US President Donald Trump said on Monday there were "no guarantees" that a fragile ceasefire in Gaza will hold, as he prepares to discuss its future with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu was in Washington for talks with the new Trump administration on a second phase of the truce with Hamas, which has not yet been finalised.
Just over two weeks after the ceasefire took hold, two Hamas officials said the group was ready to begin talks on the details of a second phase, which could help secure a lasting cessation of violence.
Before leaving Israel, Netanyahu told reporters he would discuss "victory over Hamas", countering Iran and freeing all hostages when he meets Trump on Tuesday.
It will be Trump's first meeting with a foreign leader since returning to the White House in January, a prioritization Netanyahu said showed "the strength of the Israeli-American alliance".
With fragile ceasefires holding in both Gaza and Lebanon -- where an Israeli campaign badly weakened Iran-backed Hezbollah -- Israel has turned its focus to the occupied West Bank and an operation that it says is aimed at rooting out extremism that has killed dozens.
Trump, who has claimed credit for sealing the ceasefire deal after 15 months of war, said Sunday negotiations with Israel and other countries in the Middle East were "progressing".
The president later told reporters that he has "no guarantees that the peace is going to hold".
Netanyahu's office said he would begin discussions with Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff on Monday over terms for the second phase of the Gaza truce.
Witkoff said he was "certainly hopeful" that the truce will hold.
The next stage is expected to cover the release of the remaining captives and could lead to a more permanent end to the war.
One Hamas official, speaking to AFP on condition on anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks, said the Palestinian group "has informed the mediators... that we are ready to start the negotiations for the second phase".
A second official said Hamas was "waiting for the mediators to initiate the next round".
The Washington discussions are also expected to cover normalization efforts between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which Riyadh froze early in the Gaza war.
Leon Bruneau with Callum Paton in Jerusalem with AFP
Comments