Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at the White House on Monday for high-level peace talks on a ceasefire and security plan for Gaza.
When asked about the prospect for a peace deal between Israel and Hamas terrorists, President Donald Trump nodded and shouted back multiple times with few words.
"I am very confident," he said.
When asked about a "21-point plan: Is everyone on board?" Trump nodded again, repeating "very confident."
Earlier, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt urged both sides to finalize an agreement to bring an end to the nearly 2-year-old war in Gaza.
"Ultimately the president knows when you get to a good deal, both sides are going to leave a little bit unhappy," Leavitt told reporters. "But we need this conflict to end."
Trump and Netanyahu are first holding talks with aides in the Oval Office. A joint press conference is expected later.
The uncertainty surrounding the meeting casts it as "one of the most critical" in the yearslong relationship between the two leaders, said professor Eytan Gilboa, an expert on U.S.-Israeli relations at Bar-Ilan and Reichman universities.
"Netanyahu might have to choose between Trump and his coalition members," a number of whom want the war to continue, Gilboa said. A move by Netanyahu to end the war would leave him on shaky political ground at home a year before elections.
Trump joined forces with Netanyahu during Israel's brief war with Iran in June, ordering U.S. stealth bombers to strike three nuclear sites, and he has supported the Israeli leader during his corruption trial, describing the case as a "witch hunt."
But the relationship has become more tense lately. Trump was frustrated by Israel's strike this month on Hamas officials in Qatar, a U.S. ally in the region that had been hosting negotiations to end the war in Gaza.
Recent comments have hinted at growing impatience from Washington. Last week, Trump vowed to prevent Israel from annexing the West Bank — an idea promoted by some of Netanyahu's hard-line governing partners. The international community opposes annexation, saying it would destroy hopes for a two-state solution.
Trump raised expectations for the meeting with Netanyahu, telling reporters Friday the U.S. was "very close to a deal on Gaza."
Trump's proposal to stop the war in Gaza calls for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages within 48 hours and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian enclave, according to three Arab officials briefed on the plan. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plan has not been formally unveiled.
Hamas is believed to be holding 48 hostages, 20 of whom are believed by Israel to be alive. The terrorist group has demanded Israel agree to end the war and withdraw from all of Gaza as part of any permanent ceasefire.
Trump discussed the plan with Arab and Islamic leaders in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. It does not include the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, which Trump appeared to endorse earlier this year.
The 21-point proposal also calls for an end to Hamas rule of Gaza and the disarmament of the terrorist group, said the officials briefed on the plan. Hundreds of Palestinians, including many serving life sentences, will be released by Israel, according to the proposal.
The plan also includes the establishment of an international security force to take over law enforcement in postwar Gaza, they said.
A Palestinian committee of technocrats would oversee the civilian affairs of the strip, with power handed over later to a reformed Palestinian Authority, they said. Netanyahu has rejected any role for the organization, the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinians, in postwar Gaza.
A Hamas official said the group was briefed on the plan but has yet to receive an official offer from Egyptian and Qatari mediators. The group has repeatedly rejected laying down arms and has linked its weapons to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
Netanyahu acknowledged the U.S. plan Sunday in a televised interview, saying Israeli officials were "working with President Trump's team ... and I hope we can make it a go."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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