Trump, Netanyahu Meet Again as Gaps Said to Narrow in Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Netanyahu arrived at the White House shortly before 5 p.m. EDT for a meeting that was not expected to be open to the press. The two men met for several hours during a dinner at the White House on Monday during the Israeli leader's third US visit since the president began his second term on January 20.
Netanyahu met with Vice President JD Vance and then visited the US Capitol on Tuesday. He told reporters after a meeting with the Republican House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson that while he did not think Israel's campaign in the Palestinian enclave was done, negotiators are "certainly working" on a ceasefire.
"We have still to finish the job in Gaza, release all our hostages, eliminate and destroy Hamas' military and government capabilities," Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu's return to the White House to see Trump on Tuesday pushed back his meeting with US Senate leaders to Wednesday.
Shortly after Netanyahu spoke, Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said the issues keeping Israel and Hamas from agreeing had dropped to one from four and he hoped to reach a temporary ceasefire agreement this week.
"We are hopeful that by the end of this week, we'll have an agreement that will bring us into a 60-day ceasefire. Ten live hostages will be released. Nine deceased will be released," Witkoff told reporters at a meeting of Trump's Cabinet.
The Gaza war erupted when Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive.
Israel's retaliatory war in Gaza has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave's health ministry. Most of Gaza's population has been displaced by the war and nearly half a million people are facing famine within months, according to United Nations estimates.
Trump had strongly supported Netanyahu, even wading into domestic Israeli politics by criticizing prosecutors over a corruption trial against the Israeli leader on bribery, fraud and breach-of-trust charges that Netanyahu denies.
In his remarks to reporters at the US Congress, Netanyahu praised Trump, saying there has never been closer coordination between the US and Israel in his country's history.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Asharq Al-Awsat
40 minutes ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Finnish President Says Ready to Recognize Palestinian State
Finland's President Alexander Stubb has said he is ready to approve a recognition of a Palestinian state if the government moves forward with such a proposal. Many countries, including France and Canada, have pledged to recognize a Palestinian state alongside the 80th UN General Assembly in September. "The decisions by France, the United Kingdom and Canada reinforce the trend towards recognising Palestine as part of efforts to breathe new life into the peace process," Stubb said in a post to X Thursday, AFP reported. Finland's president, elected for six years, has limited powers but helps coordinate the country's foreign policy in close cooperation with the government. "If I receive a proposal to recognize the Palestinian state, I am prepared to approve it," Stubb said, deploring an "inhumane" situation in Gaza. He said he understood that Finns had "different opinions on the recognition of Palestine, and that there is also concern," calling for an "open" and "honest" debate. The far-right Finns Party and the Christian Democrats oppose recognizing a Palestinian state. Finland's Prime Minister Petteri Orpo on Friday reiterated Helsinki's support for a two-state solution, without specifying whether the government was ready to recognise a Palestinian state. Discussions on foreign policy and the Middle East with the president would continue up to the UN conference at the end of September, he said.
Asharq Al-Awsat
40 minutes ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
UK's Starmer, Ukraine's Zelenskiy Welcome Trump's Deadline for Russia
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed on Friday US President Donald Trump's new deadline for Russia to make progress towards ending its more than three-year-long war. "Both leaders welcomed the President's new deadline on Russia to stop their stalling tactics and make meaningful progress on a peace deal," a Downing Street spokeswoman said on Friday, following a call between the two. "It was clear Russia was the only barrier to peace, the leaders agreed.
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Human Rights Watch condemns Gaza aid centers as ‘death traps'
JERUSALEM: Human Rights Watch on Friday accused Israeli forces operating outside US-backed aid centers in war-torn Gaza of routinely killing Palestinian civilians seeking food, as well as using starvation as a weapon of war. 'US-backed Israeli forces and private contractors have put in place a flawed, militarized aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths,' said Belkis Wille, associate crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch. After nearly 22 months of war in Gaza between Israeli forces and Hamas, the Palestinian territory is slipping into famine, and civilians are starving to death, according to a UN-mandated expert report. After nearly 22 months of war in Gaza between Israeli forces and Hamas, the Palestinian territory is slipping into famine, and civilians are starving to death, according to a UN-mandated expert report. Israel and the US have backed a private aid operation run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation at four sites inside Gaza, protected by US military contractors and the Israeli army. GHF launched its operations in late May, sidelining the longstanding UN-led humanitarian system just as Israel was beginning to ease a more than two-month aid blockade that led to dire shortages of food and other essentials. Since then, witnesses, the civil defense agency, and AFP correspondents inside Gaza have reported frequent incidents in which Israeli troops have opened fire on crowds of desperate Palestinian civilians approaching GHF centers seeking food. At least 859 Palestinians were killed while attempting to obtain aid at GHF sites between May 27 and July 31 — most by the Israeli military — according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 'Israeli forces are not only deliberately starving Palestinian civilians, but they are now gunning them down almost every day as they desperately seek food for their families,' HRW's Wille said in a statement. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff promised a plan to deliver more food to Gaza after inspecting the US-backed distribution center on Friday. Witkoff said he had spent more than five hours inside Gaza, in a post accompanied by a photograph of himself wearing a protective vest and meeting staff at a GHF distribution center. The foundation said it had delivered its 100 millionth meal in Gaza during the visit by Witkoff and US Ambassador Mike Huckabee to Gaza. President Donald Trump 'understands the stakes in Gaza and that feeding civilians, not Hamas, must be the priority. Today he sent his envoy to serve as his eyes and ears on the ground, reflecting his deep concern and commitment to doing what's right,' GHF spokesperson Chapin Fay said. Gaza's civil defense agency said 22 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and air strikes on Friday, including eight who were waiting to collect food aid.
