Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet President Donald Trump in Florida tomorrow, an Israeli official said.
His trip comes as the Trump administration and regional mediators push to proceed to the second stage of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Trump told reporters in mid-December that Netanyahu would probably visit him in Florida during the Christmas holidays.
“He would like to see me. We haven’t set it up formally, but he’d like to see me,” Trump said before leaving for his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that a wide range of regional issues was expected to be discussed, including Iran, talks on an Israel-Syria security agreement, the ceasefire with Hizbollah in Lebanon and the next stages of the Gaza deal.
Under the second stage, Israel is supposed to withdraw from its positions in Gaza, an interim authority is to govern the Palestinian territory instead of Hamas, and an international stabilisation force (ISF) is to be deployed.
It also includes a provision for Palestinian movement Hamas to lay down its weapons – a major sticking point.
On Friday, US news outlet Axios reported that the meeting between Trump and Netanyahu was key to advancing to the next steps of the deal.
Citing White House officials, Axios said that the Trump administration wanted to announce the Palestinian technocratic government for Gaza and the ISF as soon as possible.
It reported that senior Trump officials have grown “increasingly frustrated as Netanyahu has taken steps to undermine the fragile ceasefire and stall the peace process.”
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