A U.S. official said Tuesday afternoon, just hours before the scheduled meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump at the White House, that the two leaders will discuss "preserving the cease-fire agreements" - apparently referring to both Gaza and Lebanon - and their commitment to freeing the hostages held by Hamas.
"Trump is focused on getting all the hostages out, and on ensuring that Hamas cannot return to control the Strip," the source told Reuters. He added that at Tuesday evening's meeting, Trump and Netanyahu will also discuss the second phase of the cease-fire and hostage release deal, the initial talks on the terms of which have already begun indirectly, and that, according to him, there will be "unity" in the way they want to pursue it.
The possibility of normalization with Saudi Arabia will also come up in the talks, with estimates that such a deal will be part of the "inducement package" that Trump will offer Netanyahu in order to continue with phase two of the deal - which means the release of all remaining hostages that are still living and an end to the war - despite the political risk for the prime minister.
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Prime MInister Benjamin Netanyahu and US PResident Donald Trump will meet at the White House
(Photo: Chaim Goldberg, Shutterstock, Chip Somodevilla pool via Reuters)
"We hope that the Abraham Accords will expand and prosper," the U.S. official said, referring to the peace agreements with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco that were signed during Trump's first term. "We see an opportunity to bring more countries into the Abraham Accords," he added.
Netanyahu himself said before his departure for Washington that he hoped to "expand the circle of peace" - but so far he has refused the condition set by the Saudis for such a deal: providing a "political horizon" for the Palestinians - that is, some progress, declarative or practical, in the process of establishing a Palestinian state. His partner, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, also set a "red line" against such a move just on Monday.
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The U.S. official added Tuesday afternoon that Trump is still insisting on his "relocation" plan for hundreds of thousands of Gazans, in order to enable the reconstruction of Gaza - a process that, according to the source, Trump believes will require between 10 and 15 years.
"Trump believes that Gaza is a demolition site, he thinks it is inhumane to force people to live in an area that is not fit for habitation," he said.