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 group 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.
