U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met for many days on Tuesday night to discuss the ongoing war in Gaza.
After Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff suggested that Israel and Hamas have one issue left to reach a 60-day ceasefire agreement.
Netanyahu arrived at the White House shortly after 17:00 EST on Tuesday, and the meeting was not open to members of the press.
Earlier on Tuesday, Netanyahu met Vice President JD Vance. He also met Trump for several hours at the White House dinner on Monday.
It marks Netanyahu’s third national visit to the United States since Trump’s second term.
The meeting between the two leaders lasted about two hours.
Netanyahu also spoke with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Afterwards, the Israeli Prime Minister said he did not believe that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza had been completed, but negotiators “will definitely be working” on the ceasefire.
“We still have to work in Gaza, free all hostages, eliminate and destroy Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities,” Netanyahu said.
Witkov later said Israel and Hamas closed the gap on previous issues that prevented them from reaching a deal, and he hoped to agree to a temporary 60-day ceasefire this week.
“We have four problems, and now we have reached one problem,” Witkov said of the striking in the negotiations.
He added that the draft would also include the release of 10 living hostages, as well as the bodies of the late nine people.
Axios cited a person familiar with the matter and said that the Katari delegation arrived at the White House and spoke to officials for hours before the Israeli Prime Minister met with Trump on Monday.
Trump told reporters Monday night that the ceasefire talks were “going smoothly.” But Qatar played a mediation role in the negotiations, which he said Tuesday morning would take more time.
“I don’t think I can give any timeline at the moment, but now I can say we need time to do that,” said Majed Al-Ansari, a spokesman for the Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Before the resumption of discussions on Tuesday, a Palestinian source familiar with the negotiations told the BBC they did not make any progress.
The latest round of negotiations between Hamas and Israel Starting Sunday.
According to Israeli data, the ongoing war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. According to the Hamas Ministry of Health in the region, Israel’s retaliatory offensive killed at least 57,500 people in Gaza.
