Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a landmark meeting with US President Donald Trump in Florida on December 29 to discuss the second phase of the Gaza peace plan that halted the two-year war on Gaza, according to AFP.
This will mark Netanyahu’s fifth visit to see Trump in the United States this year.
His visit coincides with ongoing efforts by the Trump administration and regional mediators to advance the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
“He would like to see me. We haven’t set it up formally, but he’d like to see me,” Trump said in mid-December.
The talks come at a crucial time as concerns have been increasing due to Israel’s ongoing violation of the ceasefire deal.
The second phase of the deal features Israel’s withdrawal from its positions in Gaza and the deployment of an international stabilization force while assigning the governance of Gaza to an interim authority instead of Hamas.
Since October’s agreement between Israel and Hamas took effect, progress has been so slow in moving to the following stage.
Currently, the Trump administration is pressing to unveil both a Palestinian technocratic government for Gaza and the deployment of the ISF as soon as possible, according to White House officials cited by US news outlet Axios.
The report also revealed that senior Trump officials have grown increasingly frustrated, accusing Netanyahu of undermining the fragile ceasefire and halting the peace process.
The specter of Iran reviving its nuclear ambitions and bolstering its ballistic missile arsenal will be at the top of Netanyahu’s agenda, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
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