President Donald Trump is set to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday, marking their second meeting since Trump returned to office.
The visit – confirmed Saturday by both U.S. and Israeli officials – comes as Israel expands military operations in Gaza.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has said Israel plans to seize large swaths of the enclave to incorporate into its so-called security zones.
The meeting follows last month’s Israeli airstrikes that broke a fragile cease-fire, part of a campaign to force Hamas to accept new truce terms backed by Washington.
The renewed offensive has added hundreds of Palestinian deaths on top of the already existing tens of thousands.
Israel has vowed to intensify its military campaign in Gaza until Hamas releases the remaining hostages taken during the Oct. 7, 2023, incursion that ignited the ongoing conflict in the enclave.
Tel Aviv has also halted all supplies of food, fuel and humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on social media that he and Trump would discuss “the tariff issue, the efforts to return our hostages, Israel-Türkiye relations, the Iranian threat, and the battle against the International Criminal Court.” Israel faces a 17% tariff.
Netanyahu is wanted by the court for alleged crimes against humanity in Gaza. The U.S. is not a member of the court.
In February, Netanyahu became the first foreign leader invited to the White House during Trump’s second term.
Their meeting focused on Israel’s attacks on Gaza and next steps as a cease-fire deal took hold.
At a joint news conference afterward, Trump proposed that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be permanently resettled outside the territory and that the U.S. take “ownership” in redeveloping the area into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
Palestinians objected to leaving their homeland, and Arab nations and rights groups sharply criticized the idea.
That February meeting gave Netanyahu a chance to highlight the Trump administration’s support for Israel, defend the conduct of the war, and distract from political pressures at home.
Those pressures have only grown as Israelis protest both the lack of a deal to bring remaining hostages home and Netanyahu’s moves to fire the head of the country’s domestic security agency and its attorney general.
In a statement Saturday, relatives of hostages held in Gaza pleaded with Trump to “please use all your power to pressure Netanyahu to end this war and bring our hostages back now.”
“We are addressing President Trump: Netanyahu is lying when he says that military pressure will bring back the abductees. The only way to quickly return all the abductees is to end the war and return them all in one fell swoop,” Ifat Calderon, the aunt of hostage Ofer Calderon, said in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Hamas says it will only release the remaining 59 hostages in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting cease-fire and an Israeli pullout from Gaza.
The Oct. 7 incursion on southern Israel killed about 1,200 people.
Some 251 hostages were taken, most of whom have since been released in cease-fire agreements and other deals.
More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza as part of Israel’s offensive, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Meanwhile, police arrested two of Netanyahu’s close associates this week on suspicion of accepting money from Qatar to promote a positive image of the Gulf Arab state in Israel. Qatar, a key mediator for Hamas in its negotiations with Israel, denies backing the group. Netanyahu says the case is baseless.
The prime minister is also the subject of a long-running corruption trial and frequently rails against what he calls a “deep state” that he alleges is out to get him.
Trump says the first foreign trip of his second administration will include stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and possibly the United Arab Emirates, as well as “other places.” The trip could happen as soon as May. Trump has said he wants to reward Saudi Arabia for its investment in the U.S. and that all three Gulf countries will make commitments to create jobs in the U.S. during his trip.
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