WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Trump met Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for high-stakes talks focused on the future of the Israel–Gaza ceasefire and mounting regional tensions involving Iran.
The face-to-face meeting comes as the U.S.-brokered truce in Gaza enters a delicate stage, with negotiators preparing to move from the initial phase of the agreement into more complex discussions that could determine whether the ceasefire holds long term.
President Trump has touted the deal as a major diplomatic breakthrough, pushing a 20-point framework that calls for Israeli forces to withdraw from Gaza and for Hamas to fully disarm. The ceasefire took effect in October, ending a two-year war sparked by Hamas’ October 7 terror attack on Israel. While the truce has largely held, sporadic skirmishes continue, underscoring its fragility.
“There has to be a disarmament,” President Trump said, emphasizing that Hamas must give up its weapons for the ceasefire to advance.
The agreement is structured in three phases, with the first phase focused on halting major fighting and humanitarian access. However, progress toward the second phase — which includes governance and security arrangements in Gaza — has slowed, according to officials familiar with the negotiations.
President Trump also said reconstruction efforts in Gaza would begin soon, though questions remain over funding, security oversight, and who would administer the territory after the war.
Beyond Gaza, Iran loomed large over Monday’s talks. Israeli officials have grown increasingly alarmed by reports that Tehran has resumed testing ballistic missiles, raising fears of further escalation across the region.
President Trump warned that the United States would not tolerate renewed Iranian military expansion. “Now I hear Iran is trying to build up again and if they are , we’re going to have to knock them down. We’ll knock them down, we’ll knock the hell out of ’em.” Trump did signal openness to diplomacy if Tehran is willing to negotiate. “If they want to make a deal, that’s much smarter,” he said.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian struck a defiant tone over the weekend, saying in an interview that Iran is engaged in a “full-fledged war” with the United States, Israel, and Europe.
The meeting also follows a new round of Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon targeting what Israel says are positions belonging to Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group. The strikes come as international pressure mounts on Lebanon’s government to curb Hezbollah’s military presence near the border ahead of a New Year’s deadline tied to international agreements aimed at preventing renewed conflict.
As President Trump and Netanyahu project unity, the coming weeks are expected to test whether the Gaza ceasefire can move forward — or unravel amid regional instability.
National Headline
