Benjamin Netanyahu nominates President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize
President Donald Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House.
WASHINGTON, July 9 (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that a meeting with US President Donald Trump focused on releasing hostages held in Gaza, highlighting his determination to “exclude” Hamas’ military and government capabilities.
Netanyahu said in X that the leaders also discussed the outcome and potential of the “great victory we achieved over Iran” following the aviation war that the US joined Israel’s attacks on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites last month.
Netanyahu has made his third visit to the US since Trump took office on January 20th and had no idea that Israeli campaigned on the Palestinian enclave had been held, but negotiators had told reporters they didn’t think they were “certainly working” in the ceasefire.
Netanyahu also said ceasefire efforts were ongoing.
Trump met Netanyahu in two days on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Gaza. The President’s Middle Eastern envoy shows Israel and Hamas are approaching a ceasefire agreement after nearly two years of war.
Qatari delegation, hosting indirect consultations between Israeli negotiators and Palestinian extremist group Hamas, met with senior White House officials on Tuesday before Netanyahu arrived.
The White House did not immediately comment on the report.
Steve Witkov, a special envoy to the Middle East, said the number of issues that would keep Israel and Hamas from reaching an agreement has fallen from four to one, and by the end of the weekend he has expressed optimism about a temporary ceasefire deal.
Witkov told reporters at the cabinet meeting that the expected agreement would include a 60-day ceasefire, releasing 10 live hostages and nine dead individuals.
Netanyahu will meet with Vice President J.D. Vance, visit the US Capitol on Tuesday and return to Congress on Wednesday to meet with US Senate leaders.
He told reporters after meeting with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson that he didn’t think there was an Israeli campaign on the Palestinian enclave, but negotiators “certainly work” in the ceasefire.
“We still need to finish our work in Gaza, release all hostages, eliminate and destroy Hamas’ military and government capabilities,” Netanyahu said.
Israeli figures show that the Gaza conflict began with a Hamas attack on southern Israel in October 2023, killing around 1,200 people and 251 hostages. Currently, around 50 hostages remain in Gaza, with 20 being believed to be alive.
Israel’s war of retaliation, as reported by the Gaza Health Ministry, killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, reducing the majority of Gaza to tile rubs.
Hamas has long demanded that the war be ended before the remaining hostages be released. Israel claims it does not agree to end the battle until all hostages are released and Hamas is dismantled.
The United Nations estimates that most of Gaza’s population has been displaced and nearly half a million people will face hunger in the coming months.
Netanyahu expressed his hope that Israel could expand Abraham’s agreement. In 2020, normalised transactions were reached between the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco under US mediation.
“We are working on this with full vitality,” Netanyahu said in X.
Trump was a strong supporter of Netanyahu and even walked into Israeli politics at home by criticizing prosecutors for corrupt trials against Israeli leaders over charges of bribery, fraud and trust violations Netanyahu denied.
In his remarks to a US Congress reporter, Netanyahu praised Trump and said there was no close coordination between the US and Israel in his country’s history.
(Reporting by Enas Alashray, Written by Tala Ramadan, Editing by Michael Georgy, Clarence Fernandez and Saad Sayeed)
