Israeli Media: Trump is Considering Attending the Gaza Agreement Signing Ceremony in Egypt on Friday

SadaNews - Israeli Channel 12 reported on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump may arrive in Egypt on Friday to announce the deal regarding Gaza, while Yedioth Ahronoth reported that preparations are underway in Israel for the possibility of Trump’s visit if an agreement on Gaza is reached, while the White House told Al Arabiya that Trump's visit to the Middle East cannot be confirmed at this time.

This comes as Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi invited U.S. President Donald Trump to attend the signing of the Gaza agreement - should one be reached - during the Sharm El-Sheikh negotiations.

The Egyptian president urged his U.S. counterpart to continue exerting pressure to end the war.

President Sisi mentioned that he is hearing very encouraging things from the ongoing talks in Sharm El-Sheikh to end the war, noting that Cairo has been making continuous efforts in this regard.

Additionally, an Israeli official revealed to the event that the Sharm El-Sheikh negotiations are cautiously nearing completion of the first phase of the Gaza agreement, confirming that there are efforts to modify the withdrawal map during the first phase of the agreement.

The Israeli official stated that President Trump is pressuring significantly to finalize the agreement, adding that the Arab stance carries unprecedented weight in any agreement regarding Gaza.

According to Palestinian sources, the next 48 hours will be crucial in determining the fate of the negotiations, amid intense U.S. pressure to reach an initial agreement that includes a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange.

For his part, Netanyahu's office announced on Wednesday evening the start of drafting a decision to launch the first phase of the Gaza agreement related to the exchange of prisoners.

Moreover, Channel 14 reported that "Israel will sign the first phase of the Gaza deal within two days," noting that "the issue of disarming Hamas and the disarmament of the Gaza Strip will be discussed later."

Channel 12 also quoted a non-Israeli source familiar with the details of the negotiations as saying: "The Qatari mediators believe that an agreement can be reached by Friday."

The source indicated that the goal is to announce the agreement this week and to begin releasing prisoners next week.

Meanwhile, "Israel Hayom" reported an Israeli official saying: "We will not release Marwan Barghouti and we may announce the agreement tonight or tomorrow."

In the meantime, Hamas stated that the mediators are making intensive efforts to remove the obstacles to implementing the ceasefire agreement, amid a positive atmosphere prevailing in the talks.