President Trump will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday, several people familiar with the meeting confirmed to CBS News on Saturday.
This would be their second meeting of Mr. Trump’s second term. The two last met in Washington, D.C. in February, when Mr. Trump unveiled his plan for the U.S. to “take over Gaza” and turn it into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
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The meeting by the two leaders comes amid a stepped-up offensive in Gaza that the Israeli military said is aimed at putting pressure on Hamas to release the remaining hostages and, eventually, expel the militant group.
Hamas, which had long been designated a terrorist organization by Israel and the U.S. even before it carried out the brutal Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza, said Friday that Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza was creating a “highly dangerous” situation for the hostages still held there. It warned that half of the living captives were in areas where the Israeli army had ordered evacuations.
“Half of the living Israeli (hostages) are located in areas that the Israeli occupation army has requested to be evacuated in recent days,” Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, said in a statement, AFP reported. “We have decided not to transfer these (hostages)… but (this situation) is highly dangerous to their lives.”
Hamas says it will only release the remaining 59 hostages — 24 of whom are believed to be alive — in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli pullout from Gaza. The group has rejected demands that it lay down its arms or leave the territory.
Israel has issued sweeping evacuation orders for parts of northern Gaza ahead of expected expansions in its ground operations. The U.N. humanitarian office said around 280,000 Palestinians have been displaced since Israel abruptly ended a ceasefire with Hamas last month that had been brokered by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar.
To pressure Hamas, Israel has imposed a monthlong blockade on food, fuel and humanitarian aid that has left civilians facing acute shortages as supplies dwindle — a tactic that rights groups say is a war crime. Israel said earlier this week that enough food had entered Gaza during a six-week truce to sustain the territory’s roughly 2 million Palestinians for a long time.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages, most of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements and other deals. Israel rescued eight living hostages and has recovered dozens of bodies.
More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza as part of Israel’s offensive, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t say whether those killed are civilians or combatants. The ministry says more than half of those killed were women and children. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.
contributed to this report.
