Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he will discuss “victory over Hamas,” achieving release of all its hostages, and dealing with “Iranian terror axis”, while also expanding diplomatic relations with Arab countries during his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Netanyahu is set to meet Trump on Tuesday at the White House, marking the US President’s first meeting with a foreign leader since he returned to office on January 20.
In a statement released ahead of his US departure on Sunday, Netanyahu said the two leaders would discuss “victory over Hamas, achieving the release of all our hostages and dealing with the Iranian terror axis in all its components,” referring to Iran’s alliance with militant groups, including Hamas, Associated Press reported.
The meeting comes as U.S. and Arab mediators commence the daunting task of brokering the next phase of an agreement between Israel and Hamas in order to end the war in the Gaza Strip and facilitate the release militant-held hostages.
Hamas, which reasserted its control over Gaza quickly after the ceasefire took hold last month, has demanded an end to the war and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces before the second phase, failing which it has said it would not set the remaining hostages free, AP reported.
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Amid this, Netanyahu seems to be under mounting pressure from far-right governing partners to resume the war in early March, following the conclusion of the first phase. The Israeli PM has said that he is still committed to victory over Hamas as well as the return of all the hostages captured on October 7, 2023, during the Hamas militants’ attack that triggered the war.
Although Trump has been a staunch supporter of Israel, it remains unclear where he stands now. Trump has also pledged to end conflicts in the Middle East and took credit for brokering the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. The ceasefire deal has put a halt on the conflict, leading to the release of Israeli hostages held for more than 15 months, and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
An Israeli airstrike on a vehicle in central Gaza on Sunday injured five people, including a child who was in critical condition, AP reported citing Al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties.
The Israeli military later issued clarification saying that it fired upon the vehicle heading north because it was crossing a checkpoint in violation of the ceasefire agreement. It also asserted that it remains committed to the deal, AP reported.
Trump, who also participated in brokering normalisation agreements between Arab countries and Israel during his first term, is reportedly seeking an agreement wherein Israel would forge ties with Saudi Arabia.
However, the Kingdom has said that it would only enter into such an agreement if the war ends and a credible pathway is set up to a Palestinian state in Gaza, east Jerusalem, and the West Bank, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war, the AP report said.
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