U.S. president Donald Trump is expected to meet Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on the evening of Monday, December 29th—amid growing fears about escalation in Gaza and the wider Middle East region.
PM Netanyahu left Israel on Sunday on his fifth official visit to Trump in the United States this year. The duo’s meeting has been moved up to 1 p.m. local time, according to updated schedules released by the White House. A separate meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also been brought forward to 10 a.m. local time.
Netanyahu said in December that Trump had invited him for talks, as Washington pushes for stability in Gaza. The Israeli prime minister added one week ago that discussions are expected to cover the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire, as well as Iran and Lebanon. Washington brokered ceasefires on all three fronts, but Israel remains wary that its enemies could rebuild their forces after being significantly weakened during the war.
High on the agenda will be the ceasefire in Gaza, which in October halted a devastating two-year-long conflict started by Hamas. While the terms agreed for an initial phase have largely been completed—with Israeli forces pulling back to new positions and Hamas releasing all living hostages and all but one of the dead—major challenges remain over the implementation of the second phase of Trump’s 20-point plan.
