Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington. Their third meeting this year comes after recent Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran and will be dogged by questions over how hard Trump will push for an end to Israel’s 21-month war against Hamas in Gaza.
The war in Gaza is at the top of the agenda.
Times of Israel: As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed Israel on Sunday for Washington, where he will meet with US President Donald Trump, he highlighted his opposition to any hostage deal that would ultimately leave Hamas in power in Gaza. “Twenty living hostages remain and 30 who are fallen. I am determined, we are determined, to bring back all of them,” the premier told reporters, as he prepared to board the Wing of Zion state plane. But, he added, “we are determined to ensure that Gaza will no longer constitute a threat to Israel. That means, we will not allow a situation that encourages more kidnappings, more murders, more beheadings, more invasions.” “That means one thing: eliminating Hamas’s military and governing capabilities. Hamas will not be there,” he said. An Israeli negotiating team was traveling to Doha, meanwhile, for indirect talks with the terror group on a deal (Times of Israel).
PM Netanyahu emphasized, “I am committed to eliminating Hamas military and governmental capabilities — Hamas will no longer be in Gaza; we will remove it from there.”
Hamas, meanwhile, has accepted the framework for a ceasefire: The 60-day cease-fire proposal, crafted by US special envoy Steve Witkoff and officials from Egypt and Qatar, includes the exchange of 30 deceased and 10 living hostages for a higher number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, officials familiar with the plan told The Wall Street Journal. It also includes a timeline for the releases, with eight living hostages promised on the first day and two more on Day 50 — and the withdrawal of Israeli military forces from Gaza. If signed by the warring sides, it’s expected that President Trump would announce the deal, according to the report (New York Post).
Netanyahu seeks Gaza deal ‘on our terms,’ vows Hamas will be destroyed
At meeting Monday, Trump reportedly wants to finalize framework for ending the war; PM insists that when that happens, ‘Hamas will not be there’; also said to still reject PA role
By Lazar Berman, Nava Freiberg and ToI Staff 6 July 2025:
As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed Israel on Sunday for Washington, where he will meet with US President Donald Trump, he highlighted his opposition to any hostage deal that would ultimately leave Hamas in power in Gaza.
“Twenty living hostages remain and 30 who are fallen. I am determined, we are determined, to bring back all of them,” the premier told reporters, as he prepared to board the Wing of Zion state plane.
But, he added, “we are determined to ensure that Gaza will no longer constitute a threat to Israel. That means, we will not allow a situation that encourages more kidnappings, more murders, more beheadings, more invasions.”
“That means one thing: eliminating Hamas’s military and governing capabilities. Hamas will not be there,” he said. An Israeli negotiating team was traveling to Doha, meanwhile, for indirect talks with the terror group on a deal.
Asked whether there will be a hostage deal within the week, Netanyahu turned back to the reporters — something he rarely does – and said: “We are working to reach this deal under the terms we have agreed to.”
“I sent a team to the negotiations with clear directives,” he said. “I think the conversation with President Trump can certainly help advance the outcome we are all hoping for.”
Gaza is expected to be the main subject of Monday’s discussion between Netanyahu and Trump, who has repeatedly called in recent days for an end to the war that began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
Trump said on Tuesday that Israel had accepted the latest ceasefire proposal, which provides for the release in five separate stages of 10 living and 18 slain hostages, in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire, an influx of humanitarian aid to the Strip, and the release of many Palestinian security prisoners and detainees. (Eight living hostages would be freed on the first day and two released on the 50th day, according to an Arab diplomat from one of the mediating countries. Five slain hostages would be returned on the seventh day, five more on the 30th day and eight more on the 60th day. That would leave 22 hostages still held in Gaza, 10 of them believed to be alive. It is not clear whether Israel or Hamas would determine who would be released.)
Hamas on Friday gave what it called a “positive” response to the proposal. However, the terror group stressed it has reservations about the proposed truce, most notably its temporary nature, and has demanded a guarantee that agreeing to the deal will lead to a permanent end of the war.
Netanyahu’s office called the demands — which also concerned aid mechanisms and IDF troop withdrawals — “unacceptable.”
The so-called Witkoff proposal on which the nascent deal is based provides for negotiations on a permanent ceasefire to be completed during the 60-day truce period. However, it adds that if the permanent ceasefire is not finalized in that period, “the temporary ceasefire may be extended under conditions and for a duration to be agreed upon by the parties so long as the parties are negotiating in good faith.”
One of Hamas’s reservations reportedly relates to the phrase “so long as the parties are negotiating in good faith,” which it wants deleted since it fears Netanyahu would exploit that phrase to avoid ending the war.
A Channel 12 report on Friday claimed Trump could personally pledge to do his utmost to ensure the success of negotiations on a permanent end to the war. Trump, the unsourced report claimed, could publicly “commit that negotiations over the terms for ending the war will continue even after a temporary ceasefire, and that he will do everything in his power to help the parties reach an agreement on the terms of a permanent ceasefire.”
Channel 12, citing senior US officials, reported that Trump wishes to finalize a framework for ending the war during Monday’s meeting.
A central topic the leaders will discuss is the “day after” plan in Gaza, the network said. It said post-war governance of the Strip would also be the main focus of diplomatic talks during the 60-day truce, should Hamas and Israel agree to the overall deal.
According to the report, Netanyahu continues to insist that the Palestinian Authority can have no role in governing post-war Gaza, while Trump’s proposal remains to be seen.
Israel is willing to be more flexible on its stance that Hamas leaders be exiled from the Gaza Strip as part of the agreement, said Channel 12. That is because, according to an Israeli official, “There aren’t many senior Hamas officials left in Gaza. They wouldn’t fill a ship to be exiled; even a paddleboard would do.”
AUTHOR
Pamela Geller
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