Trump to meet with Israel’s Netanyahu at White House

WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday.

Following the talks, which will mark Trump’s first meeting with a foreign leader since his inauguration on Jan. 20, he and Netanyahu are expected to hold a news conference.

Netanyahu's visit to Washington, DC comes as a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas continues to hold in the Gaza Strip, where more than 47,500 Palestinians have been killed since Oct. 7, 2023.

Trump said Monday that he cannot guarantee that the ceasefire in Gaza will hold and told reporters in the Oval Office that he has "no assurances" that the truce will remain in force.

"I've seen people brutalized. Nobody's ever seen anything like it. No, I have no guarantees that the peace is going to hold," he said.

Ahead of his departure on Sunday, Netanyahu told reporters that he would have "a very important meeting" with Trump to discuss "victory over Hamas, achieving the release of all our hostages and dealing with the Iranian terror axis in all its components."

Netanyahu will face a wave of protests during his stay in the US.

Pro-Palestine protesters, including American anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews, are planning a demonstration against Netanyahu.