Trump Gears Up for Middle East Trip Amid Progress in Gaza Peace Negotiations

President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he might travel to the Middle East by the weekend, as talks for a peace agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza are ‘very close.’

“I might head there towards the end of the week, possibly on Sunday. We’ll see how things develop, but there’s a strong possibility. Negotiations are progressing very smoothly,” Trump mentioned to reporters at a White House event.

“Our last discussion, as you are aware, is with Hamas, and it seems to be proceeding well. We’ll keep you updated; if this holds true, we’ll likely depart on Sunday, possibly on Saturday,” he added.

Trump said he was just off the phone with staff in the Middle East, where his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner had just joined talks in Egypt.

‘”Peace for the Middle East,” that’s a beautiful phrase, and we hope it’s going to come true, but it’s very close, and they’re doing very well,’ Trump added.

‘We have a great team over there, great negotiators, and they’re, unfortunately, great negotiators on the other side also. But it’s something I think that will happen.’

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said earlier that he had received ‘encouraging’ signs and hailed the support of Trump, whose 20-point peace proposal forms the basis of the talks.

Hamas too expressed ‘optimism’ over the indirect discussions with its foe Israel.

Trump’s plan calls for a ceasefire, the release of all the hostages held in Gaza, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the territory.

‘The mediators are making great efforts to remove any obstacles to the implementation of the ceasefire, and a spirit of optimism prevails among all parties,’ senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu said from the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, where indirect talks began on Monday between Israel and Hamas.

The terror group submitted a list of prisoners it wants to be released in the first phase of the truce ‘in accordance with the agreed-upon criteria and numbers,’ Nunu added. 

In exchange, Hamas is set to release 47 hostages, both alive and dead, it seized in its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

Twenty are believed to be alive and there are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, according to Israeli officials.

Among the bodies held by the terrorist group is an IDF soldier killed in the Strip in 2014. 

Negotiations are focused on the mechanisms to halt the conflict, withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the swap deal, the Palestinian militant group said.

But officials on all sides urged caution over the prospects for a rapid agreement.

Hamas wants a permanent, comprehensive ceasefire, a complete pullout of Israeli forces and the immediate start of a comprehensive reconstruction process under the supervision of a Palestinian ‘national technocratic body’.

Israel, for its part, wants Hamas to disarm, which the group rejects.

American officials suggest they want to initially focus talks on a halt to the fighting and the logistics of how the Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinian detainees in Israel would be freed.

Once all hostages are returned, Israel will free 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences, plus 1,700 Gazans arrested since October 7, 2023, including all women and children. 

For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 dead Gazans, the Trump plan says. 

In the absence of a ceasefire, Israel has pressed on with its offensive in Gaza, increasing its international isolation.

According to the Hamas-run Gazan authorities, some 67,000 people have been killed in Israel’s assault.

It followed the October 7 attack, when 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken to Gaza as hostages.