Netanyahu Heads to Washington to Discuss Future of Gaza With Trump

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was traveling to Washington on Sunday for meetings this week with President Trump and senior administration officials at a pivotal moment for the Middle East.

Mr. Trump has made it clear that he wants the wars in the Middle East to end after the October 2023 Hamas-led assault on Israel set off 15 months of devastating conflict in Gaza that also spread to Lebanon. Before boarding his plane on Sunday, Mr. Netanyahu made several references to “peace.”

“The decisions we made in the war have already changed the face of the Middle East,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “I believe that we can strengthen security, broaden the circle of peace and achieve a remarkable era of peace through strength,” he added.

Mr. Netanyahu is expected to be the first foreign leader to meet with Mr. Trump since his inauguration last month. The Israeli leader is expected to hold formative discussions with the Trump administration about several crucial regional issues.

Negotiations are supposed to start on Monday for the second phase of the cease-fire deal for Gaza that would turn the temporary truce that came into effect on Jan. 19 into a more permanent cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas and see the release of all the remaining hostages being held there.

Attesting to the fragility of the situation on the ground, an Israeli aircraft on Sunday fired toward a vehicle in Gaza that the military said was advancing north along an unauthorized route instead of the agreed inspection route, breaking days of calm in the Palestinian enclave. Gaza’s Ministry of Health did not immediately report any fatalities.

In addition, the trial stage of a U.S.-brokered cease-fire for Lebanon is set to expire on Feb. 18, by which time both the Israeli military and Hezbollah are meant to have vacated the southern part of that country.

Overarching issues for the future of the Middle East also remain on the agenda. Those include curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions and support for armed proxies on Israel’s borders, as well as the possibility of a grand bargain involving formal ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a major regional player.

Mr. Netanyahu said from the tarmac on Sunday that the issues to be discussed with Mr. Trump include “victory over Hamas, achieving the release of all our hostages and dealing with the Iranian terror axis in all its components.”

His office said that Mr. Netanyahu is expected to meet with Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s Middle East envoy, on Monday and with Mr. Trump on Tuesday.

Mr. Netanyahu spoke by phone with Mr. Witkoff on Saturday and the two men agreed to start the negotiations for the second phase of the Gaza deal in their meeting on Monday, Mr. Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, suggesting that Mr. Witkoff will play a major role in shuttle diplomacy.

There was no immediate comment from the White House or Mr. Witkoff, who played an important role in brokering the initial, six-week phase of the cease-fire deal for Gaza. In the days before Mr. Trump took office, he worked in coordination with officials from the Biden administration, as well as Qatar and Egypt — the two main countries mediating between Israel and Hamas.

On Sunday, the prime minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, told a news conference in Doha that his government would “continue to work in cooperation with our partners in the Arab Republic of Egypt and the United States to ensure the full implementation of this agreement.”

Mr. Netanyahu’s visit to Washington comes amid a more hopeful atmosphere in Israel and Gaza over the first phase of the cease-fire. That has seen the release over the past two weeks of 13 Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees. One of the hostages released on Saturday was Keith Siegal, 65, a dual American-Israeli citizen.

Many of the families of released hostages have thanked Mr. Trump and his team for getting the long-awaited deal over the finish line after months of efforts by the Biden administration.

But questions surrounding the next phase remain unresolved. Mr. Netanyahu had vowed publicly and repeatedly to destroy Hamas’s military and governing capabilities and to preserve the option of going back to fighting after the initial phase of the deal, if necessary.

The images of gun-toting Hamas militants organizing the handover ceremonies of hostages to the Red Cross have underscored the degree to which the group remains in control in Gaza.

Mr. Witkoff made a rare visit to the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, according to a White House official, aiming to reinforce the cease-fire that has also allowed tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians to return to their homes. Mr. Witkoff had also visited Saudi Arabia before meeting Mr. Netanyahu in Israel last week.

Mr. Trump has raised the idea on several occasions that Gazans should be moved en masse to Egypt and Jordan. His suggestion echoes an idea floated in Israel early in the war and the wishes of the Israeli far right that Palestinians be encouraged to leave Gaza.

But on Saturday Egypt and Jordan — along with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries — warned in a joint statement that any plan that encouraged the “transfer or uprooting of Palestinians from their land” would threaten regional stability and “undermine the chances of peace and coexistence among its people.”

Gabby Sobelman and Myra Noveck contributed reporting from Israel, and Ismaeel Naar from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.