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 indicated that he wanted an end of wars in the Middle East, which began with the assault led by Hamas in October 2023 against Israel which led to 15 months of devastating conflict in Gaza which was also propagated in 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 of Mr. Netanyahu during his visit. 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 telephone with Mr. Witkoff on Saturday and the two men agreed to start the negotiations for the second phase of the Gaza agreement at their meeting on Monday, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement. The schedule suggested that Mr. Witkoff will play a major role in the diplomacy of shuttles.
There was no immediate comment from the White House or Mr. Witkoff, who played an important role in the brokerage of 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.
On sunday, the prime minister of qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Told a News Conference in Doha that government WOULD “Continue to work in cooperation with our partners in the Arab Republic of Egypt and the United States to Ensure The Full of this agreement.
Naim Qassem, the head of Hezbollah, in a speech of accused on Sunday Israel not to maintain the terms of the Lebanon truce. He called for pressure from the United States, which oversees the agreement, to ensure compliance. Israel says he acts in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah violations.
Mr. Qassem also said that a burial for Hassan Nasrallah, the longtime Hezbollah chief killed during an Israeli air strike last fall, would be held on February 23.
The Israeli army, for its part, has moved its objective in the last two weeks to the occupied West Bank, describing its actions as an operation to combat terrorism. The army said that it had made air strikes against three armed teams on Saturday evening and exploded 23 buildings in the city of Jenin in the West West Bank in the north of Jenin. In a statement, the army said that the structures served activists as explosive laboratories, observation posts or arms stores.
But Mr. Netanyahu’s visit to Washington comes in the middle of a more optimistic atmosphere in Israel and Gaza. The first phase of the ceasefire saw the release in the last two weeks of 13 Israeli hostages, including a double American-Israeli citizen, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and prisoners.
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.
Images of Hamas militants that turn firearms organizing the hostage transfer ceremonies at the Red Cross have stressed the degree to which the group remains in control in Gaza.
Witkoff made a rare visit to the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, according to a White House official, aimed at strengthening the ceasefire who 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 – as well as Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries – warned in a joint declaration that any plan that encouraged the “transfer or uprooting the Palestinians of their land” would threaten regional stability and “Sapped the chances of peace and coexistence among its inhabitants. “”
Gabby Sobelman And Myra November contributed the reports of Israel, and Ismaeel Naar De Dubai, United Arab Emirates.