Trump mulling trip to Middle East

President Trump takes credit for the staggered release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza as part of the ceasefire deal, says the captives would never have been freed “if I weren’t here.”

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

President Donald Trump is considering a trip to the Middle East, he said  on Tuesday. His special envoy to the region confirmed reports he will be visiting Israel and Gaza in the near future.

Earlier this week, reports cited Trump transition team officials who claimed that special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, who represented the incoming administration in hostage deal talks in Doha, Qatar, is mulling a trip to the Gaza Strip, as well as regular visits to the region, to ensure full implementation of the three-phase Gaza ceasefire deal.

On Monday, Witkoff confirmed that he was planning a trip to the coastal enclave, though he did not provide details regarding the visit.

A day later, Trump told reporters in the White House that he may visit the Middle East soon while emphasizing that no trip was planned as of yet.

“We’re thinking about going to the Middle East — not yet,” Trump said in response to a question.

Turning to the three recently released Israeli hostages who were returned to Israel on Sunday, the president lamented the injuries they had suffered on October 7, including Emily Damari’s loss of two of her fingers.

“The hostages are coming back. Some of them have been very, you know, very damaged. You look at the young lady with her hand practically blown off.”

At the same time, Trump took credit for the hostage deal and the captives’ return, saying that were it not for the efforts of his transition team to broker a deal, the captives “would have all died” in Gaza.

“You know how that happened, right? Did you know that? But when you find out, you’re not going to be too happy because it was terrible. But the hostages are starting to come back.”

“If I weren’t here, they wouldn’t be back ever. They would have all died,” he added.

“It should have never happened. October 7th should have never happened. Nobody should be dead. But through weakness, they allowed it to happen. And then it was a disaster from there.”