 "President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md. on Tuesday. AP")
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that “great progress” is being made toward ending the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, according to AFP.
“I think great progress is being made on Gaza,” Trump told reporters, adding that his envoy Steve Witkoff told him “Gaza is very close.”
This comes just days after Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran following a 12-day conflict.
Qatar, a key mediator in the Gaza war, said Tuesday it would launch a fresh push for a ceasefire. Hamas also said negotiations had intensified.
“Our talks with mediators in Egypt and Qatar have continued and have grown in recent hours,” Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP. But he added that no new proposal to end the war had been received yet.
Israel has said it will continue its operation in Gaza until Hamas is destroyed, disarmed, or forced out, and until the remaining hostages from the October 7, 2023 attack are returned.
During that attack, Hamas-led militants killed around 1,219 people—mostly civilians—and kidnapped 251 others. Israel’s military response has since killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The figures do not separate civilians from fighters.
Of the 251 hostages taken in the October attack, 49 are still believed to be held in Gaza, including 27 who are presumed dead, according to the Israeli military.