U.S. President Donald Trump discussed a resolution to the Gaza conflict with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their second meeting as the White House envoy for the Middle East expected a ceasefire deal by the end of the week.
Trump and Netanyahu held talks at the White House for over an hour in their second meeting in two days on the Gaza war, which flared up on October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian militant organization Hamas attacked Israeli southern parts.
Since then, Israel has launched a massive military campaign in Gaza Strip, where infrastructure has been destroyed and people uprooted from their homes.
Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said negotiators in Qatar, which is facilitating the talks between Israel and the Palestinian militant organization Hamas, have resolved three out of four sticking points and that a temporary ceasefire agreement could be reached this week.
“We are hopeful that by the end of this week, we’ll have an agreement that will bring us into a 60-day ceasefire. Ten live hostages will be released. Nine deceased will be released,” Witkoff said.
The comments came as Palestinian deaths mount in the face of Israeli attacks while the UN warned of a severe humanitarian situation in the besieged Gaza strip.
Witkoff was speaking to reporters at a meeting of President Trump’s Cabinet. He is expected to travel to Qatar later in the week to participate in ceasefire talks.
Meanwhile, a Qatari delegation also met with senior administration officials at the White House Tuesday before Netanyahu’s arrival for a meeting with President Trump, according to a Reuters news report.
A CNN report, citing a source, said the outstanding issue between Israeli and Hamas negotiators was the withdrawal maps for the Israeli military once the ceasefire takes effect.
As per the latest proposal, the Israel Defense Forces would withdraw from parts of northern Gaza on the first day of a ceasefire and from parts of southern Gaza on the seventh day, the channel reported.
Ahead of his second meeting with Netanyahu on Tuesday, the U.S. president said:
“He’s going to come over again tonight. We’re talking about Gaza, mostly Gaza right now.”
“We’re going to be talking about, I would say, almost exclusively, Gaza. We got to get that solved.”
Netanyahu, who met with Vice President J D Vance and the Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, said while the Israeli campaign in Gaza was not done yet, negotiators were “certainly working” on a ceasefire.
“We have still to finish the job in Gaza, release all our hostages, eliminate and destroy Hamas’ military and government capabilities,” he said.
Meanwhile, the United Nations said Tuesday fuel is running out fast for critical humanitarian operations in Gaza, and there are virtually no additional accessible stocks left.
UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said, “hospitals are rationing. Ambulances are stalling. Water systems are on the brink. And the deaths this is likely to cause could soon rise sharply unless the Israeli authorities allow new fuel to get in.”
The story is being updated.
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