US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he may travel to the Middle East later this week, as negotiators in Egypt reported "encouraging" progress toward a deal to end the Gaza war.
Trump, whose 20-point peace proposal forms the basis of the talks in the resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, said a peace deal between Israel and Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas is "very close".
"Negotiations are going along very well," Trump told reporters at the White House.
"I may go there sometime toward the end of the week, maybe on Sunday," he added. "'Peace for the Middle East,' that's a beautiful phrase, and we hope it's going to come true."
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi — who has invited Trump to travel to Egypt if a deal is reached — said signs from the talks were "encouraging", while Hamas, too, expressed "optimism" over the indirect discussions with its foe Israel.
Both warring sides have responded positively to Trump's plan, which calls for a ceasefire, the release of all the hostages held in Gaza, Hamas's disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the territory.
Al-Qahera News, which is close to Egypt's intelligence services, reported that the evening sessions for Wednesday's talks had begun.
Egyptian state-linked media earlier aired footage of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff pulling up to the talks.
As night fell in the coastal area of Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza, an AFP contributor described an atmosphere of anticipation, with joyful chants of "Allahu akbar" (God is the greatest) and some celebratory gunfire into the air.
"We want the war to end as soon as possible," said 50-year-old Mohammed Zamlot, who had been displaced from northern Gaza.
"We're closely following every bit of news about the negotiations and the ceasefire."
Senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP from Sharm El-Sheikh that "mediators are making great efforts to remove any obstacles to the implementation of the ceasefire, and a spirit of optimism prevails".
The militant group submitted a list of Palestinian prisoners it wants released from Israeli jails in the first phase of the truce, "in accordance with the agreed-upon criteria and numbers", Nunu added.
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