WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that new negotiations were in the works aimed at getting more hostages released from Hamas captivity in Gaza.
“We’re working now on another deal that we hope will succeed, and we’re committed to getting all the hostages out,” Netanyahu told reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump, for his part, said: “We are trying very hard to get the hostages out. We’re looking at another ceasefire, we’ll see what happens.”
Netanyahu added that “the hostages are in agony, and we want to get them all out”.
The Israeli leader, seated next to Trump, highlighted an earlier hostage release agreement negotiated in part by Trump’s regional envoy Steve Witkoff that “got 25 out”.
Netanyahu’s visit follows the collapse of Israel’s six-week truce with Palestinian group Hamas, whose fighters launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 that triggered Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza.
The Israeli campaign in response has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, and destroyed much of the housing and hospital infrastructure in the enclave. The death toll is feared to be much higher due to thousands still missing under the rubble.
The fragile ceasefire ended with Israel’s resumption of air strikes on Gaza on March 18.
The recent truce had allowed the return of 33 Israeli hostages, eight of whom were dead, in exchange for the release of some 1,800 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
The prime minister and his government maintain — against the advice of most hostage families — that increased military pressure is the only way to force Hamas to return the remaining hostages, dead or alive.
Of the 251 hostages abducted during Hamas’s October 7 attack, 58 remain in captivity in Gaza, including 34 who the Israeli military says are dead.
On another issue, after staying silent of late on his much-criticised idea of the United States taking over Gaza and displacing its two million people, Trump plugged it again on Monday.
“I think it’s an incredible piece of important real estate, and I think it’s something that we would be involved in,” Trump said.
“But you know, having a peace force like the United States there, controlling and owning the Gaza Strip would be a good thing, because right now … all I hear about is killing and Hamas and problems,” Trump said.
He added: “And if you take the people, the Palestinians, and move them around to different countries, and you have plenty of countries that will do that, and you really have a freedom, a freedom zone.”
Trump has repeatedly spoken of Gaza, which the Palestinians want as part of a future state of their own, as a business opportunity for America, saying Gaza could be transformed into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
Countries around the world and, in particular, Arab nations have rejected this proposal vehemently, including Egypt and Jordan, where Trump has suggested the Palestinians of Gaza be sent to live.
Netanyahu also promised to eliminate Israel’s trade surplus with the US, a move likely to be closely watched by world leaders as Trump’s tariff policy roils global markets.
“We intend to do it very quickly,” Netanyahu said as he sat beside Trump in the White House Oval Office.
“We think it’s the right thing to do, and we’re going to also eliminate trade barriers.”
Netanyahu was the first foreign leader to meet with Trump at the White House since the US president announced a sweeping tariff policy last week that has hammered global financial markets and raised concerns of a recession.
The United States, Israel’s closest ally and largest single trading partner, last year had a $7.4 billion goods trade deficit with Israel. Under Trump’s new policy, Israeli goods face a 17 per cent US tariff.
When asked if his administration planned to reduce tariffs on Israeli goods, Trump made no promises.
“We’ve been ripped off and taken advantage of by many countries over the years, and can’t do it anymore,” he said.
Israel had already moved to cancel its remaining tariffs on US imports last Tuesday. The two countries signed a free trade agreement 40 years ago and about 98pc of goods from the US are now tax-free.
