JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to begin talks with the new Trump administration on a second phase of the Gaza ceasefire as he visited Washington on Monday.
Just over two weeks after the Gaza truce began, two Hamas officials said the group was ready to begin talks on the details of a second phase, which could help secure a lasting cessation of violence.
Before leaving Israel, Netanyahu told reporters he would discuss “victory over Hamas”, countering Iran and freeing all prisoners when he meets President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
It will be Trump’s first meeting with a foreign leader since returning to the White House in January, a prioritisation Netanyahu said showed “the strength of the Israeli-American alliance”.
Hamas says it’s ready to begin talks on details of second phase
With fragile ceasefires holding in both Gaza and Lebanon, Israel has turned its focus to the occupied West Bank.
Netanyahu said Israel’s wartime decisions had reshaped the Middle East and that with Trump’s support, this could go “even further”.
Trump, who has claimed credit for sealing the ceasefire deal after 15 months of conflict, said on Sunday negotiations with Israel and other countries in the Middle East were “progressing”.
“Netanyahu’s coming on Tuesday, and I think we have some very big meetings scheduled,” Trump said.
Netanyahu’s office said he would begin discussions with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff on Monday over terms for the second phase of the Gaza truce.
The next stage is expected to cover the release of the remaining prisoners and could lead to a more permanent end to the war.
One Hamas official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks, said the Palestinian group “has informed the mediators… that we are ready to start the negotiations for the second phase”.
A second official said Hamas was “waiting for the mediators to initiate the next round”.
The Washington discussions are also expected to cover normalisation efforts between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which Riyadh froze early in the Gaza war.
Under the Gaza ceasefire’s first, 42-day phase, Hamas is to free 33 prisoners in staggered releases in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Four hostage-prisoner exchanges have already taken place, and the truce has led to a surge of food, fuel, medical and other aid into rubble-strewn Gaza.
While Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden sustained Washington’s military and diplomatic backing of Israel, it also criticised the mounting death toll and aid restrictions. Trump moved quickly to reset relations.
In one of his first acts back in office, he lifted sanctions on Israeli settlers accused of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and reportedly approved a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs that the Biden administration had blocked.
Trump has also repeatedly touted a plan to “clean out” Gaza, calling for Palestinians to move to neighbouring countries such as Egypt or Jordan.
Qatar, which jointly mediated the ceasefire along with the United States and Egypt, underscored the importance of allowing Palestinians to “return to their homes and land”.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, meanwhile, warned on Monday that relocating Gazans “would be tantamount to ethnic cleansing”.
Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2025
