President Donald Trump said on Friday it was good that Hamas said it had responded in “a positive spirit” to a US-brokered Gaza ceasefire proposal.

He told reporters aboard Air Force One there could be a deal on a Gaza ceasefire by next week, but that he had not been briefed on the current state of negotiations.

“We have to do something about Gaza — we’re sending a lot of money and a lot of aid,” Trump told reporters, as Hamas said it was ready to start negotiations “immediately” on a US-backed truce proposal.

The announcement comes ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington on Monday.

The conflict in Gaza began with Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked a massive Israeli offensive aimed at destroying Hamas and bringing home all the hostages seized by the group.

Two previous ceasefires brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States resulted in temporary halts in fighting, coupled with the return of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Netanyahu earlier on Friday vowed to bring home all the hostages held in Gaza after coming under intense domestic pressure over their fate.