Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Hold Talks with Trump in US During Concerns of Israeli Wider Offensives

Benjamin Netanyahu is due to sit down with the US president at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Monday evening. This takes place as anxieties increase that Israel could launch new operations against regional foes, risking sending the Middle East further into instability.

The prime minister flew from Israel on Sunday, representing his fifth trip to see Trump in the United States in the current year.

Halt in Fighting in Gaza and Looming Challenges

A key discussion point will be the halt in hostilities in Gaza, which in October stopped the destructive two-year war. While the terms for an opening period have been largely fulfilled, with Israeli forces pulling back to new positions and Hamas freeing the surviving and nearly all of the deceased hostages, enormous challenges lie ahead for the implementation of the second phase of the president's 20-point plan.

There are also apprehensions that Israel will launch new strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon, shattering a ceasefire established more than a year ago, or against Iran, which it accuses of accelerating the manufacture of ballistic missiles in recent months.

“The first phase is basically over, there’s one remaining Israeli deceased hostage which [Hamas] are having difficulty finding,” noted an analyst involved in back-channel talks.

Each party accuse each other of breaking the truce. Hamas has failed to explicitly commit to laying down its weapons and has had significant success in imposing its authority in the parts of Gaza where nearly the entire population is concentrated. Israel is hesitant to retreat from the 53% of Gaza it now controls or to enable the free passage of aid into the region.

“Phase 2 has to begin … and I think the Americans realise that it’s late because Hamas has had too much time to rebuild its strength and this is definitely not a situation that the Americans want to allow to continue,” the expert added.

Civilian Toll and Present Conditions

More than 70,000 Palestinians, largely civilians, were killed in Gaza during the war and the vast majority of the territory’s 2.3 million population was uprooted. About 400 Palestinians have perished in Gaza since the October ceasefire, and a great many continue to live in conditions of acute hardship.

In the last month, torrential rains and chilly weather have exacerbated the suffering in Gaza, where most housing and infrastructure have been severely damaged or destroyed.

The war was sparked by a surprise attack by Hamas in southern Israel in 2023, in which 1,200 people, predominantly civilians, were killed and 250 others abducted.

Future Steps and Political Tensions

Under the subsequent phases of the US proposal, an provisional government made up of unaffiliated Palestinian specialists is to administer the Palestinian territory instead of Hamas. An international stabilisation force of thousands of troops is to be sent in.

US officials have indicated the membership of the new authority could be made public in January.

Reports indicate that senior US officials are becoming impatient “as Netanyahu has taken steps to sabotage the unstable peace and delay the peace process”.

“There are increasing indications that the American administration is getting exasperated with Netanyahu,” said a foreign policy specialist. “The question is what it’s going to do about it, because the second phase is right now going nowhere.”

Netanyahu's Key Objectives

For Netanyahu, a key objective will be persuading Trump to allow Israel to act to prevent Iran from repairing the damage inflicted on its nuclear programme or building its ballistic missile capabilities.

Meanwhile, efforts to secure a stability deal between Israel and Syria have failed to make significant progress and will also be a topic at Mar-a-Lago. Israeli officials have also called for more concerted action to disarm Hezbollah.

Netanyahu faces an election within 10 months, and the upcoming polls will influence his agenda. “Everything is connected to [his] political survival,” an analyst said.

Surveys suggest Netanyahu’s current coalition would face difficulties to form a government if elections were held now. Many voters are angry over the failures that led to the 2023 Hamas raid, moves concerning military service exemptions, and a series of scandals.

A close relationship with Trump would bolster Netanyahu’s appeal among floating voters and his base. This suggests any visible discord between the two leaders is extremely unlikely, analysts said.

Netanyahu is expected to seek to persuade Trump of the need for Israel to maintain a military technological edge over potential regional enemies. Many Israeli officials were concerned by earlier US comments regarding advanced weapons sales to other regional states.