The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed on Tuesday that US President Donald Trump had invited Benjamin Netanyahu for a meeting at the White House on February 4.
The announcement followed Trump’s statement on Monday that he planned to speak to Netanyahu, who would be traveling to Washington to meet with him.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said the meeting would take place “very soon.” Ahead of the meeting, Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, has begun discussions on Phase Two of the Israel-Hamas hostage deal, sources told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday evening.
Witkoff, who is set to arrive in Israel on Wednesday, will discuss with Netanyahu the next phase of the deal, which will include the release of all the remaining 64 hostages from Hamas captivity, some of whom are confirmed to be dead.
The talks are officially supposed to start only on Monday, day 16 of the ceasefire, according to the original signed deal. However, Qatar and the US have already started discussions on the issue.
On Tuesday, Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. In a statement published by the Qatari foreign office, “The two expressed hope that the hostage deal would reach its second phase and become permanent.”
Netanyahu has stated that Israel would oppose any deal that will officially end the war in Gaza or that will deny Israel the ability to return and fight, leaving Hamas in power.
Another issue that will probably be raised in the Wednesday meeting between Witkoff and Netanyahu is Trump’s recent statements regarding a proposal to move Gazans to Egypt and Jordan.
The president said he had discussed the issue with the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and said, “We helped them a lot, and I’m sure he’d help us. He’s a friend of mine. I think he would do it, and Jordan would do it too.”
A senior Egyptian official denied reports of a phone call between Trump and Sisi, Al-Qahera News reported on Tuesday.
Three sources told the Post that Egypt and Jordan conveyed a message to people close to Trump that if he presses on with his plan, it might hurt normalization efforts. The sources added that they feared the move might impact the stability of the two countries.
Egypt and Jordan have already opposed the idea publicly, but the new warning by other Arab countries is likely to influence the chance of it gaining any traction.
“I’d like to get them living in an area where they can live without disruption and revolution and violence,” Trump said of Palestinians in Gaza.
Trump’s comments come after he floated the idea over the weekend that Egypt and Jordan, which border Israel and the West Bank to the south and east, respectively, should take in Palestinians from Gaza because “almost everything is demolished and people are dying there.”
The new US president said he made the request in a phone call with Jordan’s King Abdullah on Saturday.
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