Possible agreement on hostages and cessation of war in Gaza by the end of the week

US President-elect Donald Trump said on Monday that he believed a hostage agreement and a ceasefire in Gaza could be completed by the end of the week.
He added in an interview with the Newsmax website: “I understand that a handshake was reached and they are in the process of finalizing the agreement, but that must be done,” without revealing further details.

Intensive meetings

It is noteworthy that Trump’s next ambassador to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is in the region and has met with Israeli and Qatari officials in recent days.
He is cooperating closely with the outgoing US envoy to the Middle East, Brett McGurk, who has been in Doha for several days.

Trump warned last week that “all hell” would break loose on Hamas if an agreement was not reached before his inauguration on January 20.
He reiterated his warning to Hamas to reach an agreement with the Israelis.
“If this is not done, there will be a lot of problems, a lot of problems like they have never seen before,” he said.