ADDS MORE REMARKS FROM TRUMP AND BACKGROUND
By Rabia Iclal Turan
WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he may travel to the Middle East this weekend as negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire show progress.
Speaking to reporters at a White House event, Trump said: “Peace for the Middle East, that beautiful phrase, and we hope it’s going to come true, but it’s very close, and they’re doing very well.”
“I may go there sometime toward the end of the week, maybe on Sunday,” Trump added, noting that there is “a very good chance” of progress in the talks.
“We have a great team over there, great negotiators, and unfortunately, great negotiators on the other side also. But it's something I think that will happen. Got a good chance of happening,” he said.
“Negotiations are going along very well,” he said, praising the negotiations team in Egypt’s Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, where US, Turkish, Qatari, Egyptian, and Israeli officials are working to finalize a deal between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas under US President Donald Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan for Gaza.
“Our final negotiation, as you know, is with Hamas. And it seems to be going well,” Trump said. “We’ll let you know. If that’s the case, we’ll be leaving probably on Sunday. Maybe Saturday. Maybe a little later than Saturday evening. But that seems to be our schedule.”
On Sept. 29, Trump unveiled a 20-point proposal that includes the release of all Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a ceasefire, the disarmament of Hamas, and the rebuilding of Gaza. Hamas agreed to the plan in principle.
The Israeli army has killed over 67,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The relentless bombardment has rendered the enclave all but uninhabitable and led to starvation and the proliferation of disease.