Netanyahu meets Trump as Israel, Hamas talk ceasefire

Jeff Mason, Andrea Shalal and Alexander Cornwell | July 8, 2025

US President Donald Trump, who has hosted Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, said the United States had scheduled talks with Iran and had seen good co-operation with Israel’s neighbours on helping Palestinians.

Speaking to reporters at the beginning of a dinner between US and Israeli officials on Monday, Netanyahu said the US and Israel were working with other countries who would give Palestinians a “better future”, suggesting residents of Gaza could move to neighbouring nations.

“If people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave,” Netanyahu said.

“We’re working with the United States very closely about finding countries that will seek to realise what they always say, that they wanted to give the Palestinians a better future. I think we’re getting close to finding several countries.”

Trump and Netanyahu met in Washington while Israeli officials held indirect negotiations with Hamas aimed at securing a US-brokered Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal.

Netanyahu’s visit follows Trump’s prediction, on the eve of their meeting, that such an agreement could be reached this week. Before heading to Washington, the right-wing Israeli leader said his discussions with Trump could help advance negotiations under way in Qatar between Israel and the Palestinian militant group.

It was Trump’s third face-to-face encounter with Netanyahu since returning to office in January, and came just over two weeks after the president ordered the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites in support of Israeli air strikes. Trump then helped arrange a ceasefire in the 12-day Israel-Iran war.

Trump said his administration would be meeting with Iran. Special envoy Steve Witkoff said the meeting would take place in the next week or so. Trump said he would like to lift sanctions on Iran at some point.

Trump and his aides appeared to be trying to seize on any momentum created by the weakening of Iran, which backs Hamas, to push both sides for a breakthrough in the 21-month Gaza war. He has said he also wanted to discuss with Netanyahu the prospects for a “permanent deal” with Iran, Israel’s regional arch-foe.

The two leaders, with their top advisers, held a private dinner in the White House Blue Room, instead of more traditional talks in the Oval Office, where the president usually greets visiting dignitaries.

After arriving overnight in Washington, Netanyahu met earlier on Monday with Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in preparation for his talks with the president. He planned to visit the US Capitol on Tuesday to see congressional leaders.

During their meeting, Netanyahu gave Trump a letter that he said he had used to nominate the US president for the Nobel Peace Prize. Trump appeared pleased by the gesture.

Ahead of their visit, Netanyahu told reporters Israeli negotiators were driving for a deal on Gaza in Doha, Qatar’s capital.

Israeli officials also hope the outcome of the conflict with Iran will pave the way for normalisation of relations with more of its neighbours such as Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia, another issue expected to be on the agenda with Trump.

The Gaza war erupted when Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing around 1200 people and taking 251 hostages. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive.

Israel’s retaliatory war in Gaza has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave’s health ministry. Most of Gaza’s population has been displaced by the war and nearly half a million people are facing famine within months, according to United Nations estimates.

Trump has been strongly supportive of Netanyahu, even wading into domestic Israeli politics in June by lashing out at prosecutors over a corruption trial against the Israeli leader on bribery, fraud and breach-of-trust charges that Netanyahu denies.