Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Washington. [Source: Reuters]
U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for pivotal talks on Monday to press him to back a Gaza peace proposal aimed at ending a nearly two-year-old war that has seen Israel face growing international isolation.
In Netanyahu’s fourth visit since Trump returned to office in January, the right-wing Israeli leader was looking to shore up his country’s most important relationship after a slew of Western leaders formally embraced Palestinian statehood last week in defiance of the U.S. and Israel.
Trump, who had sharply criticized the recognition moves as a prize for Hamas, was seeking Netanyahu’s agreement on a framework to end the war in the Palestinian territory and free the remaining hostages held by the militants.
It marked a stepped-up diplomatic effort by a president who vowed during the 2024 presidential campaign to quickly bring the conflict to a close and has since repeatedly claimed that a deal was near, only for it to fail to materialize.
Stream the best of Fiji on VITI+. Anytime. Anywhere.
