President Donald Trump on Sunday night is en route to the Middle East as Israelis await the release of those who have been held in captivity by the Hamas terrorist group for years.
Trump said on Oct. 12 that the Hamas terrorist group may release their remaining Israeli and American hostages “a little bit early,” as the president travels to the region to mark a cease-fire agreement to end the war between Israel and Hamas.
The release of the 20 hostages who are still living was predicted for some time on Monday in Israeli time by Trump earlier this week. Tel Aviv is currently in the early hours of Monday morning in local time.
Live coverage of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv to prepare for the release of hostages began at 4 a.m. local time. Jewish American rapper Kosha Dillz performed for the crowd.
Israel will respond by releasing hundreds of Palestinians who had been imprisoned, directing them to go back to Gaza.
Along the Sinai Peninsula border region that separates Egypt, Gaza, and Israel, trucks are standing by to bring humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip. The United Nations says that it has already delivered “hundreds of thousands of hot meals and bread bundles” into Gaza in conjunction with its partners.
Trump spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One about the significance of the trip, which was announced earlier this week following the achievement of a deal between Israel and Hamas.
During those remarks, Trump said optimistically that “the war is over” in response to a question about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s failure to commit publicly that the conflict is over.
“The one thing I can tell you is, everybody is happy, whether it’s Jewish or Muslim or the Arab countries—every country is dancing in the streets,” Trump said.
“They’ve never seen it for 3,000 years. If you like one group, you don’t like the other group. And if you like the other group, you don’t like the first group. And this is the first time they’ve ever seen where everybody is unified.”
The White House on Oct. 8 announced a deal to end the conflict and return hostages still held by Hamas.
Following publication of the agreement, the White House announced that Trump could make a trip to the region in the coming days.
As part of the deal, Trump said hostages still being held by Hamas are likely to be released in the coming days.
In exchange, Israel agreed to withdraw its troops to an “agreed upon line.”
Trump will visit Israel first to address the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset. He’s the first American president since President George W. Bush to address the body.
Vice President JD Vance on Oct. 12 said Trump was also likely to meet with newly freed hostages.
“Knock on wood, but we feel very confident the hostages will be released, and this president is actually traveling to the Middle East, likely this evening, in order to meet them and greet them in person,” Vance told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Oct. 12.
Trump will then travel to Egypt, where he and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi will lead a summit in Sharm el-Sheikh with leaders from more than 20 countries on peace in Gaza and the broader Middle East.
Speaking to reporters on Oct. 10, Trump was optimistic about the future of the region, citing Arab and Muslim nations’ growing willingness to cooperate with the United States.
“I think you are going to have tremendous success and Gaza is going to be rebuilt,” Trump said on Oct. 10. “And you have some very wealthy countries, as you know, over there. It would take a small fraction of their wealth to do that. And I think they want to do it.”
The war in Gaza has raged since Oct. 7, 2023, when a number of terrorist groups led by Hamas attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and capturing more than 250 hostages. Today, an estimated 20 hostages are still believed to be alive in captivity.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, more than 67,000 people have been killed since the start of the conflict. The figure does not distinguish between fighters and civilians and includes some deaths from natural causes. The Epoch Times is unable to verify these figures.
Trump’s Gaza peace deal included Israel’s withdrawal to an agreed line, a suspension of all military operations in Gaza, and the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences, along with 1,700 Gazans detained after Hamas’s October 2023 terrorist attack on Israel.
“Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza,” the agreement reads.
According to Trump’s peace plan, Gaza will be governed by a temporary, apolitical Palestinian technocratic committee tasked with managing daily public services and municipalities in Gaza.
The committee will be composed of qualified Palestinians and international experts. It will operate under the oversight of a new international body, the Board of Peace, headed and chaired by Trump. The board will include prominent names such as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, with additional members to be announced.
The peace plan also states that when the Palestinian Authority completes its reform program, it could prepare the conditions for “a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.”
The plan includes making Gaza a terror-free zone so that it does not pose a threat in the future. The Gaza Strip will receive full aid when hostilities end.
Both Trump and Netanyahu have made it clear that Hamas will play no role in the governance of Gaza.
“All military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, including tunnels and weapon production facilities, will be destroyed and not rebuilt,” the plan reads.
“No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return.”
Trump highlighted the plan during a joint press conference with Netanyahu at the White House on Sept. 29.
“Working with the new transitional authority in Gaza, all parties will agree on a timeline for Israeli forces to withdraw in phases. They’ll be withdrawing in phases,” the president said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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