U.S. President Donald Trump could visit Israel next month ahead of his planned trip to the United Kingdom, if conditions permit, White House sources told Ynet on Thursday. The visit would come before Trump’s Sept. 17–19 state visit to Britain at the invitation of King Charles.
The White House is weighing the stopover in Israel, but officials said it depends on progress in ceasefire negotiations to end the war in Gaza. “The president will visit Britain in September, and it’s possible he will stop in Israel, but it’s not certain and not finalized,” a U.S. official told Ynet. “It depends on developments.” An Israeli official confirmed “initial feelers” for a visit but stressed “nothing concrete” had been arranged.
During his last Middle East trip earlier this year, Trump skipped Israel, visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates instead. In May, he made his first diplomatic visit of his second term to the region, signing economic and arms deals worth hundreds of billions of dollars and announcing several dramatic policy moves, including lifting sanctions on Syria. He became the first U.S. president in 25 years to meet the country’s president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former jihadist.
At the time, Trump predicted Damascus would make peace with Israel once its internal situation “stabilized.” A month before Israel’s Operation Rising Lion — a 12-day war against Iran in which U.S. forces also took part — he declared that a new nuclear deal with Iran was “very close” while warning Tehran of possible military action if it did not “choose a new path.”
U.S. officials are now pressing for a comprehensive ceasefire agreement in Gaza, with the Trump administration viewing a partial deal as no longer relevant. According to Washington, the clock is ticking for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to show progress toward a final arrangement.
In Cairo and Doha
Alongside talks in Cairo between senior Hamas officials and Egypt, Mossad Director David Barnea landed Thursday morning in Doha, where he met with Qatar’s prime minister. It was the first time Israel had sent a senior official to Qatar since last month’s collapse of negotiations for a deal.
The visit marks the renewal of the Barnea–Qatar channel, stemming from Netanyahu’s decision to bring the Mossad chief back to the forefront of the process, partly due to his close ties in Doha.
The Americans, for their part, also want Qatar to remain heavily involved. Should there be a breakthrough in the Cairo talks, the expectation is that proximity talks would take place in Doha.
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Two days after senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya arrived in Cairo, where a new proposal was presented to him as part of the negotiations, discussions on a comprehensive deal began on Wednesday. Israel is still not a party to the direct talks between Egypt and Hamas, which are taking place against the backdrop of a Cabinet decision to capture Gaza City — and after Netanyahu hinted that Israel is no longer aiming for a partial deal.