Israel’s Netanyahu travels to US to discuss Gaza ceasefire with Trump | Israel-Palestine conflict News

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on his way to the United States to discuss the second phase of the aged ceasefire with the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza, his office said.

Negotiations for the Second stage of the ceasefire Should start in Washington, DC on Monday, Netanyahu’s office announced on Sunday when the Israeli chief left for the United States.

President Donald Trump, who claimed the credit for the cease-fire agreement signed on January 19, is expected to welcome Netanyahu in the White House on Tuesday-Trump’s first meeting with a foreign leader since his inauguration for a second mandate.

Netanyahu’s American trip arrives two weeks in the First phase of the ceasefire This should release 33 Israeli captives in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The second phase should cover the release of the remaining captives and include discussions on a more permanent end of the war.

The ceasefire of Gaza took a 15-month break from an Israeli genocide in the enclave which killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, including more than half of women and children, according to local health authorities.

Speaking at Tel Aviv airport before his departure, Netanyahu said that he and Trump would discuss “victory over Hamas, achieving the release of all our hostages and dealing with the Iranian terrorist axis” in the Middle East .

Netanyahu called it “revealing” that he would be the first foreign leader to meet Trump since his inauguration. “I think it is a testimony to the strength of the Israeli-American alliance,” he said.

This is also the first trip of Netanyahu to the United States since the International Criminal Court (ICC) published a arrest warrant Against him in November for alleged war crimes committed in the Gaza Strip.

The United States, which previously praised the CPI’s decision to issue a mandate against Russian President Vladimir Putin in connection with the Ukraine War, is not a signatory to the law of Rome, the treaty which established The court.

Higher American politicians are Try to punish The International Tribunal for Netanyahu arrest warrants and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, and have threatened to set up his main prosecutors and their families.

Fragile cease

How much Trump and Netanyahu are committed to advancing the ceasefire. Netanyahu undergoes immense pressure from her far -right government partners to abandon the agreement after the first phase and restart attacks against Gaza.

Trump, for his part, has given mixed signals on the prospect of a permanent end of war. Asked on January 20, shortly after being sworn, if he was convinced that the truce in Gaza would hold, he said: “I am not confident.”

“It’s not our war, it’s their war,” he added.

More recently, Trump also proposed to “clean” ethnically Gaza, insisting that Egypt and Jordan should accommodate displaced Palestinians from the enclave, prospect they refused.

Scott Lucas, professor of international policy at the University College Dublin, told Al Jazeera that the second phase of the Gaza Agreement faces the pressure on several sides. He said the Israeli captives still held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons would only be released if elements from the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire could remain in place.

“Here you talk about four sides of the pressure around Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump,” he said.

There are pressure from the right right in Israel, in particular the Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich from the interior of the cabinet and former Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, he said.

“They don’t want a phase two. They want a military government in Gaza, they want the displacement of the Palestinians, and they are already talking about returning to war. »»

Then there is the pressure of the elements in Israel who think that their priority should be the return of all the captives.

On the other hand, said Lucas, Hamas will continue to resist Israeli efforts to eliminate the Gaza group, and the Palestinians reject military occupation.

“Fourth is Donald Trump, who wants to be a peacemaker, but who is also firmly pro-Israel insofar as his solution to bring peace is to send all residents of Gaza to Egypt and Jordan. There is therefore no way to stimulate these four sides to obtain a phase two at this stage. »»

Occupying colonies in the West Bank

The agenda during Netanyahu’s visit could also be illegal establishments in Israel in occupied West Bank. Smotrich, who opposes the ceasefire and is a defender of the vocal regulations, urged Netanyahu to raise the question.

“We must strengthen our grip and sovereignty over the homeland of Judea and Samaria,” said Smotrich in a message addressed to Netanyahu, referring to the occupied West Bank.

Netanyahu’s first meeting with Trump clearly marks his ties with the previous American administration, who, although it is the largest weapon supplier in Israel, had criticized his conduct of war and break some military expeditions.

Trump declared himself the most pro-Israeli president in American history and Appointed superior diplomats which openly support the Israeli far -right Israeli factions, including their pressure to annex the occupied West Bank.

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