Trump and Netanyahu met for the second time in two days, resolving differences in Gaza ceasefire talks

(Patria) - U.S. President Donald Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the second time in two days to discuss Gaza, as Trump's Middle East envoy stated that Israel and Hamas are resolving their differences regarding a ceasefire agreement. The Israeli leader left the White House on Tuesday evening after a meeting of just over an hour with Trump in the Oval Office, with no access to the media. They also met for several hours over dinner at the White House on Monday, during Netanyahu's third visit to the United States since the president began his second term on January 20, Reuters reported.

Netanyahu met with Vice President J.D. Vance, and then visited the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, and is scheduled to return to Congress on Wednesday to meet with Senate leaders.

He told reporters after meeting with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson that while he doesn't think the Israeli campaign in the Palestinian enclave is over, negotiators are "certainly working" on a ceasefire.

"We still have to finish the job in Gaza, free all our hostages, eliminate and destroy the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas," Netanyahu said.

Shortly after Netanyahu spoke, Trump's Special Envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said that the issues preventing Israel and Hamas from reaching an agreement had narrowed to one out of four, and that he hoped a temporary ceasefire agreement would be reached this week.

"We hope by the end of this week to have an agreement that will lead us to a sixty-day ceasefire. Ten living hostages will be released. Nine deceased will be released," Witkoff told reporters at a meeting of Trump's cabinet. A delegation from Qatar, which has been hosting indirect negotiations between Israeli negotiators and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, met with senior White House officials hours before Netanyahu's arrival on Tuesday," Axios reported, citing a source familiar with the details. The White House had no immediate comment on the report.

The war in Gaza erupted when Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. About fifty hostages are still in Gaza, and twenty are believed to be alive. Israel's attacks have killed over 57,000 Palestinians. Most of Gaza's population has been displaced, and nearly half a million people face starvation, according to United Nations estimates.

Trump has strongly supported Netanyahu, even interfering in domestic Israeli politics by criticizing prosecutors in the corruption trial against the Israeli leader over charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, which Netanyahu denies.

In his address to reporters in the U.S. Congress, Netanyahu praised Trump, saying that never in his country's history has there been closer coordination between the United States and Israel.