WASHINGTON, Sept 29, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - US President Donald Trump will host 
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday for 
high-stakes talks aimed at pushing an elusive Gaza peace plan over the line.

Trump says a deal to end the nearly two-year war in Gaza, free hostages held 
by Hamas and disarm the Palestinian militant group is effectively done 
following talks with Arab and Muslim leaders last week.

He teased a possible breakthrough on Sunday, posting on his Truth Social 
network: "ALL ARE ON BOARD FOR SOMETHING SPECIAL, FIRST TIME EVER. WE WILL 
GET IT DONE!!!"

However, Netanyahu has given little reason for optimism in recent days.

He vowed in a defiant UN address on Friday to "finish the job" against Hamas 
and promised to block a Palestinian state that key Western nations recently 
recognized.

Netanyahu also appears reluctant to halt a military offensive in Gaza City 
from which hundreds of thousands of people have fled in recent weeks.

It will be Netanyahu's fourth visit to the White House since Trump returned 
to power in January, as the US president struggles to end a conflict he said 
he could solve in days.

Normally a staunch ally of Netanyahu, Trump has shown signs of frustration.

He warned Netanyahu last week against annexing the occupied West Bank, as 
some of Netanyahu's cabinet members have urged, and also opposed Israel's 
recent strike on Hamas members in key US ally Qatar.

Families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza urged Trump to uphold his proposed 
Gaza ceasefire deal.

"We respectfully ask you to stand firm against any attempts to sabotage the 
deal you have brought forth," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum wrote 
in an open letter to Trump.

"The stakes are too high and our families have waited too long for any 
interference to derail this progress."

The outcome of the meeting was likely to depend on how much pressure Trump 
was willing to put on Netanyahu to accept a deal on which both Israel and 
Hamas are still not sold, said Natan Sachs, senior fellow at the Middle East 
Institute.

"Netanyahu has a clear preference for continuing the war and defeating Hamas, 
but I don't think it's impossible for Trump to convince him otherwise," Sachs 
told AFP.

"It would need a lot of pressure from Trump and a very clear and sustained 
strategy."

The two leaders will hold a news conference at 1:15 pm US eastern time (1715 
GMT) on Monday.

- 'Finish the job' -

Trump sounded increasingly optimistic last week about the prospects of a deal 
after meeting Arab and Muslim-majority leaders on the sidelines of the UN 
General Assembly.

A reported 21-point, US-led deal has begun to take shape in recent days that 
would include the disarmament of Hamas, the release of all hostages and a 
ceasefire.

Former British prime minister Tony Blair was floated in some media reports as 
a possible leader of a transitional authority for Gaza under the US 
proposals.

The body, known as the "Gaza International Transitional Authority", would 
operate with the support of the UN and Gulf nations before eventually handing 
control to a reformed Palestinian Authority (PA).

Netanyahu, during his UN speech, firmly rejected the idea of the Ramallah-
based PA having a role in governing Gaza, which it did until Hamas seized 
power in 2007.

He expressed deep skepticism on Sunday that the PA could be reformed.

"I think that the credibility or the likelihood of... a reformed Palestinian 
Authority that changes completely its stripes, that accepts a Jewish state, 
that teaches its children to embrace the coexistence and friendship with the 
Jewish state, rather than living their lives in order to annihilate it... 
well, good luck," he told Fox News.

- Voices from Gaza -

In Gaza, people expressed a mix of hope, exhaustion and distrust ahead of the 
White House meeting.

"I don't expect anything from Trump, because Trump supports Netanyahu in 
destroying the Gaza Strip and displacing people to carry out the Riviera 
project," said Mohammed Abu Rabee, 34, referring to Trump's earlier proposal 
to turn the Palestinian territory into the "Riviera of the Middle East".

Others voiced cautious hope.

"We hope Trump's plan succeeds. We want the war and the killing to stop... 
the army has destroyed everything in Gaza; Gaza is unliveable," said Hossam 
Abd Rab, 55.

The Gaza war was triggered by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack that killed 
1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally from Israeli 
official figures.

Israel's offensive has killed 66,005 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, 
according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the 
United Nations considers reliable.