Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet again this evening (Tuesday, US time) with US President Donald Trump. The meeting will take place against the backdrop of reports indicating progress in negotiations for a hostage deal.
This additional meeting comes amid intense talks between Israel and Hamas taking place in Doha, Qatar, in an effort to reach a prisoner swap agreement.
In a statement to the media at the Capitol following a meeting with Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson, Netanyahu said: "The President and I believe in the doctrine of peace through strength. His standing with us has brought about an extraordinary change in the Middle East. The B-2 pilots showed strength, Israeli fighters fought like lions, and our alliance echoed like thunder. There are opportunities for peace that we intend to seize. We are working together."
Regarding the war in Gaza, he said: "We must finish the job in Gaza, free our hostages, and destroy Hamas’s capabilities because Gaza must have a different future. No country will allow anything less. I discussed this with Trump."
On the negotiations, he said: "We are working on it diligently, but it takes two sides. We will not give up; we have a goal and we intend to achieve it. We agreed to an offer from the mediators, it’s a good proposal. It aligns with the original Wiktor proposal and I hope we can cross the line towards a deal. The less I speak about it publicly, the better. We are talking about a ceasefire, and we are also prepared to end the war on terms that will not allow Hamas to operate anymore — and that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel. There is a plan for how to do this."
Meanwhile, Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Wiktoff, addressed the progress in negotiations for an agreement with Hamas and updated that only one unresolved issue remains.
Wiktor said: "We had four disagreements, and now only one remains. I hope we can reach an agreement by the end of the week."
The unresolved issue at this point is the position of the IDF during the ceasefire.
According to Wiktoff, the emerging agreement includes a 60-day ceasefire during which Hamas is expected to release ten living hostages and nine dead hostages.