Netanyahu to visit White House as US presses for ceasefire

Donald Trump will host Benjamin Netanyahu next Monday as the President says he hopes for a truce with Hamas within a week.

Donald Trump will host Benjamin Netanyahu next week. Picture: AFP.

Donald Trump is to host Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House for talks next Monday as the US presses for a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.

The visit comes as the US President steps up his push on the Israeli government to broker a ceasefire and hostage agreement and bring about an end to the war in Gaza.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier that Mr Netanyahu had “expressed interest” in a meeting with Mr Trump and that both sides were “working on a date”.

“This has been a priority for the President since he took office, to end this brutal war in Gaza,” Ms Leavitt told reporters in a briefing.

“It’s heartbreaking to see the images that have come out from both Israel and Gaza throughout this war, and the President wants to see it end.”

Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer will also hold talks at the White House this week, after Mr Trump said he hoped for a truce in Gaza within a week, and called on Israel to “make the deal in Gaza”.

“I know that Mr Dermer is in Washington this week to meet with senior officials here at the White House,” Ms Leavitt told reporters.

Mr Netanyahu’s visit will be his third to Washington since Mr Trump returned to power in January.

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Palestinian militants seized 251 hostages during Hamas’s attack on Israel and of these, 49 are still believed to be held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

AFP