It has emerged that Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will meet US President Donald Trump on 4th February, at the White House.
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that the Israeli PM is the first foreign leader to be invited to the White House during Trump’s second term.
Although yet to be confirmed by the Trump administration, the president last Monday, while onboard Air Force One said Netanyahu would be travelling to Washington to meet him “very soon.” He, however, did not give a specific date.
The meeting comes as a six-week ceasefire is being observed in Gaza after a deal was struck between Israel and Hamas to halt the war, with Trump claiming credit for getting the ceasefire deal.
Last week, Trump said that he wanted Egypt and Jordan to take in Palestinians from Gaza after describing the strip as a “demolition site.”
Both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority condemned the proposal. Jordan and Egypt have also rejected the idea.
The idea of encouraging Gazans to relocate to neighbouring countries has long been pushed by hardline right-wing members of Netanyahu’s government, reports the BBC.
The January ceasefire deal has paused the war, which began when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 back to Gaza as hostages.
More than 47,200 Palestinians, the majority civilians, have been killed in Israel’s subsequent offensive, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says.
