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Trump, Netanyahu Hold Talks as US President Warns ‘No Guarantees’ Peace in Gaza Will Hold 

This combination of pictures created on November 07, 2024 shows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) attends a meeting with US President Joe Biden in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 25, 2024, and former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (R) attends a town hall meeting moderated by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan, on September 17, 2024. (AFP)
This combination of pictures created on November 07, 2024 shows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) attends a meeting with US President Joe Biden in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 25, 2024, and former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (R) attends a town hall meeting moderated by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan, on September 17, 2024. (AFP)
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Trump, Netanyahu Hold Talks as US President Warns ‘No Guarantees’ Peace in Gaza Will Hold 

This combination of pictures created on November 07, 2024 shows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) attends a meeting with US President Joe Biden in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 25, 2024, and former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (R) attends a town hall meeting moderated by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan, on September 17, 2024. (AFP)
This combination of pictures created on November 07, 2024 shows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) attends a meeting with US President Joe Biden in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 25, 2024, and former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (R) attends a town hall meeting moderated by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan, on September 17, 2024. (AFP)

President Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are set to meet Tuesday as the Israeli prime minister faces competing pressure from his right-wing coalition to end a temporary truce against Hamas in Gaza and from war-weary Israelis who want the remaining hostages home and the 15-month conflict to end.

Trump is guarded about the long-term prospects for the truce, even as he takes credit for pressuring Hamas and Israel into the hostage and ceasefire agreement that went into effect the day before he returned to office last month.

"I have no guarantees that the peace is going to hold," Trump told reporters Monday.

The leaders' talks are expected to touch on concerns about Iran's nuclear program, but hammering out the second phase of the hostage deal will be at the top of the agenda.

Netanyahu's arrival in Washington for the first foreign leader visit of Trump's second term comes as the prime minister's popular support is lagging. Netanyahu is in the middle of weekslong testimony in an ongoing corruption trial that centers on allegations he exchanged favors with media moguls and wealthy associates. He has decried the accusations and said he is the victim of a "witch hunt."

Being seen with Trump, who is popular in Israel, could help distract the public from the trial and boost Netanyahu’s standing.

It's Netanyahu's first travel outside Israel since the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for him, his former defense minister and Hamas’ military chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity during the war in Gaza. The US does not recognize the ICC's authority over its citizens or territory.

Netanyahu and Trump's Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff on Monday began the daunting work of brokering the next phase of a ceasefire agreement.

But Netanyahu is under intense pressure from hard-right members of his governing coalition to abandon the ceasefire and resume fighting in Gaza to eliminate Hamas. Bezalel Smotrich, one of Netanyahu’s key partners, vows to topple the government if the war isn’t relaunched, a step that could lead to early elections.

Hamas, which has reasserted control over Gaza since the ceasefire began last month, has said it will not release hostages in the second phase without an end to the war and Israeli forces’ full withdrawal. Netanyahu, meanwhile, maintains that Israel is committed to victory over Hamas and the return of all hostages captured in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war.

Mira Resnick, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for Israeli and Palestinian affairs, said Trump may "have little patience for political woes of Netanyahu if it gets in the way of the broader goals of this administration."

"The president started his term by saying that he wanted the ceasefire to be in place by Jan. 20. That's what he got," Resnick said. "He is invested in this because he was able to take credit for it."

Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is among the hostages, called on Trump to use American leverage to keep Netanyahu committed to the agreement.

Matan, 24, is among those who are expected to be included in the second phase of the deal, when all remaining living hostages — including men under the age of 50 and male soldiers — are to be exchanged for a yet-to-be-determined number of Palestinian prisoners. The second phase is also expected to include the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

"I want President Trump to know there are certain extreme elements from within Israel who are trying to torpedo his vision," said Zangauker, who traveled to Washington from Israel to join a planned Tuesday rally outside the White House. "We are representative of the vast, vast majority of Israel. The ultra-extremists are blackmailing the prime minister to do their bidding."

Since returning to office, Trump has called for relocating Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring Egypt and Jordan, even as Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordanian King Abdullah II have rejected it. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League have joined Egypt and Jordan in rejecting plans to move Palestinians out of their territories in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Hard-line right-wing members of Netanyahu's government have embraced the call to move displaced Palestinians out of Gaza.

Netanyahu on Monday met with Trump’s pick to serve as ambassador to Israel, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and evangelical leaders. Huckabee has long rejected a Palestinian state in territory previously seized by Israel.

The prime minister is also expected to press Trump to take decisive action on Iran. Tehran has faced a series of military setbacks, including Israeli forces significantly degrading Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon as well as an operation that decimated Iran's air defenses. The moment, Netanyahu believes, has created a window to decisively address Tehran's nuclear program.

"This is one of the most important and critical meetings between an American president and an Israeli prime minister," said Eytan Gilboa, an expert on US-Israel relations at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv. "What’s at stake here is not just bilateral relations between Israel and the United States but the reshaping of the Middle East."

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Arab World

US Response Muted on New Israeli West Bank Measures

Israeli machinery levels land ahead of settlement construction near Jenin in the occupied West Bank, Dec. 23, 2025 (EPA)
Israeli machinery levels land ahead of settlement construction near Jenin in the occupied West Bank, Dec. 23, 2025 (EPA)
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US Response Muted on New Israeli West Bank Measures

Israeli machinery levels land ahead of settlement construction near Jenin in the occupied West Bank, Dec. 23, 2025 (EPA)
Israeli machinery levels land ahead of settlement construction near Jenin in the occupied West Bank, Dec. 23, 2025 (EPA)

Days ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, his government moved on measures framed as procedural but laden with far-reaching sovereign implications.

Decisions by Israel’s security cabinet have made it easier for Israelis to purchase land in the West Bank and expanded Israeli enforcement tools in areas formally administered by the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo Accords.

A White House official reiterated President Donald Trump’s opposition to annexing the West Bank, but Washington’s response stopped short of any concrete measures.

The position, attributed to an unnamed official and unaccompanied by deterrent action, prompted speculation that the US stance amounted to tacit acquiescence rather than active opposition.

On the eve of Netanyahu’s arrival, Reuters cited a White House source as saying Trump continues to oppose Israeli annexation of the West Bank and views “stability” there as consistent with the goals of peace and Israel’s security.

The manner in which the position was conveyed, however, left room for interpretation. The issue, analysts say, is less whether Washington rejects annexation in principle than whether it opposes the cumulative steps that could lead to it.

Israeli officials have framed the measures as administrative, but critics view them as part of a broader pattern aimed at gradually altering conditions in the West Bank. Such steps, they argue, create facts on the ground that are later treated as irreversible.

In this reading, formal opposition to annexation does not preclude policies that effectively advance it without an explicit declaration, a process some observers describe as incremental annexation.

Limited US response

Restricting the US reaction to an unattributed statement suggests an effort to balance competing priorities: signaling continuity in Washington’s stated position while avoiding a confrontation with Netanyahu ahead of his visit.

Diplomats note that this approach indicates US objections are being managed through messaging rather than through policy leverage.

Even when the US language is explicit, its impact is limited unless it is accompanied by political cost. Governments typically adjust behavior in response to incentives or penalties, not statements alone.

In this context, the absence of measures reduces the deterrent effect of US opposition, leaving Israel with room to maneuver.

The timing of the Israeli decisions sends parallel messages. Domestically, they signal continued commitment to policies favored by right-wing constituencies and settler groups. Internationally, they suggest that reversing on-the-ground changes is becoming increasingly complex.

The approach reflects a familiar strategy of establishing new realities ahead of any renewed political process.

The moves also highlight the influence of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich within the governing coalition and his stated objective of undermining the practical foundations of a Palestinian state, even if the concept remains part of official rhetoric.

Measures described as technical adjustments thus take on broader political significance.

Impact on the two-state framework

The West Bank remains central to any viable Palestinian state. Steps that weaken Palestinian administrative authority or alter control over land are therefore assessed primarily by their effect on the feasibility of statehood.

Critics argue the latest measures move in the opposite direction, further blurring the distinction between Israeli control and Palestinian self-governance.

From Washington’s perspective, the situation underscores a broader contradiction. An administration that has shown limited engagement with the international consensus on a two-state solution is, in practice, also narrowing the range of alternative outcomes.

As prospects for two states diminish, analysts warn that other scenarios become more likely, including prolonged security control or recurring instability, complicating the US's assertions that current policies promote stability.

Reports in the US press citing Arab and Islamic condemnation, as well as concern at the United Nations, indicate that the West Bank remains a sensitive issue for many governments, including those maintaining ties with Israel.

Any perception of US leniency risks weakening those partners’ positions domestically.

At the United Nations, repeated warnings from international bodies have reaffirmed legal frameworks that Israel views as restrictive, but which others consider essential to any settlement.

While this divide is longstanding, critics note that developments on the ground are advancing faster than diplomatic efforts to address them.

As Washington emphasizes the importance of stability in the West Bank, the debate increasingly centers on what that stability entails: a temporary calm sustained by existing realities, or one underpinned by a credible political horizon.

For now, analysts say, each new Israeli step is being viewed less as an isolated decision than as a test of the credibility of the US's stated opposition.

Arab World

Israel Steps Up Targeted Killings of Senior Hamas, Islamic Jihad Figures

Palestinians mourn victims of Israeli strikes in Gaza City, Tuesday (Reuters)
Palestinians mourn victims of Israeli strikes in Gaza City, Tuesday (Reuters)
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Israel Steps Up Targeted Killings of Senior Hamas, Islamic Jihad Figures

Palestinians mourn victims of Israeli strikes in Gaza City, Tuesday (Reuters)
Palestinians mourn victims of Israeli strikes in Gaza City, Tuesday (Reuters)

Israel has intensified a targeted military campaign in the Gaza Strip, pressing ahead with airstrikes aimed at senior operatives from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, citing what it describes as repeated ceasefire violations linked to armed fighters emerging from tunnels in Rafah.

The strikes have focused on areas west of the so-called “yellow line,” Israeli-designated restricted zones, with Israel again using the Rafah tunnel incident as a security pretext to hit targets it says were previously identified.

Israel says it considers such incidents breaches of the ceasefire agreement and has used them to justify continued attacks on militant targets inside the enclave.

Moreover, Israeli forces are conducting round-the-clock intelligence operations inside Gaza, relying heavily on unmanned aerial vehicles that continuously patrol the enclave and use advanced technology to identify targets.

These efforts are supported by electronic surveillance, including phone monitoring, as well as human intelligence, according to sources.

In the latest strike, carried out around midday on Tuesday, two Palestinians were killed when an Israeli airstrike hit an electric bicycle traveling along Salah al-Din Road near the entrance to the village of al-Masdar in central Gaza.

The two were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, while a third person at the scene was wounded.

Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that one of those killed was Asim Abu Holi, commander of the elite unit of Saraya al-Quds, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, in central Gaza. Another militant accompanying him was critically wounded.

The second fatality was an elderly civilian who happened to be passing through the area.

The developments coincided with the killing of Palestinian woman Abeer Hamdan, who was shot dead by Israeli forces north of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Later, another young man was killed in the south of the city.

At least seven Palestinians were also wounded in separate shooting incidents involving Israeli vehicles and drones near yellow-line areas in Gaza City and the town of Beit Lahiya in the north.

By midday Tuesday, more than 589 Palestinians had been killed since the ceasefire took effect on October 10, 2025. The total death toll since Oct. 7, 2023, has exceeded 72,000, according to local figures.

On Monday evening, hours after the Rafah incident, an Israeli helicopter struck a residential apartment in the al-Nasr neighborhood of Gaza City, killing three Palestinians, including a child.

Sources said the strike targeted three senior militants from the Beit Hanoun Battalion of Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.

Two of them were killed, while a third, the child’s father, was critically wounded.

The sources said the targeted militants had led months-long field operations against Israeli forces in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, including bombings and sniper attacks. Al-Qassam Brigades had previously released videos documenting those operations, which it said resulted in Israeli casualties.

Elsewhere on Monday, a Palestinian farmer was shot dead by Israeli forces in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. At the same time, an older man was killed by Israeli fire near the yellow line northwest of Beit Lahiya.

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said Israel was “escalating its violations of the Gaza ceasefire under false pretexts, disregarding the efforts of mediators and guarantor states seeking to maintain calm,” adding that those parties must act to compel Israel to halt the breaches.

Rafah tunnels

The Israeli military said on Tuesday that its attacks on Hamas operatives were in response to a ceasefire violation in Rafah. It claimed on Monday morning that it had detected an armed group emerging from Rafah tunnels and firing at Israeli troops, prompting forces to kill them.

Some images published later showed that among the dead was Anas Issa al-Nashar, the son of a veteran Hamas leader and one of the movement’s early founders and former political bureau members.

However, videos circulated on social media by unidentified accounts appeared to show armed members of the Yasser Abu Shabab gang killing some of the militants, rather than Israeli forces.

Similar incidents have occurred repeatedly, in which the gang has abducted and killed Palestinians before handing them over to Israeli forces, according to local accounts.

Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, said the actions of such gangs reflected “complete alignment with the occupation” and the execution of its agenda, describing them as “a desperate attempt to assert themselves.”

He added that Israel would not be able to protect them, asserting that the fighters killed in the Rafah tunnels were slain by the gang, not by Israeli troops.

Rafah crossing

In a related development, Israeli authorities have kept the Rafah crossing partially open for more than a week, allowing limited passenger movement in both directions.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said it facilitated the departure of 50 travelers on Tuesday, including 19 patients, most of the remainder being their companions, as part of ongoing humanitarian efforts to evacuate medical cases for treatment abroad.

Another 50 travelers returned late Monday.

As of Monday evening, a total of 397 travelers had crossed Rafah, out of 1,600 scheduled to travel in both directions, representing a compliance rate of about 25%, according to the government media office.

Arab World

Lebanon, Jordan Seek Solutions After Damascus Bans Non-Syrian Trucks

Lebanese truck drivers block the road on the Lebanese side of the Masnaa border crossing in protest against Syria's decision to ban non-Syrian trucks from entering its territory, on February 10, 2025. (AFP)
Lebanese truck drivers block the road on the Lebanese side of the Masnaa border crossing in protest against Syria's decision to ban non-Syrian trucks from entering its territory, on February 10, 2025. (AFP)
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Lebanon, Jordan Seek Solutions After Damascus Bans Non-Syrian Trucks

Lebanese truck drivers block the road on the Lebanese side of the Masnaa border crossing in protest against Syria's decision to ban non-Syrian trucks from entering its territory, on February 10, 2025. (AFP)
Lebanese truck drivers block the road on the Lebanese side of the Masnaa border crossing in protest against Syria's decision to ban non-Syrian trucks from entering its territory, on February 10, 2025. (AFP)

Lebanon and Jordan are seeking a solution with Syria after the latter barred foreign trucks from entering its territory, officials from both countries told AFP on Tuesday.

Damascus had issued a decision on Saturday stipulating that "non-Syrian trucks will not be allowed to enter" the country, and that goods being imported by road must be unloaded at specific points at border crossings.

The decision exempts trucks that are only passing through Syria to other countries.

Dozens of trucks unable to enter the country were lined up on the Lebanese side of the Masnaa border crossing on Tuesday, an AFP photographer saw.

Ahmad Tamer, head of land and maritime transportation at the Lebanese transport ministry told AFP that discussions were underway with Damascus over the decision.

He said the issue was not specifically targeting Lebanon -- which is trying to reset ties with Damascus after the fall of Bashar al-Assad -- adding that he hoped to hold a meeting with the Syrian side soon.

Lebanon sends around 500 trucks to Syria per day, according to Tamer.

In Jordan, also affected by the decision, transport ministry spokesperson Mohammed al-Dweiri told AFP that "discussions are currently underway, and we are awaiting a response from the Syrian side regarding allowing foreign trucks to enter and cross".

Dweiri said that Jordanian trucks were continuing to unload their cargo at the free zone at the Nassib border crossing with Syria despite some "confusion".

Around 250 Jordanian trucks travel to Syria daily, according to him.

A source in the Syrian General Authority for Ports and Customs told AFP that the decision aimed to "regulate the movement of cargo through the ports".

Representatives of unions and associations in Lebanon's transport sector denounced the decision on Tuesday and warning of "negative repercussions", according to the state-run National News Agency.

Syria is the only land route Lebanon can use to export merchandise to wealthy Gulf markets.

As part of continued attempts to rekindle ties, the two countries signed an agreement on Friday to hand around 300 Syrian convicts over to Damascus.