Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his delegation landed Monday morning at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, ahead of his scheduled meeting with US President Donald Trump.
As of now, the official White House agenda lists only a closed dinner between the two leaders, with no public remarks planned. However, changes are still possible, and it is likely both Trump and Netanyahu will choose to speak publicly about the achievements of the war against Iran.
Israel Hayom has learned that the US is pressuring Qatar to "deliver" on efforts to finalize a deal for the release of hostages held by the Hamas terrorist organization. According to a source familiar with the matter, from the White House's perspective, with Israel having responded positively to the latest proposal, it is now Qatar's responsibility to ensure Hamas agrees as well.
The Israeli negotiating team in Doha updated Netanyahu's entourage that the atmosphere in the talks regarding the hostages is positive. A member of the prime minister's delegation rejected reports that the negotiations had stalled and said there was a good chance of reaching a new agreement during Netanyahu's visit to Washington this week.
Against this backdrop, President Trump spoke at length about the deal and said, among other things: "We're working on a lot of things. One of them is probably a permanent deal with Iran. The strike, according to every expert in the Atomic Committee, resulted in total destruction. They'll have to start over somewhere else."
"I believe we're close to a deal on Gaza," he added. "I think there's a good chance we have a deal with Hamas during the coming week. We've gotten a lot of the hostages out, but pertaining to the remaining hostages, quite a few of them will be coming out."
