Sarah Smith
North America editor

I’m crammed into the press area of the White House State Dining Room with the rest of the American, Israeli and other foreign journalists.

There is no explanation as to why the scheduled press conference is already almost an hour late.

Speculation is rife over whether this means talks have broken down. Or whether President Trump is trying to strong arm PM Netanyahu into accepting his peace plan.

But we won’t know what’s really happening until we see the two men take their places behind the waiting podiums.

The one piece of information we have been given is that there has been a phone call with the Israelis and Qataris, in which Netanyahu expressed his deep regret that Israel’s missile strike against Hamas targets in Doha unintentionally killed a Qatari serviceman.

President Trump was very angry about the Israeli strike on Qatar and it looks like he has forced Netanyahu to apologise.

We're getting confirmation from the White House now that Netanyahu spoke with Prime Minister Al Thani of Qatar earlier today.

The White House said both countries' leaders accepted Trump's proposal to establish a "trilateral mechanism to enhance coordination, improve communication, resolve mutual grievances, and strengthen collective efforts to prevent threat".

Netanyahu "expressed his deep regret" for the Israeli missile strike in Qatar earlier this month.

The White House said Israel's leader also offered assurances that Israel would not conduct attacks like that again in the future.

"The leaders discussed a proposal for ending the war in Gaza, prospects for a more secure Middle East, and the need for greater understanding between their countries," the White House said.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

I'm now in the State Dining Room of the White House, where several dozen reporters are crammed on gold chairs underneath a pensive looking painting of Abraham Lincoln.

It's been a chaotic day, and getting inside was a struggle, with the White House having to step in to direct eager reporters to orderly queues.

We're now inside, where the temperature is blisteringly hot. Most reporters are now sweating profusely.

We don't know yet what the two men will say, or whether there have been any notable developments over the last few hours, but this press conference is so far delayed.

Stay with us as we bring you more updates.

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani from their meeting in the White House on Monday, according to CBS News, BBC's US partner.

Netanyahu apologised to al-Thani for Israel's strike on Doha earlier this month, an official briefed on the call told CBS.

Trump also spoke with the country's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, ahead of Monday's meeting with Netanyahu, according to a report from CNN. And, a Qatari advisor met with Trump at the White House, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

Qatar has held a crucial role in the conflict by hosting negotiation talks between Israel and Hamas, but that stance was challenged when Israel launched its attack on Doha.

Qatar condemned the Israeli attack shortly after it was carried out, calling it "cowardly" and a "flagrant violation of international law".

Israel has come under huge international pressure over its military action in Gaza, as several Western countries including the UK, France, Canada, Australia, and Portugal formally recognised a Palestinian state last week.

In an address to the UN, Netanyahu criticised the move - here's a look back at what he said:

• "Mark of shame": Netanyahu called the moves "sheer madness", and a "mark of shame" that sent the message that "murdering Jews pays off"
• The "curse" of Iran: The Israeli PM displayed a map labelled "The Curse" that he said showed Iranian proxy groups across the Middle East
• Unchanged stance: He said that Israel would not allow a Palestinian state to exist and said this position was supported by the vast majority of Israelis
• "Baseless" conclusion: He rejected conclusion of a UN commission of inquiry that found Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, claiming the charge was "baseless"

You can read our full reporting on Netanyahu's speech and catch up in our video below:

Palestinian statehood is currently recognised by around 75% of the UN's 193 member states.

At the UN, the State of Palestine has the status of a "permanent observer state", allowing participation but no voting rights.

With British and French recognition last week, Palestinian statehood is now supported by four of the UN Security Council's five permanent members - China, Russia, the UK and France.

China and Russia both recognised a Palestinian state in 1988. This leaves the US, Israel's strongest ally by far, in a minority of one.

Washington has recognised the Palestinian Authority, currently headed by Mahmoud Abbas, since its formation in the mid-1990s.

Since then, several presidents have expressed their support for the eventual creation of a Palestinian state - but Donald Trump is not among of them.

Trump's former secretary of state says that the opportunity to reach a two-state solution "is gone".

Speaking to The Rest is Politics: Leading podcast, Mike Pompeo says such a solution would be "unrealistic", arguing that a Palestinian state can't exist "as long as you have terrorists governing those spaces".

"Imagine an army in Judea and Samaria. It’s not in the offing. You could have certain indicia of statehood," he says. "Frankly, in some ways, they’ve had that in the West Bank for a while."

• As a reminder, the two-state solution is a proposed approach to addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict via the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital, broadly along the lines that existed prior to the 1967 Arab-Israeli war

Trump has changed the dynamics of this meetingpublished at 17:43 BST 29 September

17:43 BST 29 September

Tom Bateman
US State Department correspondent

Trump is talking optimistically, but there is a sense of pressure that will be applied now from the White House onto Netanyahu. They are going to have a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office, then they will have lunch and then a press conference.

What we are talking about here is a framework. This is all about a post-war governance structure and a security plan.

We don’t know the degree to which Hamas might be on board with this. Over the weekend, Hamas said they hadn’t seen the proposals thus far. There will certainly be things in there they don’t like. There will also be things in the proposals that the Israelis don’t like.

Even if they get this framework agreed, it is still not clear how they move toward the start of a process that involves the release of hostages, Palestinian prisoners and Israeli forces pulling back.

Trump has said this needs to be a full end to the war, not a ceasefire.

That involves having a full governance and security plan for the long-term for Gaza - the plan needs to be hammered out before you are going to see the release of hostages.

That is how Trump has changed the dynamics of this.

Image source, Getty Images

The Israel-Gaza war is nearing its second anniversary. As Trump and Netanyahu meet on a plan for ending the war, let's take a look at what is happening in Gaza.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, a strike on a house in central Gaza left at least 11 people dead - more that half of them women and children - according to officials at al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City.

Health workers said nine members of the same family were among those killed in an Israeli strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp, and at least six people are reported to have been killed while seeking aid in central and southern Gaza.

In their latest update, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says the current death toll has risen to 66,055 since 7 October, 2023.

As a reminder, the Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

The latest strikes come after Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu told the United Nations that Israel "must finish the job" against Hamas.

The Israeli air force says it has hit approximately 120 targets across the Strip since Friday - including, the military says, "buildings used by terror groups, terror operatives and other infrastructure".

Hundreds of thousands of residents have fled Gaza City - the main focus of Israel's current offensive - but hundreds of thousands more remain there in dire humanitarian conditions. In August, a UN-backed body confirmed that famine was taking place in Gaza City.

Foreign journalists have been banned from entering Gaza independently since Israel launched its 2023 offensive following the Hamas 7 October attacks.

The two-year anniversary of the Hamas-led attack is just over a week away - many in Israel and Gaza will be hoping there will soon be an end to the war.

We're now getting reports from the BBC's US partner CBS News about an increase in strikes in Gaza City as Netanyahu meets with Trump.

Meanwhile, a CBS source with knowledge of the talks on Gaza has detailed the Trump administration's 21-point plan to end the conflict. Among the points included in the proposal are:

• The return of all remaining hostages
• The access of an increased amount of humanitarian aid into Gaza
• The gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Strip
• A commitment to no annexation of the West Bank
• The end of any attempts to build settlements in Gaza
• The formation of a new Palestinian government without Hamas
• No forced displacement of Gazans or attempts to prevent the return of Gazans who've fled the conflict

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

This meeting with Netanyahu is by far the most high-profile event on the president's schedule today.

But once Netanyahu leaves here in a few short hours, Trump still has work to do.

At 15:00 local time (20:00 BST), Trump is scheduled to meet with congressional leaders as the deadline for a partial government shutdown looms over Washington.

A similar meeting was scheduled to take place last week, but Trump cancelled it over what he described as "unserious and ridiculous" demands from Democrats.

At 17:30, the president is also expected to attend a reception for Gold Star families of fallen military personnel.

Both of those meetings are scheduled to take place behind closed doors, but there's always a possibility that the White House opens them up at the last minute, giving the press pool - which today includes the BBC - another opportunity to ask him questions.

This trip is the fourth that Netanyahu has made to Washington this year - more than any other foreign leader.

He first visited the US in February, then returned in April to discuss trade and tariffs.

Netanyahu was most recently in Washington in July, days after Israel and the US carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Trump and Netanyahu are expected to discuss a new 21-point peace plan, which the US president hopes can bring an end to the war in Gaza.

The two leaders are now meeting in the Oval Office - but it is closed to the press, so we won't hear more about their conversation until much later.

The pair will have lunch together at 12:00 local time (17:00 BST).

The next update time we are likely to see Trump and Netanyahu on camera is at joint press conference, which is expected at 13:15 local time.

As Trump greeted Netanyahu, we overheard some shouted questions from reporters at the White House.

One journalist was heard asking: "are you confident there will be peace in Gaza anytime soon?"

Trump replied: "I am, very confident."

US President Donald Trump has just greeted Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.

You can watch and follow our coverage by clicking watch live at the top of this page - stay with us for the latest updates.

It appears that the leaders' meeting is slightly delayed.

The Israeli PM's motorcade has reportedly arrived to the White House - but we have yet to see Netanyahu or Trump.

We are monitoring developments and will keep you updated when we know more.

Image source, Getty Images

Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, says that the US has come up with a new 21-point peace plan for the Middle East and Gaza.

The details of the plan remain scarce, and it is yet to be formally presented. But various media reports have laid out what is said to be its key provisions.

These points reportedly include what The Times of Israel says would be a pathway to a future Palestinian state.

Statehood is something Netanyahu strongly rejected in his recent address to the UN.

It has also been reported that the plan would enable Palestinians to remain in the Gaza Strip, rather than encouraging many to leave.

Such provisions - if they are confirmed - are certain to be talking points when Trump meets Netanyahu on Monday. The US leader's optimism may receive a reality check at that meeting.

The Times of Israel - which says it had seen a copy of the US proposal - says that it also includes a commitment for Hamas to disarm, as well as the full demilitarisation of Gaza and the establishment of a process to de-radicalise the population.

It is clear that both Hamas and the Israeli government would have to make greater concessions than they have so far committed themselves to, if the plan as it has been reported so far is to have any chance of success.

Israeli PM Netanyahu is set to be greeted by Trump ahead of the pair's fourth meeting of the year - here's how the day is set to unfold:

• 11:00 local time (16:00 BST): Trump greets Netanyahu
• 11:35: Bilateral meeting gets under way
• 12:00: Israeli PM and Trump take lunch together
• 13:15: Trump and Netanyahu hold news conference

You'll be able to following along with how the day plays out by clicking watch live at the top of this page, and we'll keep you up to speed with what you need to know right here.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Image source, Bernd Debusmann Jr/BBC News

Security is extra tight at the White House this morning, with black fencing set up around the area and trucks being used to block Pennsylvania Avenue.

These steps are usually reserved for visits that are likely to draw protests, and we've already seen some small groups protesting Netanyahu's visit around the White House earlier.

Inside, there is a growing number of reporters in the briefing room and outside, where the Israeli prime minister is expected to arrive in about half an hour.

Trump and Netanyahu will then hold a meeting behind closed doors, which we expect to focus heavily on Trump's 21-point peace proposal.

Later, at about 13:15 local time (18:15 BST), the two men will have a joint press conference - an event that happens very sporadically at the White House.

Trump usually prefers to hold court in a slightly more informal way in the Oval Office.

Image source, EPA

We've recently heard from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who is similarly talking up the prospects of the US president's 21-point peace plan.

Speaking to Fox News earlier today, Leavitt confirms that Donald Trump plans to discuss his plan with Netanyahu when the two leaders meet later today.

She says both Israel and Hamas may have to leave the negotiating table "a little bit unhappy" in order to end the conflict.

"To reach a reasonable deal for both sides, both sides have to give up a little bit and might leave the table a little bit unhappy, but that is ultimately how we are going to end this conflict," she says.

Over the weekend, Netanyahu said that no deal had been finalised, while Hamas said it had not formally seen Trump's proposal.