President Trump Expects Hostages In Gaza To Be Released On Monday Or Tuesday

JAKARTA - United States President Donald Trump said on Thursday the hostages in the Gaza Strip should be released on Monday or Tuesday, hoping to attend the signing ceremony of the deal in Egypt and address the Israeli Knesset.

President Trump opened a White House cabinet meeting by discussing a deal reached on Wednesday, stating the hostages held by the Hamas militants would be released in the first phase of Gaza's broader peace plan, confident it would lead to "eternal peace."

President Trump said based on the plan, Gaza would be "slowly rebuilt," referring to plans to rebuild the Palestinian enclave.

He gave no details other than saying "we're going to create something that allows people to live. You can't live in Gaza right now."

Hamas is expected to release 20 hostages who are still alive together, 72 hours after the ceasefire begins.

"We will repatriate the hostages on Tuesday - Monday or Tuesday - and it will be a happy day," Trump said.

President Trump said it might be difficult to immediately retrieve all the bodies of the hostages who died in hostage-taking, "because some bodies will be a bit difficult to find."

The Republican politician said he would try to travel there to attend the signing ceremony in Egypt. The White House has worked hard to complete the details of this hasty trip.

Earlier, Israel's Knesset had asked Presidn Trump to speak, and the president said he planned to speak if asked.

While there are still questions about what will happen in the region in the long term, President Trump said he hopes it will lead to "eternal peace."