1 week Ago By Associated Press
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — President Donald Trump plans to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday in what would be their second White House sit-down since Trump’s return to office. The visit, confirmed by a White House official and Netanyahu’s office Saturday, comes as Israel deploys troops in a new security corridor across Gaza to pressure the Hamas militant group.
Netanyahu’s defense minister has said Israel will seize large areas of the territory and add them to its so-called security zones. Last month, Israel shattered the ceasefire with a surprise bombardment in Gaza after trying to pressure Hamas to accept proposed new terms for the ceasefire, a move supported by the White House. Hundreds of Palestinians have since been killed.
Israel has pledged to escalate the war in Gaza until Hamas returns the remaining hostages seized in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war, disarms and leaves the territory. Israel also has halted all supplies of food, fuel and humanitarian aid into Gaza.
In a statement on social media, Netanyahu’s office said he and Trump would discuss “the tariff issue, the efforts to return our hostages, Israel-Turkey relations, the Iranian threat and the battle against the International Criminal Court.” Israel faces a 17 percent tariff. Netanyahu is wanted by the court for alleged crimes against humanity in Gaza.
The U.S. is not a member of the court.
In February, Netanyahu became the first foreign leader invited to the White House during Trump’s second term. Their meeting focused on Israel’s war with Hamas and the next steps as a ceasefire deal took hold. During a joint news conference afterward, Trump made the surprise proposal that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be permanently resettled outside the territory and the United States take “ownership” in redeveloping the area into “the Riviera of the Middle East.
” Palestinians objected to leaving their homeland, and Arab nations and rights groups sharply criticized the idea. That February meeting gave Netanyahu a chance to remind the world of the Trump administration’s support for Israel, defend the conduct of the war and distract from political pressures back home. Those pressures have only grown as Israelis protest both the lack of a deal to bring remaining hostages home from Gaza and Netanyahu’s moves to fire the head of the country’s domestic security agency and its attorney general.
He also faces calls to accept responsibility for his role in failing to prevent the Oct. 7 attack..
