Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday he will discuss moving to the next phase of Gaza plan during his visit next week with US President Donald Trump.
Speaking at a joint Press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Iran’s nuclear activities will also be on the talks agenda.
Israel was aware Iran had been conducting ‘exercises’ recently, without elaborating.
Earlier on Monday, Iranian state media reported Iran had held missile drills in various cities during the day, the second such reported exercise in a month.
Western powers regard Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal as both a conventional military threat to Middle East stability and a possible delivery mechanism for nuclear weapons should Tehran develop them.
It denies any intent to build atomic bombs.
He cited Israel’s ‘desire to see a stable sovereign Lebanon’ and efforts to prevent the blocking of international shipping by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi forces.
Relations between eastern Mediterranean neighbours Israel, Greece and Cyprus have grown stronger over the past decade, with shared concerns over Türkiye’s influence in the region.
In Damascus , Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said his country expects the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal to begin early in 2026,
Speaking at a Press conference following talks with US, Qatari and Egyptian officials in Miami over the weekend, Fidan said the discussions focused on obstacles to advancing the deal to its next phase, adding that the priority was for Gaza’s governance to be taken over by a Palestinian-led group.
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