By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday met with the US President Donald Trump in the oval office raises speculation that the Trump administration is planning to announce that it has finalized its agreement to end the conflict in Gaza and released the remaining Israeli hostages held there, as per media reports.
US has secured initial backing for the plan from Arab and Muslim partners needed for the postwar management of Gaza, media reported.
Israel was still deliberating the plan on Sunday, while Hamas said it hadn’t even been presented with it yet, as per The Times of Israel.
According to media reports, 1 of the plan’s 21 points stated that much of the agreement can move forward even if Hamas doesn’t agree, including the establishment of a new transitional government of Palestinian technocrats and an international stabilization force in areas cleared of Hamas’s presence — which includes the vast majority of the Strip.It said that without Hamas releasing the remaining 48 hostages, it’s unlikely that Israel will agree to halt its offensive in Gaza City and beyond.
Netanyahu met with West Bank settlement leaders on Sunday night ahead of his Monday meeting with US President Donald Trump, and said that he will raise the issue of Israel applying sovereignty to the West Bank, The Times of Israel reported.
He also acknowledged that he was faced with a “complicated reality,” signaled that Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank is unlikely.
Netanyahu’s allies to the right, including settlement leaders, have been pushing for Israel to apply its sovereignty to parts of the West Bank, particularly as a reaction to the wave of Western countries recognizing a Palestinian state.
Trump has ruled out Israeli West Bank annexation, and the UAE, which normalized relations with Israel five years ago, said the move would be a “red line,” as per The Times of Israel.
Netanyahu said that Israel must “navigate a complicated reality.” “We have a supportive president,” Netanyahu reportedly said regarding Trump. “Remember the Obama era, when he told us not to lay even one brick.”
He wrote that the “clear message of settlement is, no to a Palestinian state, yes to applying sovereignty.”
