Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet in Washington with US President Donald Trump on December 29. The Israeli prime minister's office reported this on Monday.
Last week, Netanyahu had already announced that Trump had invited him to the White House to advance the second phase of the ceasefire implemented in the Gaza Strip on October 10. However, on the ground, Israel continues to violate it, and approximately 370 Palestinian deaths have been recorded since then.
In this second phase, it is planned to address the disarmament of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, the launch of a transitional technocratic government for the Strip, the arrival of an international stabilization force, and the hypothetical withdrawal of Israel - which now controls more than 50% of Gaza - among other points.
The last conversation between Netanyahu and Trump that has been made public was precisely the one mentioned, a week ago, by telephone and just minutes after the US president published on his networks that Israel should bet on a "firm and real dialogue" with Syria.
These statements came after an Israeli skirmish just 40 kilometers from Damascus that left 13 Palestinians dead, but they do not seem to cloud the relationship between the two leaders.
In fact, almost a month ago, Trump himself formally requested from Israeli President Isaac Herzog the pardon for Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption with three open cases against him.
Additionally, today the US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, is in Israel on a diplomatic visit that will last until Wednesday, after meeting with Jordanian King Abdullah II, holding meetings with Netanyahu, and also with Herzog.
Waltz's trip aims for the "firm commitment of the United States to promoting regional stability, implementing President Trump's 20-point plan for Gaza, and advancing the objectives of UN Security Council Resolution 2803, which sets the path forward for the region," his spokesman detailed in a statement on the eve of the visit.
Among others, the deputy director of the National Security Council, Gil Reich; the Israeli ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon; and the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, attended the meeting with Netanyahu.
Separately, yesterday Netanyahu also met in Jerusalem with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. After thanking the US for its "efforts" to try to resolve the conflict in Gaza, he stated that the second phase of the peace plan is "imminent and will be difficult, even more difficult."
"It will pose a no less overwhelming challenge: the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza. Afterwards, a third (phase) will follow, which will consist of deradicalizing Gaza, something that was also considered impossible, but which was achieved in Germany and Japan."
