conflict needs to end, and we've got to move on,"' Clinton said.   

Clinton said of US negotiators, 'They took advantage of an opening that was available and were able to be successful.' 

The praise from Clinton, who served as secretary of state under President Barack Obama and clashed repeatedly with Trump during and after the 2016 election, is almost unprecedented.

Throughout her career, Clinton has been a staunch advocate for a two-state solution, a policy goal that eluded successive US administrations. 

Under Obama, her tenure at the State Department was marked by difficult relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and two smaller conflicts in Gaza.

But Clinton told CBS that this time the Trump administration's pressure on Israel to halt its military campaign appeared to be the decisive factor that pushed both sides to the table.

'The work of rebuilding Gaza will be arduous, laborious, and intensive,' she said. 'The international community has to commit together to bring peace to the Middle East.' 

She urged Israel to stop its expansion of settlements in the West Bank something she said has 'to cease' and called on the global community to prepare for the hard work of rebuilding Gaza.

Clinton isn't the only prominent Democrat to recognize Trump's success in securing the deal.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris agreed Trump should be praised for securing a peace deal.

'I don't think that we should hold any credit where it's due... I commend the people who have been a part of this process. I commend the Qataris, the Egyptians and the President,' Harris said on MSNBC.

Jake Sullivan, President Biden's former national security advisor, told CBS that Trump's breakthrough was long overdue.

'It's only now, after all that time, that we have gotten to a deal,' Sullivan said.

Secretary of State under Biden, Antony Blinken, also praised Trump in a lengthy tweet. 

'President Trump and his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner deserve our collective thanks for producing this ceasefire and the renewed possibility of lasting peace,' Blinken wrote.

Even former President Obama acknowledged the progress in a post on X although he notably did not mention Trump by name, instead emphasizing the 'long-overdue' need for a lasting peace in the region. 

Hamas was set to release 48 remaining Israeli hostages on Monday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Under the Trump's proposed roadmap, once Hamas have handed over the surviving hostages, Israel will begin releasing around 2,000 detainees in exchange.  

Trump's plan also outlines a gradual Israeli troop withdrawal from much of Gaza. 

In exchange, Hamas has agreed to disarm, and an international 'technocratic' body, excluding both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, will govern Gaza during the transition period.

While the agreement describes an independent Palestinian state as 'the aspiration of the Palestinian people,' it stops short of committing to a timetable for sovereignty - a key point of contention for regional leaders and Western diplomats.

Trump, who is making a lightning visit to Israel and Egypt has called it 'the first phase of a comprehensive 20-point plan to end the Israel-Hamas war.'

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One at the start of the 'very special' visit, Trump brushed off concerns about whether the ceasefire would endure.

'I think it's going to hold. I think people are tired of it. It's been centuries,' he said of the fighting.

'The war is over. Okay? You understand that?' the president added.

In Israel, Trump is due to meet the families of hostages seized by Hamas in the deadly cross-border attack two years ago that sparked the war, before addressing the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem.