Netanyahu To Meet Trump In US As Gaza Ceasefire Talks Enter Crucial Second Phase: Israeli Official

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu will visit the US to meet President Donald Trump as efforts intensify to move to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire, with Iran, regional security and the fragile truce high on the agenda.

Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will depart for the United States on Sunday and meet with President Donald Trump in Florida a day later, an Israeli official told AFP.

It will be Netanyahu's fifth visit to see Trump in the United States this year.

His trip comes as the Trump administration and regional mediators push to proceed to the second stage of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Trump told reporters in mid-December that Netanyahu would probably visit him in Florida during the Christmas holidays.

"He would like to see me. We haven't set it up formally, but he'd like to see me," Trump said before leaving for his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported on Wednesday that a wide range of regional issues was expected to be discussed, including Iran, talks on an Israel-Syria security agreement, the ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon and the next stages of the Gaza deal.

Progress in moving to the second phase of October's Gaza ceasefire agreement, which was brokered by Washington and its regional allies, has so far been slow.

The ceasefire also remains fragile, with both sides alleging violations and mediators fearing that Israel and Hamas alike are stalling.

Under the second stage, Israel is supposed to withdraw from its positions in Gaza, an interim authority is to govern the Palestinian territory instead of Hamas, and an international stabilisation force (ISF) is to be deployed.

It also includes a provision for Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas to lay down its weapons -- a major sticking point.

On Friday, US news outlet Axios reported that the meeting between Trump and Netanyahu was key to advancing to the next steps of the deal.

Citing White House officials, Axios said that the Trump administration wanted to announce the Palestinian technocratic government for Gaza and the ISF as soon as possible.

It reported that senior Trump officials have grown "increasingly frustrated as Netanyahu has taken steps to undermine the fragile ceasefire and stall the peace process".

Yedioth Ahronoth said the prospect of Iran rebuilding its nuclear programme and ballistic missile capabilities was likely to top the agenda for Netanyahu.

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