Washington DC [US], October 9 (ANI): US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday (local time) handed US President Donald Trump a handwritten note during a White House event, urging him to approve a social post related to a Middle East deal, Al Jazeera reported.

'You need to approve a Truth Social post soon so you can announce deal first,' the note, written on White House stationery, read, as reported by Al Jazeera.

Rubio, who was not part of Trump's roundtable discussion with conservative influencers, entered the room, handed him the note, and whispered to him.

The third day of Gaza ceasefire talks is underway in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh to finalise the details of Trump's 20-point plan. Trump said he may travel to Egypt this weekend, adding that negotiators are 'very close' to a Gaza deal and 'they are going to need me pretty quickly,' Al Jazeera reported.

Trump told reporters, 'I was just dealing with people from the Middle East on the potential peace deal for the Middle East. 'Peace for the Middle East'. That's a beautiful phrase... I may go there sometime toward the end of the week, maybe on Sunday... Negotiations are going along well, dealing with Hamas and many of the countries... Nothing like that has happened before... If that's the case, we'll be leaving probably on Sunday, maybe Saturday, maybe a little later than Saturday evening, but that seems to be our schedule.'

Meanwhile, at least eight Palestinians have been killed and 61 others injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the past 24 hours, says the enclave's Health Ministry, as quoted by Al Jazeera.

In Spain, parliament voted in favour of an arms embargo on Israel introduced by PM Pedro Sanchez, aimed at ending what he called 'the genocide in Gaza'. Spanish lawmakers have passed a law ending all trade of arms, defence equipment or technologies to Israel, Al Jazeera reported.

Nearly 42,000 Palestinians in Gaza have sustained major, potentially life-changing injuries over the past two years, according to the United Nations.

'One in four of those injured are children, and more than 5,000 amputations have been recorded,' said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, as reported by Al Jazeera.

Since October 2023, the Israel-Gaza conflict has killed at least 67,183 people and wounded 169,841. Thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings. A total of 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023, attacks, and about 200 were taken captive. (ANI)