President Trump: The War In Gaza Is Over And The Situation Will Be Normal

President Trump at the door of the Air Force One aircraft. (Wikimedia Commons/Official White House/Shealah Craighead)

JAKARTA - The war in the Gaza Strip, Palestine has ended and the Middle East will be normal, United States President Donald Trump said as he began his trip to Israel and Egypt.

"The war is over, you understand that," President Trump told reporters on the Air Force One plane.

When asked about prospects in the region, President Trump said, "I think things will be normal."

The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza entered its third day on Sunday ahead of the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners scheduled for Monday, as well as a speech scheduled by President Trump in the Israeli parliament.

"Tomorrow is the start of a new road. Construction roads, healing roads, and I hope it's a unifying path," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised statement.

A government spokesman, Shosh Bedrosian, said Israel expected the hostages to start being released Monday morning local time, while 20 surviving hostages would be released simultaneously.

If the hostages are released early, Israel is ready to accept them, he said.

Their release will be followed by the handover of the bodies of 28 other hostages who have died.

Under the ceasefire agreement, Hamas is scheduled to release remaining hostages no later than Monday afternoon local time.

President Trump is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Monday for a speech before Knesset, before leaving for Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt to attend a summit of world leaders on the end of Gaza's war.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will also attend the summit, a reporter Axios reported on Sunday, citing a senior Palestinian official.

The US, along with Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, mediates on what is described as the first phase agreement between Israel and Hamas for the ceasefire and the release of Hamas hostages and Israeli prisoners.