Trump says there’s a good chance for Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal this week

US President Donald Trump on Sunday said there was a good chance a Gaza hostage release and ceasefire deal could be reached with the Palestinian militant group Hamas this week.

Trump told reporters before departing for Washington that such a deal meant “quite a few hostages” could be released.

Netanyahu said earlier in the day that he hoped his upcoming meeting with Trump could “help advance” a Gaza ceasefire deal, after sending negotiators to Doha for indirect talks with Hamas.

A Palestinian official familiar with the talks on Sunday said that indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas toward a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip had started in Qatar.

“Negotiations are about implementation mechanisms and hostage exchange, and positions are being exchanged through mediators,” the official said.

Under mounting pressure to end the war, now approaching its 22nd month, the Israeli premier is scheduled to sit down on Monday with Trump, who has recently made a renewed push to end the fighting.

Speaking before boarding Israel’s state jet bound for Washington, Netanyahu said: “We are working to achieve this deal that we have discussed, under the conditions that we have agreed to.”

He said he had dispatched the team to Doha “with clear instructions,” and thought the meeting with Trump “can definitely help advance this (deal), which we are all hoping for.”

“We’ve gotten a lot of the hostages out, but pertaining to the remaining hostages, quite a few of them will be coming out,” Trump added.

He said the United States was “working on a lot of things” with Israel, including “probably a permanent deal with Iran.”

Netanyahu had previously said Hamas’s response to a draft US-backed ceasefire proposal contained “unacceptable” demands.

Since the start of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, mediators have brokered pauses in fighting during which hostages were freed in exchange for Israel-held Palestinian prisoners.

Of the 251 hostages taken by Palestinian militants during the October 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel’s military campaign, lack of food and dire humanitarian conditions for more than 2 million people in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 57,418 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

The United Nations considers the figures reliable.

Hamas’s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Earlier Sunday, a Palestinian official tsaid that Hamas would also seek the reopening of Gaza’s Rafah crossing to evacuate the wounded. Hamas’s top negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya was leading the delegation in Doha, the official tsaid.

Two Palestinian sources close to the discussions tsaid the proposal included a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and several bodies in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.

However, they said, the group was also demanding certain conditions for Israel’s withdrawal, guarantees against a resumption of fighting during negotiations, and the return of the UN-led aid distribution system.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 57,418 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.

– with AFP and Reuters