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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet US President Donald Trump in Florida on Monday, an Israeli official told AFP, in what is seen as a crucial visit for the next steps of the fragile Gaza truce plan.
It will be Netanyahu’s fifth visit to see key ally Trump in the United States this year.
His trip comes as the Trump administration and regional mediators push to proceed to the second stage of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
An Israeli official on Saturday said Netanyahu would leave for the US on December 28 and meet with Trump a day later in Florida, without providing a specific location.
Trump told reporters in mid-December that Netanyahu would probably visit him in Florida during the Christmas holidays.
“He would like to see me. We haven’t set it up formally, but he’d like to see me,” Trump said before leaving for his Mar-a-Lago resort.
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Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported on Wednesday that a wide range of regional issues was expected to be discussed, including Iran, talks on an Israel-Syria security agreement, the ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon and the next stages of the Gaza deal
Concerning Gaza, the timing of the meeting is “very significant”, said Gershon Baskin, the co-head of peacebuilding commission the Alliance for Two States, who has taken part in back-channel negotiations with Hamas.
“Phase one is basically over, there’s one remaining Israeli deceased hostage which they (Hamas) are having difficulty finding,” he told AFP.
“Phase two has to begin, it’s even late and I think the Americans realise that it’s late because Hamas has had too much time to re-establish its presence and this is certainly not a situation that the Americans want to leave in place,” he added.
