United States President Donald Trump has met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the White Home for a second time in 24 hours to debate a potential ceasefire deal in Gaza.
The unscheduled talks on Tuesday night lasted simply over an hour, with no media entry.
Forward of the assembly, Trump mentioned he can be talking with Netanyahu “virtually completely” about Gaza.
“We gotta get that solved. Gaza is… it’s a tragedy, and he desires to get it solved, and I wish to get it solved, and I feel the opposite facet desires to,” he mentioned.
The 2 males had additionally met for a number of hours throughout a dinner on the White Home on Monday throughout Netanyahu’s third go to to the US because the president started his second time period on January 20.
Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, DC, mentioned the newest assembly was “tightly sealed with little or no info popping out”.
“The truth that it was so hermetically sealed, the truth that there was no clear readout of precisely what was mentioned, the truth that the assembly lasted simply over an hour earlier than the prime minister returned to his residence – all of it might point out that there’s some type of stumbling block, one thing that’s clouding the optimistic place that the 2 leaders have adopted over the previous 24 hours,” Hanna mentioned.
Shortly earlier than the unscheduled assembly, Trump’s particular envoy to the Center East, Steve Witkoff, said the problems maintaining Israel and Hamas from agreeing had dropped to 1 from 4, and he hoped to succeed in a short lived ceasefire settlement this week.
“We’re hopeful that by the tip of this week, we’ll have an settlement that may carry us right into a 60-day ceasefire. Ten reside hostages will probably be launched. 9 deceased will probably be launched,” Witkoff advised reporters at a gathering of Trump’s Cupboard.
However Netanyahu, assembly with the speaker of the Republican-controlled Home of Representatives, Mike Johnson, mentioned Israel’s marketing campaign within the Palestinian enclave was not executed and that negotiators are “actually working” on a ceasefire.
“Now we have nonetheless to complete the job in Gaza, launch all our hostages, remove and destroy Hamas’s navy and authorities capabilities,” the Israeli chief mentioned.
Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Jordan, mentioned Israeli media are reporting that Netanyahu is dealing with “excessive stress” to succeed in a deal on Gaza.
“However nonetheless, there’s been no breakthrough,” she mentioned from the Jordanian capital, Amman.
“Israeli media can also be speaking a couple of delay within the journey plans of Witkoff to Doha, though earlier within the evening, he had sounded very optimistic about probably reaching a deal. As a result of in keeping with him, just one difficulty remained problematic – which is, ‘The place will the Israeli military redeploy to?’” Odeh mentioned.
“Now, that is essential, as a result of Israel desires to take care of management over town of Rafah in southern Gaza. In line with the Israeli minister of defence, Israel plans to construct a tent metropolis in Rafah, the place it is going to focus the inhabitants, management who enters, not enable anybody to go away, after which push the inhabitants out of Gaza to implement, in keeping with the Israelis, the Trump plan of depopulating Gaza and taking on the enclave,” she added.
Israel’s struggle in Gaza has killed no less than 57,575 Palestinians and wounded 136,879 others. Most of Gaza’s inhabitants has been displaced by the struggle, and almost half 1,000,000 individuals are dealing with famine inside months, in keeping with United Nations estimates.
An estimated 1,139 individuals had been killed in Israel throughout the Hamas-led assaults of October 7, 2023, and greater than 200 had been taken captive.
Some 50 captives stay in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive.
Trump has strongly supported Netanyahu, even wading into home Israeli politics by criticising prosecutors over a corruption trial towards the Israeli chief on bribery, fraud and breach-of-trust expenses, which Netanyahu denies.
In his remarks to reporters on the US Congress, Netanyahu praised Trump, saying that there has by no means been nearer coordination between the US and Israel in his nation’s historical past.
