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Netanyahu to meet Trump at White House as Israel, Hamas discuss ceasefire
US President Donald Trump with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, US, April 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, while Israeli officials hold indirect talks with Hamas, aimed at a US-brokered Gaza hostage-release and ceasefire deal.
Trump said on Sunday there was a good chance such a deal could be reached this week. The Israeli leader said he believed his discussions with Trump would help advance talks underway in Qatar.
It will be Netanyahu’s third White House visit since Trump returned to office in January, and follows Trump’s order last month for US air strikes against Iran and a subsequent ceasefire halting the 12-day Israel-Iran war.
Israel is hoping that its 12-day war with Iran will also pave the way for new diplomatic opportunities in the region.
Avi Dichter, an Israeli minister and a member of Netanyahu’s security cabinet, said he expected Trump’s meeting with the Israeli leader would go beyond Gaza to include the possibility of normalizing ties with Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia.
“I think it will first of all be focused on a term we have often used but now has real meaning; a new Middle East,” he told Israel’s public broadcaster Kan on Monday.
Ahead of the visit, Netanyahu told reporters he would thank Trump for the US air strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, and said Israeli negotiators were driving for a deal on Gaza in Doha, Qatar’s capital.
Israel and Hamas were set to hold a second day of indirect talks in Qatar on Monday. An Israeli official described the atmosphere so far at the Gaza talks, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, as positive. Palestinian officials said that initial meetings on Sunday had ended inconclusively.
A second Israeli official said the issue of humanitarian aid had been discussed in Qatar, without providing further details.
The US-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire envisages a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals from parts of Gaza, and discussions on ending the war entirely. Hamas has long demanded a final end to the war before it would free remaining hostages; Israel has insisted it would not agree to halt fighting until all hostages are free and Hamas dismantled.
Trump told reporters on Friday it was good that Hamas said it had responded in “a positive spirit” and noted that a deal could be reached this week.
Some of Netanyahu’s hardline coalition partners oppose ending the fighting, but, with Israelis having become increasingly weary of the 21-month-old war, his government is expected to back a ceasefire.
The Gaza war erupted when Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive.
The post Netanyahu to meet Trump at White House as Israel, Hamas discuss ceasefire first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy
Thomas Barrack at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., November 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
i24 News – Lebanon’s daunting social, economic and political issues would not get resolved unless the state persists in the efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy behind so much of the unrest and destruction, special US envoy Tom Barrack told The National.
“You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical Arabic name for the region sometimes known as “larger Syria.”
The official stressed the need to follow through on promises to disarm the Iranian proxy, which suffered severe blows from Israel in the past year, including the elimination of its entire leadership, and is considered a weakened though still dangerous jihadist outfit.
“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion. Remember, we have an agreement, it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it,” he told The National.
Barrack spoke on the heels of a trip to Beirut, where he proposed a diplomatic plan for the region involving the full disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese state.
The post Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a cultural forum dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: Sputnik/Alexander Scherbak/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Iranian leadership that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, the Axios website reported on Saturday. The Russian strongman also relayed the message to his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, the report said.
Iranian news agency Tasnim issued a denial, citing an “informed source” as saying Putin had not sent any message to Iran in this regard.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that “Any negotiated solution must respect Iran’s right to enrichment. No agreement without recognizing our right to enrichment. If negotiations occur, the only topic will be the nuclear program. No other issues, especially defense or military matters, will be on the agenda.”
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is attending at least one meeting with Israeli officials in Azerbaijan today, despite sources in Damascus claiming he wasn’t attending, a Syrian source close to President Al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS.
The Syrian source stated that this is a series of two or three meetings between the sides, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also in attendance, along with Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security meetings with Israel.
The high-level Israeli delegation includes a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as security and military figures.
The purpose of the meetings is to discuss further details of the security agreement to be signed between Israel and Syria, the Iranian threat in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah’s weapons, the weapons of Palestinian militias, the Palestinians camps in Lebanon, and the future of Palestinian refugees from Gaza in the region.
The possibility of opening an Israeli coordination office in Damascus, without diplomatic status, might also be discussed.
The source stated that the decision to hold the meetings in Azerbaijan, made by Israel and the US, is intended to send a message to Iran.
The post Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan first appeared on Algemeiner.com.