Netanyahu to meet Trump as Israel, Hamas eye Gaza truce talks

by Danny KEMP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet President Donald Trump on Tuesday, as Israel and Hamas say they are ready for negotiations on a new phase in their fragile Gaza ceasefire.

Netanyahu, the first foreign leader to visit the White House since Trump returned to power last month, will discuss the truce's future and efforts to end the Gaza war.

Hours before their meeting, Netanyahu's office said Israel would send a delegation to the Qatari capital Doha later this week for negotiations.

"Israel is preparing for the working-level delegation to leave for Doha at the end of this week in order to discuss technical details related to the continued implementation of the agreement," the office said in a statement following meetings in Washington between Netanyahu and Trump's advisors, including Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

Hamas has said it is ready to negotiate the second stage of the ceasefire, mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States.

The next phase aims to secure the release of remaining hostages and lay out steps toward ending the war, which has devastated the Palestinian territory of 2.4 million people.

- 'No guarantees' -

The war broke out after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

Trump has repeatedly touted a plan to "clean out" Gaza, calling for Palestinians to move to neighboring countries such as Egypt or Jordan, despite all those parties strongly rejecting his proposal.

Before leaving for Washington, Netanyahu said Israel's wars with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and its confrontations with Iran had "redrawn the map" in the Middle East.

"But I believe that working closely with President Trump we can redraw it even further, and for the better," he said.

The White House meeting promises to be a crucial one for a region shattered by war since Hamas's deadly attack on Israel.

Netanyahu hailed the fact he would be the first foreign leader to meet Trump since his January 20 inauguration as "testimony to the strength of the Israeli-American alliance."

The Israeli prime minister had tense relations with Trump's predecessor Joe Biden over the growing death toll in Gaza, despite Biden's steadfast maintenance of US military aid.

But Trump, who has claimed credit for sealing the ceasefire after 15 months of war and prides himself on his dealmaking ability, will be pushing Netanyahu to stick to the agreement.

He is also expected to lean on Netanyahu to accept a deal to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia, something he tried to do in his first term.

Trump said Sunday that talks with Israel and other Middle Eastern countries were "progressing" -- but then warned less than 24 hours later that there that were "no guarantees that the peace is going to hold."

- Unrest in West Bank -

Witkoff -- who met Netanyahu on Monday over terms for the second phase of the truce -- said however that he was "certainly hopeful" the truce would stick.

Trump's sudden floating of a plan to move people out of Gaza -- which he describes as a "demolition site" -- has added uncertainty to an already tense and difficult situation.

Trump said the plan could be temporary or permanent, but the mass displacement of civilians from Gaza was strongly rejected by Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinians and ceasefire mediator Qatar.

Under the Gaza ceasefire's ongoing 42-day first phase, Hamas is to free 33 hostages in staggered releases in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Four hostage-prisoner exchanges have already taken place, and militants have freed 18 hostages so far in exchange of some 600 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

The truce has also led to a surge of food, fuel, medical and other aid into rubble-strewn Gaza, as well as allowing displaced Gazans to return to the territory's north.

Hamas's attack resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people on Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliatory response has killed at least 47,518 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The UN considers these figures as reliable.

Israel has turned its focus to the occupied West Bank and an operation it says is aimed at rooting out extremism that has killed dozens.

On Tuesday, the military said its forces killed an assailant who fired on troops near the city of Jenin in the West Bank.

© Agence France-Presse