Benjamin Netanyahu said he hoped a meeting with US President Donald Trump would push forward a deal to release Israeli hostages in Gaza, as he left for Washington amid growing discontent in his cabinet about a potential ceasefire in the war with Hamas.
The Israeli prime minister sent a negotiating team to Doha on Sunday seeking to finalise a US-brokered deal to halt the fighting for 60 days, release 28 Israeli hostages and begin talks on a permanent end to the war. That came despite his office rejecting the Palestinian militant group’s latest demands as “unacceptable”.
Netanyahu told reporters at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday: “We’re working to achieve this deal that has been discussed, according to the terms that we agreed to?.?.?.?And I certainly think the conversation with President Trump can help advance this result that we’re all hoping for.”