Oct. 8 (UPI) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that a peace deal and hostage/prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas is “very close,” and he might travel to the Middle East this weekend.
Earlier in the day, Trump’s lead negotiators, special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, finished their first day of talks in Egypt with Israel, Hamas and other Arab partners, including Qatar, which has been a mediator.
Israel’s chief negotiator is Ron Dermer, who didn’t arrive at talks until Wednesday.
They are seeking to end the war that began in Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, after the militant Hamas attacked Israel.
“Our final negotiation, as you know, is with Hamas. And it seems to be going well,” Trump said during a White House roundtable on Antifa, during which he was handed a note by Secretary of State Marco Rubio with the latest information. “I may go there sometime toward the end of the week. We’ll see, but there’s a very good chance that negotiations are going along very well.’
Trump said he might leave for the Middle East as early as Saturday from Washington, D.C.
“We haven’t decided exactly,” Trump said. “I’ll be going to Egypt. Most likely. That’s where everybody is gathered right now, and we appreciate that very much, but I’ll be making the rounds as the expression goes.”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi invited Trump to attend the signing ceremony.
Final details were still being worked out in the Red Sea town of Sharm El-Sheikh.
“With God’s help, may we have a happy holiday with good news,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told those gathered to mark the Day of Georgian Jewry in Israel.
On Sept. 29, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to a 20-point peace plan. On Friday, Hamas reacted positively to the plan.
Hamas would disarm and end control of Gaza. The area, which at one time had about 2.2 million Palestinians, would be governed temporarily by international trustees overseen by the U.S. and Arab allies. Hundreds of thousands have fled from the Gaza Strip and more than 67,000 have died, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
Hamas has opposed the oversight committee led by Trump, called a “Board of Peace.”
On Monday, Trump said Hamas has “agreed to very important things” during the negotiations.
The plan calls for an exchange of hostages by Hamas and prisoners by Israel within 72 hours of an agreement.
In Gaza, Israel believes there are 20 live hostages and 28 dead.
“We are very close to an agreement. What’s still pending is the list of prisoners [to be] exchanged,” a Hamas official told CNN.
Rubio, who is also Trump’s national security adviser, has been in touch with the negotiators.
“We’re getting very positive reports, as of an hour ago,” Rubio said as he left the Senate Republican lunch at the Capitol. “I feel optimistic that we’re going to get to a deal, hopefully, that hostages will be released — all the hostages. There’s good progress being made. But it all begins with all the hostages coming home. And I think we have to be optimistic, but there’s still some work to be done.”
With a deal near, Rubio canceled a trip to France to meet with other foreign ministers.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is becoming “more and more catastrophic,” the emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in the area told CNN’s Lynda Kinkade.