US President Donald Trump on Saturday thanked Qatar’s emir and prime minister for being a “big factor” in helping secure a Gaza ceasefire deal, during a refueling stop on his way to Asia.

The Qatari leaders boarded Air Force One when it landed at Al Udeid Air Base, which hosts the regional headquarters for the US military and thousands of American troops.

Trump said the duo had played a crucial role in the Middle East peace process, adding that Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani had been his “friend to the world.”

“What we’ve done is incredible peace to the Middle East, and they were a very big factor in it,” Trump said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, fresh off a trip to Israel as part of an all-out diplomatic push by Washington to keep the Gaza truce on track,

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