Ammon News - Trump says a deal to end the nearly two-year war in Gaza, free hostages held by Hamas, and disarm the Palestinian militant group is effectively done following talks with Arab and Muslim leaders last week.

He teased a possible breakthrough on Sunday, posting on his Truth Social network: "ALL ARE ON BOARD FOR SOMETHING SPECIAL, FIRST TIME EVER. WE WILL GET IT DONE!!!"

However, Netanyahu has given little reason for optimism in recent days. He vowed in a defiant UN address on Friday to "finish the job" against Hamas and promised to block a Palestinian state that key Western nations recently recognized. Netanyahu also appears reluctant to halt a military offensive in Gaza City from which hundreds of thousands of people have fled in recent weeks.

It will be Netanyahu’s fourth visit to the White House since Trump returned to power in January, as the US president struggles to end a conflict he said he could solve in days. Normally a staunch ally of Netanyahu, Trump has shown signs of frustration. He warned Netanyahu last week against annexing the occupied West Bank, as some of Netanyahu's cabinet members have urged, and also opposed Israel's recent strike on Hamas members in key US ally Qatar.

Families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza urged Trump to uphold his proposed Gaza ceasefire deal. "We respectfully ask you to stand firm against any attempts to sabotage the deal you have brought forth," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum wrote in an open letter to Trump. "The stakes are too high and our families have waited too long for any interference to derail this progress."

The outcome of the meeting was likely to depend on how much pressure Trump was willing to put on Netanyahu to accept a deal on which both Israel and Hamas are still not sold, said Natan Sachs, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.

The two leaders will hold a news conference at 1:15 pm US eastern time (1715 GMT) on Monday.

Details of the Proposed Deal
Trump sounded increasingly optimistic last week about the prospects of a deal after meeting Arab and Muslim-majority leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. A reported 21-point, US-led deal has begun to take shape in recent days that would include the disarmament of Hamas, the release of all hostages and a ceasefire.

Former British prime minister Tony Blair was floated in some media reports as a possible leader of a transitional authority for Gaza under the US proposals. The body, known as the "Gaza International Transitional Authority," would operate with the support of the UN and Gulf nations before eventually handing control to a reformed Palestinian Authority (PA).

Netanyahu, during his UN speech, firmly rejected the idea of the Ramallah-based PA having a role in governing Gaza, which it did until Hamas seized power in 2007. He expressed deep skepticism on Sunday that the PA could be reformed: "I think that the credibility or the likelihood of... a reformed Palestinian Authority that changes completely its stripes, that accepts a Jewish state, that teaches its children to embrace the coexistence and friendship with the Jewish state... well, good luck," he told Fox News.

Voices from Gaza
In Gaza, people expressed a mix of hope, exhaustion, and distrust ahead of the White House meeting.

"I don't expect anything from Trump, because Trump supports Netanyahu in destroying the Gaza Strip and displacing people to carry out the Riviera project," said Mohammed Abu Rabee, 34, referring to Trump's earlier proposal to turn the Palestinian territory into the "Riviera of the Middle East."

Others voiced cautious hope. "We hope Trump's plan succeeds. We want the war and the killing to stop... the army has destroyed everything in Gaza; Gaza is unliveable," said Hossam Abd Rab, 55.

The Gaza war was triggered by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack that killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians. Israel's offensive has killed 66,005 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory.




AFP