US President Donald Trump has said that he may go to the Middle East at the end of this week as a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is "very close".
"I may go there sometime toward the end of the week, maybe on Sunday, actually," Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday.
"And we'll see, but there is a very good chance. Negotiations are going along very well."
Trump said that "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."
"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 finalise a deal between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group Hamas under his 20-point ceasefire plan.
Meanwhile, several media reports, citing multiple sources involved in the talks, also said a Gaza ceasefire deal is "very close", adding that it could be finalised within 48 hours.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said President Trump could "potentially" visit the Middle East if a deal is reached, CNN reported on Wednesday.
Cautious optimism
According to Egyptian state-affiliated TV, US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Israel's chief negotiator Ron Dermer held an "expanded meeting" in Egypt on Wednesday.
According to a Hamas official, the Palestinian resistance group and Israel have already exchanged lists of hostages and prisoners set to be released as part of the deal.
Several other sources familiar with the matter told Axios that officials from the US, Israel, and Qatar are optimistic that a deal to end the genocide in Gaza could be reached this week.
Two White House officials reported significant progress in the talks.
A senior Israeli official expressed cautious optimism, saying, "There is progress. We feel cautious optimism."
