• American president says Hamas must be disarmed
• Warns Washington may strike again if Iran is rebuilding nuclear programme
• Israeli PM claims never had ‘friend like Trump in White House’

PALM BEACHL: US President Donald Trump met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida on Monday for talks on breaking a deadlock over the Gaza ceasefire and addressing Israeli concerns about Iran and Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Speaking to reporters as the two leaders entered Trump’s Mar-a-Lago beach club in Florida, Trump struck a decidedly supportive tone with Netanyahu, even as some aides and allies have suggested the Israeli leader was slow-walking elements of the ceasefire accord signed in October.

Trump said he wanted to move to the second phase of the ceasefire deal between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas as soon as possible, but that “there has to be a disarming of Hamas”. He added that he would be open to supporting another rapid Israeli attack on Iran if that country keeps developing its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes.

“I feel that if you had the wrong prime minister, Israel would not exist,” Trump told reporters, in remarks full of praise for the Israeli leader.

He said Israeli President Isaac Herzog had told him he planned to pardon Netanyahu of corruption-related charges.

He added that he hoped Israel could get along with Syria, even as Netanyahu’s government has consistently infringed upon Syrian territorial sovereignty since former strongman Bashar al-Assad was deposed late last year.

Five minutes

Trump said he and Netanyahu had settled three difficult issues on Gaza within five minutes of meeting.

“We had about a five-minute meeting, and we’ve already settled about three of the difficulties,” he added.

Speaking at the event, Netanyahu said: “We’ve never had a friend like President Trump in the White House”.

The Israeli premier also met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth ahead of his talks with Trump.

Trump is reportedly keen to announce as soon as January a Palestinian technocratic government to replace Hamas’s rule in Gaza, and the deployment of an international stabilisation force.

Fragile ceasefire

Netanyahu’s visit caps a frantic few days of international diplomacy in Palm Beach, where Trump hosted Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday for talks on ending Russia’s invasion.

The Gaza ceasefire in October is one of the major achievements of Trump’s first year back in power, but his administration and regional mediators want to keep up the momentum.

The first phase of the truce deal stipulated that Hamas release the remaining prisoners, both dead and alive, taken during its 2023 attack on Israel. The group has so far returned all the living captives and the remains of all but one.

Under the second stage, Israel is supposed to withdraw from its positions in Gaza, while Hamas is supposed to lay down its weapons.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2025