US President Donald Trump with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, US, April 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, while Israeli officials hold indirect talks with Hamas, aimed at a US-brokered Gaza hostage-release and ceasefire deal.

Trump said on Sunday there was a good chance such a deal could be reached this week. The Israeli leader said he believed his discussions with Trump would help advance talks underway in Qatar.

It will be Netanyahu’s third White House visit since Trump returned to office in January, and follows Trump’s order last month for US air strikes against Iran and a subsequent ceasefire halting the 12-day Israel-Iran war.

Israel is hoping that its 12-day war with Iran will also pave the way for new diplomatic opportunities in the region.

Avi Dichter, an Israeli minister and a member of Netanyahu’s security cabinet, said he expected Trump’s meeting with the Israeli leader would go beyond Gaza to include the possibility of normalizing ties with Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia.

“I think it will first of all be focused on a term we have often used but now has real meaning; a new Middle East,” he told Israel’s public broadcaster Kan on Monday.

Ahead of the visit, Netanyahu told reporters he would thank Trump for the US air strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, and said Israeli negotiators were driving for a deal on Gaza in Doha, Qatar’s capital.

Israel and Hamas were set to hold a second day of indirect talks in Qatar on Monday. An Israeli official described the atmosphere so far at the Gaza talks, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, as positive. Palestinian officials said that initial meetings on Sunday had ended inconclusively.

A second Israeli official said the issue of humanitarian aid had been discussed in Qatar, without providing further details.

The US-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire envisages a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals from parts of Gaza, and discussions on ending the war entirely. Hamas has long demanded a final end to the war before it would free remaining hostages; Israel has insisted it would not agree to halt fighting until all hostages are free and Hamas dismantled.

Trump told reporters on Friday it was good that Hamas said it had responded in “a positive spirit” and noted that a deal could be reached this week.

Some of Netanyahu’s hardline coalition partners oppose ending the fighting, but, with Israelis having become increasingly weary of the 21-month-old war, his government is expected to back a ceasefire.

The Gaza war erupted when Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive.