Trump hosts Netanyahu, hopes for Israel-Hamas deal

ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected yesterday to meet US President Donald Trump, who expressed hope for a “deal this week” between Israel and Hamas that sees hostages released from the Gaza Strip.

- 

Indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas began at the weekend in Doha, aiming to broker a ceasefire and reach an agreement on the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Trump said there was a “good chance” of reaching an agreement.

“We've gotten a lot of the hostages out, but pertaining to the remaining hostages, quite a few of them will be coming out,” he told journalists.

Netanyahu, speaking before boarding his flight to Washington at the weekend, said his meeting with Trump could “definitely help advance this” deal.

The US president is pushing for a truce in the Gaza Strip, plunged into a humanitarian crisis after nearly two years of war.

Netanyahu said he dispatched the team to Doha with “clear instructions” to reach an agreement “under the conditions that we have agreed to.”

He previously said Hamas's response to a draft US-backed ceasefire proposal, conveyed through Qatari and Egyptian mediators, contained “unacceptable” demands.