Netanyahu In White House Next Week As Trump, IDF Chief Urge Focus On Hostages In Gaza

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Last Updated:July 01, 2025, 18:30 IST

Protests in Jerusalem outside Netanyahu's office also demanded action for hostages held by Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday announced that he will travel to Washington next week to meet with US President Donald Trump, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

Netanyahu said he is likely to meet US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and members of Congress for “security meetings".

Haaretz in its report said that an Israeli delegation headed by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer will meet Donald Trump’s West Asia envoy Steve Witkoff, Rubio and JD Vance in Washington on Tuesday. The agenda of the meeting was not disclosed.

Meanwhile, protests rocked Jerusalem city center as families whose loved ones who are being held hostage by Palestinian militant group Hamas rallied outside the Prime Minister’s Office. A cabinet meeting will be held soon, chaired by Netanyahu.

The July 7 visit — Netanyahu’s third since Trump returned to power in January — comes after Trump said that he hoped for a truce in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory within a week.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier that Netanyahu had “expressed interest" in a meeting with Trump and that both sides were “working on a date.

“This has been a priority for the president since he took office, to end this brutal war in Gaza," Leavitt told reporters in a briefing.

“It’s heartbreaking to see the images that have come out from both Israel and Gaza throughout this war, and the president wants to see it end."

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Palestinian militants seized 251 hostages during Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Of these, 49 are still believed to be held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 56,531 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers these figures to be reliable.

IDF Vs Bibi

IDF Chief of Staff Lt Gen Eyal Zamir told ministers on Sunday that Israeli hostages in Gaza are facing worsening abuse and that their condition is “very grave," according to the newspaper.

“I support the defeat of Hamas, but if we deepen the operation now, we risk the hostages," Zamir said.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich confronted Zamir and responded that it is “possible to do both – defeat Hamas and free the hostages" and accused Zamir of “steering the political leadership’s decision".

Shankhyaneel Sarkar

Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev...Read More

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