Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel went to Washington on Sunday for meetings this week with President Trump and senior administration officials at a pivotal time for the Middle East.
Trump clearly said he wanted wars in the Middle East to end after the assault led by Hamas in October 2023 against Israel, 15 months of devastating conflict in Gaza which is also spreading to Lebanon. Before packing his plane on Sunday, Netanyahu made several references to “peace”.
“The decisions we made during the war have already changed the face of the Middle East,” said Netanyahu. “I believe that we can strengthen security, expand the circle of peace and achieve an era of peace remarkable by force,” he added.
Netanyahu should be the first foreign leader to meet Mr. Trump since his inauguration last month. The Israeli chief should organize training discussions with the Trump administration on several crucial regional issues.
Negotiations are expected to start on Monday for the second phase of the ceasefire agreement for Gaza which would transform the temporary truce which entered into force on January 19 into a more permanent cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas and see the Liberation of all the remaining hostages held there.
Assigning to the fragility of the situation on the ground, an Israeli plane drew on Sunday towards a vehicle in Gaza which, according to the army, advanced north along an unauthorized road instead of the suitable inspection road , breaking the days of calm in the Palestinian enclave. The Gaza Ministry of Health immediately reported no death.
In addition, the test phase of a ceasefire at the United States stopped for Lebanon is expected to expire on February 18, when the Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah are supposed to have left the southern part of This country.
Global problems for the future of the Middle East also remain on the agenda. These include slowing down Iran’s nuclear ambitions and supporting armed proxies at the borders of Israel, as well as the possibility of a great deal involving official ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, an actor major regional.
Netanyahu said on Sunday from the Tarmac that the problems to discuss with Trump include “victory over Hamas, the publication of all our hostages and the treatment of the Iranian terrorist axis in all its components.”
His office said Netanyahu should meet Steve Witkoff, Middle East’s Middle East envoy on Monday and Trump on Tuesday.
Netanyahu spoke by phone with Mr. Witkoff on Saturday and the two men agreed to start negotiations for the second phase of the Gaza agreement at their meeting on Monday, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, Suggest that Mr. Witkoff Will Will play a major role in crusty diplomacy.
There was no immediate comment from the White House or Mr. Witkoff, who played an important role in broketing the six-week initial phase of the ceasefire agreement For Gaza. In the days preceding the creation of Mr. Trump, he worked in coordination with officials of the Biden administration, as well as Qatar and Egypt – the two main mediating countries between Israel and Hamas.
The Prime Minister of Qatar on Sunday, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thanitold a press conference in Doha that his government “would continue to work in cooperation with our partners in the Arab Republic of Egypt and in the United States to ensure the complete implementation of this agreement”.
Mr. Netanyahu’s visit to Washington is involved in the middle of a more optimistic atmosphere in Israel and Gaza during the first phase of the ceasefire. This has seen the release in the last two weeks of 13 Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of prisoners and Palestinian prisoners. One of the hostages released On Saturday, Keith Siegal, 65, a double American-Israeli citizen.
Many families of liberated hostages thanked Trump and his team for having obtained the long -awaited agreement on the finish line after months of effort from the Biden administration.
But the questions surrounding the next phase are not resolved. Mr. Netanyahu had sworn publicly and repeatedly to destroy the military and rulers of Hamas and to preserve the possibility of returning to fight after the initial phase of the agreement, if necessary.
The images of the activists of Hamas which turn firearms organizing the ceremonies to transfer hostages to the Red Cross have stressed the degree to which the group remains in control in Gaza.
Mr. Witkoff did A rare visit to the Gaza Strip On Wednesday, according to a White House official, aimed at strengthening the ceasefire that also allowed tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians to return home. Witkoff also visited Saudi Arabia before meeting Mr. Netanyahu in Israel last week.
Trump raised the idea several times that the Gazans should be moved en masse in Egypt and Jordan. His suggestion echoes a floated idea in Israel at the start of the war and the wishes of the Israelis on the far right that the Palestinians are encouraged to leave Gaza.
But on Saturday, Egypt and Jordan – with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries – warned in a joint declaration The fact that any plan that encouraged the “transfer or uprooting of the Palestinians of their lands” would threaten regional stability and “undermine the chances of peace and coexistence among its people”.
Gabby Sobelman And Myra November contributed the reports of Israel, and Ismaeel Naar De Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
