By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump said he was close to forging a deal to end the war in Gaza and bring hostages home as he prepared to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
"It's looking like we have a deal on Gaza. I think it's a deal that gets the hostages back, it's going to be a deal that ends the war," Trump told reporters on Friday before leaving the White House to attend the Ryder Cup golf tournament in New York.
He offered no details and gave no timetable.
A senior White House official told Reuters that Trump will meet Netanyahu on Monday at the White House with the aim of reaching a framework for a deal. Netanyahu spoke at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday.
While international leaders gathered at the United Nations in New York this week, the U.S. unveiled a 21-point Middle East peace plan to end the nearly two-year-long war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
The proposal was circulated on Tuesday to officials from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia, and Pakistan, according to U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff.
A White House official said the U.S. plan calls for the return of all hostages, living and dead, no further Israeli attacks on Qatar and a new dialogue between Israel and Palestinians for "peaceful coexistence."
Israel angered Qataris by launching an airstrike against Hamas targets in their capital Doha on September 9.
Trump, Israel’s staunchest ally on the global stage, said he spoke on Thursday with representatives from several Middle Eastern nations as well as Netanyahu.
The Gaza war began when Hamas stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. About 48 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive, are still being held.
Israel's military response has killed more than 65,000 people in Gaza, according to local health officials, and left much of the territory in ruins.
(Reporting By Steve Holland and Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Howard Goller)
