Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House next week.
According to Netanyahu’s office, the visit is scheduled for February 4. It will mark him as the first foreign leader to receive an invitation to the White House during Trump’s second term.
A White House official has confirmed that a meeting is scheduled for early next week, although the specific date and time have not yet been finalized, as reported by CBS News, a partner of the BBC in the US.
In a statement to the press on Monday, Trump announced that Netanyahu is expected to visit Washington for a meeting “very soon.” However, he did not provide a specific date for the engagement.
A meeting is taking place amid a six-week ceasefire currently in effect in Gaza, following an agreement reached between Israel and Hamas to pause hostilities.
In a recent statement on Truth Social, Trump asserted that he was instrumental in securing the ceasefire and hostage release deal, which had been announced earlier. He described the agreement as “epic” and attributed its success to his victory in the November presidential election.
The upcoming meeting at the White House follows remarks made by Trump last week, in which he expressed a desire for Egypt and Jordan to accept Palestinians from Gaza, referring to the region as a “demolition site.”
Hamas and the Palestinian Authority condemned the proposal, and Jordan and Egypt also expressed their disapproval.
The proposal to urge Gazans to move to neighbouring countries has been a longstanding agenda among the hardline right-wing factions within Netanyahu’s administration.
The January ceasefire agreement has temporarily halted the conflict that erupted following Hamas’s assault on Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in approximately 1,200 fatalities and the abduction of 251 individuals to Gaza as hostages.
According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, over 47,350 Palestinians, predominantly civilians, have lost their lives in the aftermath of Israel’s military offensive.
