Trump mulls weekend trip to Egypt, Gaza to seal Mideast peace deal as both sides report progress

WASHINGTON — President Trump said Wednesday he might travel to Egypt and possibly the Gaza Strip over the weekend to finalize a peace deal ending two years of war between Israel and Hamas.

“It’s something, I think, that will happen — got a good chance of happening. I may go there sometime toward the end of the week, maybe on Sunday, actually,” Trump said at an unrelated White House event.

“We’ll be leaving, probably, on Sunday, maybe Saturday, maybe a little later than Saturday evening, but that seems to be our schedule.”

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Trump has been represented in the talks at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh by his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner following Hamas’s tentative acceptance last week of the president’s 20-point plan for peace.

“We have a great team over there, great negotiators,” the president added, “and they’re, unfortunately, great negotiators on the other side, also.”

Asked point-blank by a reporter if the trip would feature a stop in war-torn Gaza, Trump responded: “I may do that.”

“We haven’t decided exactly. I’ll be going to Egypt most likely. That’s where everybody is gathered right now. We appreciate that very much, but I’ll be making the rounds, as the expression goes. I probably will.”

A similar Trump plan in May to preside over peace talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky collapse due to Moscow’s intransigence.

But moments after Trump teased his potential travel, Secretary of State Marco Rubio entered the White House State Dining Room, prompting the president to tell the group: “I was just given a note by the secretary of state saying that we’re very close to a deal in the Middle East, and they’re going to need me pretty quickly.”

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The message read: “Very close. We need you to approve a Truth Social post soon so you can announce deal first.”

The Israeli government, meanwhile, has begun drafting an official hostage deal proposal to be presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet for a vote — as officials signal that a cease-fire agreement with Hamas could be reached as soon as Friday.

The development, reported by Tel Aviv’s i24 News, indicates there has been significant progress in the high-stakes negotiations in Egypt.

A source also told The Jerusalem Post, “It seems the situation is not ‘if’ a deal is reached, but ‘when’ it will be announced.”

However, after a deal is reached, it must then be OK’d by the Israeli cabinet. 

According to Israeli law, any decision to release Palestinian prisoners as part of a hostage deal must first be approved by the government, according to CNN.

The cabinet previously approved a peace agreement bartered by Witkoff in January, but it ultimately fell through.

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The hostage deal would see the return of all 48 Israeli hostages in Hamas’ custody and achieve a cease-fire in the conflict that has been raging for two years.

Just 20 of the hostages are believed to be alive — and Hamas is searching for all the bodies of the remaining 28.

In exchange, Hamas is seeking the release of about 250 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. 

If all goes well, the release of hostages could start next week, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

The list of names of the prisoners designated for release has not yet been completed as Hamas and Israel continued hammering out those details in the discussions on Wednesday.

At the top of Hamas’ prisoner swap list is Marwan Barghouti, the imprisoned former West Bank leader who Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu dubbed “the symbol of terrorism” for his orchestration of deadly terror attacks during the Second Intifada.

Hamas also wants the total withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces from Gaza, but current negotiations see troops withdrawing only to the occupation lines set forth in Trump’s proposed peace plan announced Sept. 29.