US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met for the second time in two days to discuss the Gaza war, the BBC reports.
Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said Israel and Hamas had one issue left to agree on before a 60-day ceasefire could begin. Netanyahu and Trump met behind closed doors on the evening of the 8th of July, without reporters present. Before that, Netanyahu met with US Vice President JD Vance. Vance also attended a dinner at the White House.
This is the third visit by an Israeli prime minister to the US since Trump took office in January. The meeting between the two leaders lasted about two hours. Netanyahu also met with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson.
After the meeting, Netanyahu said he did not consider Israel’s campaign in Gaza to be over, but that the talks were clearly moving toward a ceasefire. “We still have to finish the job in Gaza, release all our hostages, eliminate and destroy Hamas’ military and government capabilities,” the Israeli said. Witkoff then said that
Israel and Hamas were working on issues that had previously prevented a deal, and there was hope that a truce could be reached this week.
He added that the deal would include the return to Israel of the 10 surviving hostages and the bodies of nine people.
A Qatari delegation arrived at the White House before the meeting between US and Israeli officials and held several hours of talks. Trump told reporters on the evening of the 7th of July that the talks were going very well, but Qatar, which has been acting as a mediator in the talks, has said that more time is needed.
Before the talks resumed on Tuesday, a Palestinian source told the BBC that there had been no progress.
The fighting in Gaza began in October 2023, when Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and capturing 251. More than 57,000 people have been killed in the Israeli response.
Read also: Israel strikes Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen
The post appeared first on Baltic News Network.
