Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 8, 2025
3 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleTrump and Netanyahu met twice to advance Gaza ceasefire talks. Progress has been made, with a potential 60-day ceasefire agreement nearing.
By Andrea Shalal and Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday met for a second time in two days with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss Gaza as Trump's Middle East envoy said Israel and Hamas were closing their differences on a ceasefire deal.
The Israeli leader departed the White House on Tuesday evening after just over an hour's meeting with Trump in the Oval Office, with no press access. The two men also met for several hours during a dinner at the White House on Monday during Netanyahu's third U.S. visit since the president began his second term on January 20.
Netanyahu met with Vice President JD Vance and then visited the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, and is due back in Congress on Wednesday to meet with U.S. Senate leaders.
He told reporters after a meeting with the Republican House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson that while he did not think Israel's campaign in the Palestinian enclave was done, negotiators are "certainly working" on a ceasefire.
"We have still to finish the job in Gaza, release all our hostages, eliminate and destroy Hamas' military and government capabilities," Netanyahu said.
Shortly after Netanyahu spoke, Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said the issues keeping Israel and Hamas from agreeing had dropped to one from four and he hoped to reach a temporary ceasefire agreement this week.
"We are hopeful that by the end of this week, we'll have an agreement that will bring us into a 60-day ceasefire. Ten live hostages will be released. Nine deceased will be released," Witkoff told reporters at a meeting of Trump's Cabinet.
A delegation from Qatar, which has been hosting indirect talks between Israeli negotiators and the Hamas Palestinian militant group, met with senior White House officials for several hours before Netanyahu's arrival on Tuesday, Axios reported, citing a source familiar with the details.
The White House had no immediate comment on the report.
The Gaza war erupted when Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive.
Israel's retaliatory war in Gaza has killed over 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 had strongly supported Netanyahu, even wading into domestic Israeli politics by criticizing prosecutors over a corruption trial against the Israeli leader on bribery, fraud and breach-of-trust charges that Netanyahu denies.
In his remarks to reporters at the U.S. Congress, Netanyahu praised Trump, saying there has never been closer coordination between the U.S. and Israel in his country's history.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Andrea Shalal, Jeff Mason and Susan Heavey; Editing by Don Durfee, Cynthia Osterman, Deepa Babington and Christopher Cushing)
The main topic of the meeting was to discuss the ongoing Gaza conflict and the narrowing gaps in ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
According to Israeli figures, there are currently 50 hostages remaining in Gaza.
Trump's Middle East envoy stated that the issues keeping Israel and Hamas from agreeing have dropped from four to one, with hopes of reaching a 60-day ceasefire agreement soon.
The Gaza war has resulted in the deaths of over 57,000 Palestinians and has displaced most of Gaza's population, with nearly half a million people affected.
Netanyahu indicated that while he believes the campaign in Gaza is not finished, the focus remains on releasing hostages and eliminating Hamas' military capabilities.
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