President Donald Trump made his final preparations for the next stage of Middle East peace talks and hostage releases on the second anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.
Trump convened his top national security team Tuesday to review progress on negotiations aimed at ending the Gaza war and securing the release of Israeli hostages before his envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff head to Egypt for high-stakes talks, Axios reported.
Trump is pressing for a breakthrough "within days" as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas intensify. Kushner and Witkoff are expected to arrive in Sharm el-Sheikh on Wednesday, where mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey are working to finalize terms of a deal that U.S. and Israeli officials say is closer than ever.
Trump was joined in the White House Situation Room by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, among others. The meeting, sources told Axios, focused on narrowing the final gaps in the talks, which entered a technical phase this week.
Trump told Newsmax's "Greg Kelly Reports" on Monday night he believes the U.S. is very close to finalizing the hostage release and Hamas' surrender, suggesting the terrorists no longer have allies in the region, including Iran.
"We have all the Arab nations, we have all the Muslim nations," Trump said. "The world is in favor of having this deal done. It's a very specific deal and it will bring peace to the Middle East, beyond Gaza. I think there's a lot of goodwill being shown.
"It's pretty amazing, actually, if we pull this off."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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