Trump says Gaza hostages should be released on Monday or Tuesday

By Jeff Mason and Steve Holland

President Donald Trump said on Thursday the Gaza hostages should be released on Monday or Tuesday and that he hopes to attend a signing ceremony in Egypt and address the Israeli Knesset.

Trump opened a White House cabinet meeting by discussing a deal reached on Wednesday under which the hostages held by Hamas militants are to be released in the first phase of a broader Gaza plan. He said he believed it would lead to "lasting peace."

Trump said under the plan, Gaza is going to be "slowly redone," a reference to plans to rebuild the Palestinian enclave. He did not provide details other than to say "we're going to create something where people can live. You can't live right now in Gaza."

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Hamas is expected to release the 20 living hostages together, 72 hours after the ceasefire begins.

"We are getting the hostages back on Tuesday - Monday or Tuesday - and that'll be a day of joy," Trump said.

Trump said it may be difficult to retrieve all the remains of the hostages who died in captivity immediately, "because some of the bodies are going to be a little bit hard to find."

He said he was going to try to make the trip there to attend a signing ceremony in Egypt. The White House has been scrambling to work out the details of the hastily arranged trip.

The Israeli Knesset has asked Trump to speak, and the president said he was planning to do so if requested.

While questions remain about what happens in the region in the long term, Trump said he hoped it would lead to "an everlasting peace."