- Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump will meet for dinner and will focus on Gaza, Iran and other regional issues.
- The U.S. is satisfied with the Lebanese government's response to a proposal for disarming Hezbollah.
- A group of Palestinian leaders in Hebron wish to leave the Palestinian Authority and make an agreement with Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington, D.C., late Sunday night and is set to have dinner with President Donald Trump Monday evening.
This meeting comes as multiple groups are working toward peace agreements in the Middle East.
Lebanon has responded to a proposal to disarm Hezbollah and could potentially join the Abraham Accords. A group of leaders in the West Bank’s Hebron district want to leave the Palestinian Authority and officially recognize Israel.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues to try to broker a permanent ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza.
Trump’s meeting with Netanyahu
Netanyahu and Trump’s dinner conversation will focus on Gaza, Iran and other regional developments.
On Sunday, Trump told reporters that his administration is “working on a lot of things. One of them is probably a permanent deal with Iran. They have to give up all of the things that you know so well.”
Netanyahu and Trump are also aiming to expand the Trump-brokered Abraham Accords.
Before leaving Israel on Sunday, Netanyahu said that “the opportunity to expand the circle of peace (is) far beyond what we could have imagined before.”
On Sunday, Trump told reporters, “I think we’re close to a deal on Gaza. Could have it this week. I think there’s a good chance we have a deal with Hamas during the week pertaining to quite a few of the hostages. You know, we’ve gotten a lot of the hostages out, but pertaining to the remaining hostages, quite a few, we think we’ll have that done this week.”
Talks are currently ongoing in Doha, Qatar.
This will be Trump and Netanyahu’s third time meeting this year. During Trump’s first term, the two leaders met in Washington five times, and had a sit-down outside of the 2017 United Nations General Assembly. Trump also visited Israel in May 2017.
Ahead of meeting with Trump, the Israeli prime minister is set to have a preparatory meeting with Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also the acting national security adviser.
Netanyahu’s arrival and the dinner were all closed to the press, with the dinner expected to take place in the Blue Room. The pair will not have an Oval Office meeting and will not be holding a joint press conference.
U.S. satisfied with Lebanon’s response to Hezbollah
In June, the U.S. sent Lebanon a proposal on how to disarm the militant Hezbollah group within the country, and on Monday, the U.S. envoy to Lebanon, Tom Barrack, said he was satisfied with the Lebanese government’s response, according to ABC News.
Barrack spoke with journalists after meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, saying both the American and Lebanese sides are committed “to get a resolution.” The envoy said he will study the government’s seven-page response.
“What the government gave us was something spectacular in a very short period of time and a very complicated manner,” Barrack said. “I’m unbelievably satisfied with the response.”
The proposal details the complete disarmament of Hezbollah in exchange for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the southern region of Lebanon, per Fox News. The disarmament is to happen within a four-month timeframe.
The details of the agreement to disarm the terrorist network remain unknown. Reuters reported that Hezbollah could be unwilling to relinquish all of its arms.
Barrack also serves as U.S. ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria. He said he believes that Lebanon and Israel have a shared goal: peace.
“The Israelis do not want war with Lebanon,” he said, per Fox News. “Both countries are trying to give the same thing — the notion of a stand-down agreement, of the cessation of hostilities, and a road to peace.”
The envoy also suggested that the Trump administration could look to add Lebanon to the Abraham Accords, which includes a list of nations that have normalized ties with Israel.
Hebron leaders say they want to leave Palestinian Authority and join the Abraham Accords
A group of top Palestinian leaders in the Hebron district of the West Bank said they are willing to leave the Palestinian Authority and join the Abraham Accords, meaning they would officially recognize the state of Israel.
This group of sheikhs wrote a letter to Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat, sharing their desire to turn the West Bank’s largest district into an emirate which will “recognize the State of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people,” according to The Wall Street Journal. The sheikhs have asked Barkat to present the letter to Netanyahu.
One of these leaders, Sheikh Wadee’ al-Jaabari, is one of the most influential leaders in Hebron and he has urged Israel and Trump to back their plan for self-governance.
“If we will get the blessing of honorable President Trump and the United States for this project, Hebron could be like the Gulf, like Dubai,” Jaabari told The Wall Street Journal.
Since 1994, the Palestinian Authority has been the de facto ruler of the autonomous Palestinian regions.
Between all the sheikhs involved in this initiative, they lead more than 700,000 people in the area, per The Wall Street Journal.
