Netanyahu meets Trump at critical moment for Gaza
Washington/Gaza
US President Donald Trump was set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday as the United States pushes to secure a ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas.
Trump was scheduled to meet Netanyahu for talks at 6:30pm (0030 CET Tuesday), followed by a private dinner.
The meeting comes after Trump said on Sunday he hoped to secure a ceasefire deal and the release of hostages held in Gaza this week.
Netanyahu, however, reiterated shortly before departing for Washington that he would not accept any agreement that allows Hamas to remain in power in the Gaza Strip. According to Israeli media reports, Israel is attempting to weaken the Palestinian group by promoting gangs in Gaza, which reportedly now control large parts of the coastal territory.
A high-ranking Hamas officer told the British broadcaster BBC that the militia had lost control of around 80% of Gaza, leaving a power vacuum that armed gangs are exploiting.
The Hamas member, described by the BBC as a lieutenant colonel, was injured at the start of the Gaza war and has reportedly not been on duty since.
Israeli forces continued to pound Gaza, including attacks on aid seekers and medical clinics, with at least 42 Palestinians killed on Monday.
Hamas has said the 'crimes' of Israel against unarmed civilians in the Gaza Strip are continuing through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
Hamas said in a short statement that aid sites run by the private US entity have become 'death traps operated by the occupation forces under American cover'.
'This increases the number of martyrs daily and reveals the criminal nature of thissystem.'
At least 750 Palestinians have been killed by attacks targeting aid distribution sites since May 27 when the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation took over operations from United Nations-led agencies.
Meanwhile, Israeli authorities have announced the seizure of 74 hectares (183 acres) of land in the Palestinian villages of al-Mughayyir and Khirbet Jaba'it, northeast of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.
The area has been declared 'state land' to tighten control and expand illegal settlements, Wafa news agency reported, citing the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission.
The area includes the Malachei HaShalom outpost, which was built illegally in 2015 on al-Mughayyir's land. The commission said the move aims to 'legalise' and expand this outpost, which Israel's far-right government pledged to approve two years ago.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
2 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
US envoy Steve Witkoff suggests Gaza ceasefire deal is close
An aide to United President Donald Trump has suggested a Gaza ceasefire is close, saying Washington hopes to see an agreement finalised by the end of the week. 'We're in proximity talks now, and we had four issues, and now we're down to one after two days of proximity talks,' special US envoy Steve Witkoff told reporters at the White House on Tuesday. 'So we are hopeful that by the end of this week, we will have an agreement that will bring us into a 60-day ceasefire.' Witkoff said the deal would see the release of 10 Israeli captives and the bodies of nine. He added that the Trump administration thinks the deal 'will lead to a lasting peace in Gaza'. Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters in Washington, DC, that while Israel 'still has to finish the job in Gaza', negotiators are 'certainly working' on a ceasefire. Trump and Netanyahu dined together on Monday at the White House during the Israeli leader's third US visit since the president began his second term on January 20. The two leaders are to meet again later on Tuesday. 'He's coming over later. We're going to be talking about, I would say, almost exclusively Gaza. We've got to get that solved,' the US president told reporters at a cabinet meeting in the White House on Tuesday. 'It's a tragedy, and he wants to get it solved, and I want to get it solved, and I think the other side wants to.' Qatar confirmed on Tuesday that Hamas and Israeli delegations are in Doha to discuss the ceasefire proposal. 'There is a positive engagement right now. The mediation teams – the Qataris and the Egyptians – are working around the clock to make sure that there is some consensus built on the framework towards the talks,' Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said. Israel's war on Gaza has killed more than 57,500 Palestinians, internally displaced nearly the entire population of the enclave and placed hundreds of thousands of people on the verge of starvation. United Nations experts and rights group have described Israel's military campaign in Gaza as a genocide. Netanyahu suggested on Monday that the US and Israel are working to ensure the mass displacement of Palestinians from Gaza – an idea first proposed by Trump in February. Israeli officials have been framing the push to remove all Palestinians from Gaza Gaza as an effort to encourage 'voluntary migration' from the territory. 'If people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave. It shouldn't be a prison. It should be an open place and give people a free choice,' Netanyahu told reporters. Rights advocates said the removal of Palestinians from Gaza, which would amount to ethnic cleansing, cannot be considered voluntary. Prominent legal expert Ralph Wilde said that with the widespread destruction, siege and daily attacks in Gaza, the concept of free choice to stay there or leave 'is a lie'. 'It's forced displacement because that isn't a choice that is made freely,' Wilde told Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera
2 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Netanyahu discussing ‘opportunities for peace' in Gaza with Trump
Netanyahu discussing 'opportunities for peace' in Gaza with Trump NewsFeed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would meet with President Trump again on Tuesday to discuss a Gaza ceasefire. He also praised Washington's 'unprecedented' military ties with Israel following a meeting with Capitol Hill lawmakers. Video Duration 00 minutes 56 seconds 00:56 Video Duration 00 minutes 38 seconds 00:38 Video Duration 00 minutes 38 seconds 00:38 Video Duration 01 minutes 26 seconds 01:26 Video Duration 03 minutes 25 seconds 03:25 Video Duration 01 minutes 10 seconds 01:10 Video Duration 02 minutes 25 seconds 02:25
Al Jazeera
4 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Israeli strike kills at least three people in northern Lebanon
An Israeli strike on a vehicle near the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli has killed at least three people and injured 13 others, Lebanon's Health Ministry says, in the latest breach of a ceasefire between the two countries. The attack in the Ayrounieh area on Tuesday came as Israel intensifies its strikes in Lebanon amid Hezbollah's weakened position, the Lebanese army's inability to fight back and the international community's failure to pressure Israel to abide by the truce. The strike near Lebanon's northernmost major city – more than 180km (110 miles) from the Israeli border – highlights Israel's willingness to launch assaults across the country, not just in the south. The Israeli military claimed that it struck a 'key' figure from the Palestinian group Hamas without identifying the target. A Hamas source in Lebanon told Al Araby TV that no senior official from the group was killed in the strike. Lebanon's Annahar newspaper reported that initial reports indicated that the assassination attempt might have failed. Hamas and other Palestinian groups maintain a presence in various areas of Lebanon, mostly in refugee camps that have housed Palestinians for decades. Tripoli is home to the large Beddawi Palestinian refugee camp. Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza in October 2023, Israel has carried out attacks against the Lebanese group Hezbollah and members of Palestinian factions in Lebanon. Hamas's deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri was killed in an Israeli air strike on Beirut's southern suburbs in early 2024. While the ceasefire last year ended the conflict, Israel has continued to carry out strikes on what it says are Hezbollah arms depots and fighters, mostly in southern Lebanon. Israeli attacks have also targeted homes, municipal workers and civilian infrastructure. On Monday, at least one person was killed in a suspected Israeli air attack on a van in the town of Deir Kifa in southern Lebanon. The recent attacks were launched as United States envoy Thomas Barrack was in Lebanon for a two-day visit to discuss disarming Hezbollah. On Monday after meeting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Barrack told reporters he was 'unbelievably satisfied' with Lebanon's reply to a US proposal on taking away Hezbollah's weapons. Barrack, a longtime adviser to US President Donald Trump who also serves as US ambassador to Turkiye and special envoy for Syria, said he believed 'the Israelis do not want war with Lebanon'. 'Both countries are trying to give the same thing – the notion of a stand-down agreement, of the cessation of hostilities and a road to peace,' he said. On Sunday, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem ruled out giving up the group's weapons before Israel withdraws from the areas it still occupies in southern Lebanon in violation of the ceasefire.
