Washington: President Donald Trump was hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday for critical talks aimed at ending the war in Gaza and developing a US plan on post-war governance in the war-battered Palestinian territory.
The White House talks come at a tenuous moment. Israel is increasingly isolated, losing support from many countries that were long its steadfast allies. At home, Netanyahu’s governing coalition appears more fragile than ever. And the White House is showing signs of impatience.
The question now is whether Trump, who has offered steadfast backing to Netanyahu throughout the war, will change his tone and turn up the pressure on Israel to wind down the conflict.
As he welcomed Netanyahu to the White House, Trump responded affirmatively when asked by reporters whether he was confident a deal would be soon reached to end the fighting between Israel and Hamas.
“I am. I’m very confident,” Trump said.
White House urges Israel and Hamas to get to a ceasefire and hostage release deal
Earlier, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt urged both sides to finalize an agreement to bring an end to the nearly two-year old war in Gaza.
“Ultimately the president knows when you get to a good deal, both sides are going to leave a little bit unhappy,” Leavitt told reporters. “But we need this conflict to end.”
Trump and Netanyahu are first holding talks with aides in the Oval Office and over a private lunch. A joint press conference is expected later.
Meanwhile, Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, pressed Palestinian officials’ to work with Trump and Arab countries in bringing an end to the war.
“Let us not delay a single minute more in doing what is necessary for this just peace to replace the unbearable reality of today,” Mansour said during a Security Council meeting on the Middle East.
Trump growing more frustrated with conflict
Trump joined forces with Netanyahu during Israel’s brief war with Iran in June, ordering U.S. stealth bombers to strike three nuclear sites, and he’s supported the Israeli leader during his corruption trial, describing the case as a “witch hunt.”
But the relationship has become more tense lately. Trump was frustrated by Israel’s failed strike this month on Hamas officials in Qatar, a US ally in the region that had been hosting negotiations to end the war in Gaza.
Last week, Trump vowed to prevent Israel from annexing the West Bank — an idea promoted by some of Netanyahu’s hard-line governing partners. The international community opposes annexation, saying it would destroy hopes for a two-state solution.
On Friday, Trump raised expectations for the meeting with Netanyahu, telling reporters the US was “very close to a deal on Gaza.”
Trump made finding quick ends to the Gaza war, as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a central plank of his successful 2024 presidential campaign. He’s struggled mightily on both fronts.
Proposal does not include expulsion of Palestinians
Trump’s proposal to stop the war in Gaza calls for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages within 48 hours and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian enclave, according to three Arab officials briefed on the plan. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plan has not been formally unveiled.
Hamas is believed to be holding 48 hostages, 20 of whom are believed by Israel to be alive. The militant group has demanded Israel agree to end the war and withdraw from all of Gaza as part of any permanent ceasefire.
Trump discussed the plan with Arab and Islamic leaders in New York last week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. It doesn’t include the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, which Trump appeared to endorse earlier this year.
The 21-point proposal also calls for an end to Hamas rule of Gaza and the disarmament of the militant group, said the officials briefed on the plan. Hundreds of Palestinians, including many serving life sentences, will be released by Israel, according to the proposal.
The plan also includes the establishment of an international security force to take over law enforcement in postwar Gaza, they said.
A Palestinian committee of technocrats would oversee the civilian affairs of the strip, with power handed over later to a reformed Palestinian Authority, they said. Netanyahu has rejected any role for the authority, the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinians, in postwar Gaza.
A Hamas official said the group was briefed on the plan but has yet to receive an official offer from Egyptian and Qatari mediators. The group has repeatedly rejected laying down arms and has linked its weapons to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
Israel has lost much of the world’s goodwill
Apart from the US leadership, Israel has lost much of the international goodwill it once could count on.
At a special session of the UN Security Council last week, nation after nation expressed horror at the 2023 attack by Hamas militants that killed about 1,200 people in Israel, saw 251 taken hostage and triggered the war. Then many of the representatives went on to criticise the response by Israel and call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and influx of aid.
Israel’s sweeping offensive has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run administration. Its figures are seen as a reliable estimate by the UN and many independent experts. The fighting has displaced 90 per cent of the Gaza population, with an increasing number now starving.
In recent weeks, 28 Western-aligned countries that circled behind Israel two years ago have called on it to end the offensive in Gaza. They also criticised Israel’s restrictions on humanitarian aid, which have contributed to famine in parts of Gaza.
Ten countries — including Britain, France, Canada and Australia — recognized Palestinian statehood last week, hoping to revive the long-moribund peace process. Several Arab states, including some with longstanding relations with Israel, have accused it of committing genocide in Gaza, as have leading genocide scholars, UN experts and some Israeli and international rights groups. The U.N’s highest court is weighing genocide allegations raised by South Africa that Israel vehemently denies.
