Trump says he can go to the Middle East

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he could travel to the Middle East later this week, as negotiators in Egypt reported “encouraging” progress to an agreement to end the Gaza War.

Trump, whose 20-point peace proposal is the basis of talks in the city of Sharm El-Sheikh, said a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Movement is “very close”.

“The negotiations are going very well,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

“I can go there sometime towards the end of the week, maybe on Sunday,” he added. “” Peace for the Middle East “, this is a beautiful phrase, and we hope it will come true.”

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi-who called on Trump to travel to Egypt if agreement was reached-the signs from the conversations were “encouraging”, while Hamas also expressed “optimism” for indirect discussions with his enemy.

Both warring sides responded positively to Trump’s plan, which requires a ceasefire, the release of all hostages held in Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the territory.

Al-Qahera News, which is close to Egypt’s intelligence services, said the evening sessions on Wednesday’s talks had begun.

The Egyptian state -owned Egyptian media, which was taken by the plans of Jared Kushner’s groom and the Middle Eastern SEVE Witkoff envoy, pulling the conversations.

As the night fell on the coastal area of ​​Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza, an AFP contributors described an atmosphere of prediction, with cheerful chanting “Allahu Akbar” (God is the greatest) and some festive shots in the air.

“We want the war to end as soon as possible,” said 50 -year -old Mohammed Zamlot, who had been displaced by northern Gaza.

“We closely monitor every piece of news about negotiations and ceasefire.”

Hamas Senior Taher Al-Nunu told AFP by Sharm El-Sheikh that “mediators are making great efforts to remove any obstacles to implementing the ceasefire and a spirit of optimism is prevalent”.

The militant team has submitted a list of Palestinian prisoners who wants to be released from Israeli prisons in the first phase of the truce, “according to agreed criteria and numbers,” Nunu added.