Netanyahu arrives in strong position for his meeting with Trump after joint Iran action

Donald Trump will host Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington DC today as the US president seeks again to broker a peace deal in Gaza and the Israeli prime minister takes a victory lap through the Oval Office after a joint military campaign against Iran and a series of successful strikes against Tehran and its proxies in the Middle East.

- Andrew Roth

Netanyahu and Trump have a complex personal relationship - and Trump openly vented his frustration last month during efforts to negotiate a truce with Iran - but the two have appeared in lockstep since the US launched a bombing run against Iran's nuclear programme, fulfilling a key goal for Israeli war planners.

Netanyahu arrives in Washington in a strong political position, observers have said, potentially giving him the diplomatic cover he would need to end the war in Gaza without facing a revolt from his rightwing supporters that could lead to the collapse of his government.

Hamas this week responded "positively" to a 60-day Israeli ceasefire proposal. But its negotiators have wanted Israel to guarantee a permanent end to the war, and to manage the distribution of aid in Gaza through the UN rather than the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has had a tumultuous rollout marred by near-daily incidents of Israeli soldiers opening fire on civilians gathering near its distribution sites, killing hundreds of people.