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Heavily-armed soldiers stand guard as work starts on the construction of a new road for Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. Six thousand miles away, US President Donald Trump prepares to meet Benjamin Netanyahu for talks aimed at securing a pathway to peace in the powder keg Middle East.
The visit is Mr Netanyahu's fourth to the White House since January. Balaclava-clad commandos clutching machine guns stood guard as excavation work started near the Palestinian village of Beit Ur al-Tahta, west of Ramallah.
It coincided with a wave of protests at President Trump's decision to grant an audience with increasingly-isolated Mr Netanyahu, who is under mounting pressure to explain why he has failed to return the remaining hostages held in Gaza while his military continues its blitz of the enclave.
According to Israel, 75 were killed in Hamas captivity on October 7, 2023. There are 48 hostages remaining in captivity in the Gaza Strip, 47 of whom were abducted when the terror cell launched its cross-border murder spree.
Mr Netanyahu will arrive in the US later today, looking to shore up his country’s most important relationship amid growing international seclusion.
Speaking ahead of the visit, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas were "very close" to reaching an agreement on a framework deal to end the war in Gaza and ensure lasting peace in the Middle East.
Leavitt, speaking on Fox News' "Fox and Friends" program, said President Donald Trump would discuss a 21-point peace plan with the Israeli Prime Minister. She said Trump would also speak to leaders in Qatar, who have served as intermediaries with Hamas.
Last week, during a chastening appearance at the UN General Assembly, delegates turned their backs on him and walked out in protest at his country’s ongoing war in Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu delivered a blistering attack on what he said was a “disgraceful decision” by Britain, France, Canada, Australia and other countries to officially recognise the State of Palestine in what was a major diplomatic shift.
President Trump criticised moves to recognise Palestine as a prize to Hamas but claimed progress was being made on a framework to end the war in the Palestinian territory and free Hamas-held hostages.
The meeting will focus on the president’s 21-point plan to end the Gaza war, set up a postwar governing mechanism, and bring home the hostages held by the terror group, 20 of whom are still thought to be alive.
President Trump said: “We’re getting a very good response because Bibi (Netanyahu) wants to make the deal too. Everybody wants to make the deal.
“It’s called peace in the Middle East, more than Gaza. Gaza is a part of it. But it’s peace in the Middle East.”
In 2024, following an investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Mr Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, Israel’s former Minister of Defence of Israel, alleging responsibility for starvation as a method of warfare and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts during the Gaza war.
The warrant issued against Netanyahu is the first against the leader of a Western-backed democratic country for alleged war crimes.
English (US) · 