U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waves following a gathering within the White House, in Washington, U.S., April 7, 2025. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit the White House subsequent week for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump, a U.S. official stated Monday (June 30, 2025), as Washington ramps up the pressure for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The July 7 visit — Mr. Netanyahu’s third since Mr. Trump returned to energy in January — comes after Mr. Trump stated that he hoped for a truce within the war-ravaged Palestinian territory inside every week.
A Trump administration official confirmed the visit to AFP on situation of anonymity.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated earlier that Mr. Netanyahu had “expressed interest” in a gathering with Mr. Trump and that each side had been “working on a date.
“This has been a precedence for the president since he took workplace, to finish this brutal conflict in Gaza,” Ms. Leavitt told reporters in a briefing.
“It’s heartbreaking to see the photographs which have come out from each Israel and Gaza all through this conflict, and the president desires to see it finish.”
A senior Israeli official, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, is due to visit the White House this week for talks to lay the ground for Netanyahu’s visit, Leavitt said.
Mr. Netanyahu became the first foreign leader to visit Mr. Trump in his second term in February, when the U.S. President surprised him by suddenly announcing a plan for the United States to “take over” Gaza.
The Israeli premier visited again in April.
The end of Israel’s 12-day war with Iran has provided a window of opportunity for a deal, with Trump keen to add another peace agreement to a series of recent deals he has brokered.
“We suppose even subsequent week, we’re going to get a ceasefire,” Trump told reporters on Friday. He followed up by pressing Israel in a post on his Truth Social network on Sunday to “make the deal in Gaza”.
But on the ground, Israel has continued to pursue its offensive across the Palestinian territory in a bid to destroy the militant group Hamas.
Gaza’s civil defence company stated Israeli forces killed no less than 51 individuals on Monday, together with 24 at a seafront relaxation space.
Mr. Trump in the meantime, appeared to leverage U.S. support to Israel over the weekend as he referred to as for that nation’s prosecutors to drop corruption costs in opposition to Netanyahu.
“The United States of America spends Billions of Dollar a 12 months, way over on every other Nation, defending and supporting Israel. We are usually not going to stand for this,” Mr. Trump posted.
The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Palestinian militants seized 251 hostages during Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Of these, 49 are still believed to be held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 56,531 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers these figures to be reliable.
Published – July 01, 2025 02:31 am IST