Sarah Smith
North America editor

President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu will want to appear as though they are in lock step when they appear together in front of the press.

But appearances may well disguise some serious differences about how procced in the Middle East.

Donald Trump wants to be a peacemaker.

He already claims credit for the hostage releases that have happened so far – even though they were negotiated before he resumed power. Now he is in charge of overseeing the move to a permanent ceasefire.

President Trump wants an end to the war and all hostages returned. But members of Mr Netanyahu’s right wing cabinet want to resume attacks on Gaza until Hamas is completely destroyed.

The Trump administration wants to move toward a wider deal which includes formalizing relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. That can't be done without a permanent end to the fighting in Gaza.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

We've just been let into the East Room of the White House ahead of the news conference. It's unclear when it will begin - but we do know things are slightly delayed.

The room is the most crowded I've seen since covering the White House - at least in terms of reporters in one room. Many are from the extremely large contingent of reporters who traveled from Israel.

Image source, Getty Images

Trump and Netanyahu have just finished speaking to journalists, who asked Trump a range of questions about the conflict in Gaza as well as Ukraine.

As he has said before, Trump repeated claims that the wars would not have happened if he had been president.

He is also claimed several countries would be willing to take in displaced Gazans.

Trump objects to a reporter who asks about Iran being "weak".

Iran has recently lost its ally in Syria after the ousting of the Assad regime. It's ally in Lebanon, Hezbollah, has also been severely weakened.

"They're not weak. They're very strong," Trump says about Iran, adding that the country was in a bad position after he left office after his first term as president.

"They became very strong very fast. They sold massive amounts of oil to China and everyone else," he says, calling Iran "very rich".

He says the bottom line for the US is Iran “can't have a nuclear weapon".

More now from Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with reporters at the White House.

Trump claims the Saudi government is not pressing for the creation of a Palestinian state.

He is also arguing that Palestinian people should be resettled in Egypt and Jordan - despite comments from the leaders of those countries that suggest the opposite.

Trump says other countries will also accept Palestinians, but did not specify which countries he was speaking about.

"We're dealing with very complex people," he says.

He suggests that "massive amounts of money, supplied by other people, very rich nations," will allow Palestinians to resettle in up to six different locations.

"Gaza is a guarantee that they're going to end up dying," says Trump.

He adds, "Who would want to go back?" and suggests that people want to leave Gaza and not return.

Image source, EPA

Trump and Netanyahu are sitting side-by-side taking questions from reporters.

Trump is reiterating some of his remarks from earlier, saying that Gazans should be given land elsewhere because they can't return there.

"There's a lot of fires, but we'll put them out," he tells reporters.

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent

Image source, Reuters

For the Israeli prime minister, this Washington visit is a boost on the world stage after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him on allegations of war crimes.

Washington does not recognise the court - meaning it has no obligation to detain Netanyahu - and has strongly condemned the ICC move.

An arrest warrant was also issued for former foreign minister Yoav Gallant.

In December, Israel appealed against the warrants, saying that they had not followed the correct notification procedure and that the court did not have jurisdiction, according to the Times of Israel.

Tom Bateman
Reporting from the White House

I watched Netanyahu’s armoured car, displaying both Israeli and US flags, swing past us here outside the entrance to the West Wing.

It pulled up ready to be greeted by Donald Trump at the door.

The two men spoke briefly before the president gestured to the prime minister to greet the waiting press, which is out in vast numbers.

We’ve been standing at our live camera position for the last 90 minutes, where we’ve been able to hear the near constant chants of nearby protesters, only occasionally drowned out by the sound of police sirens.

Speaking to reporters at an executive order signing ahead of his meeting with Netanyahu, Trump said Palestinians should move because "the Gaza thing has not worked".

"I think they should get a good, fresh, beautiful piece of land, and we get some people to put up the money to build it and make it nice and make it habitable and enjoyable," he said. "I think that would be a lot better than going back to Gaza, which has had just decades and decades of death."

Trump suggested those "pieces of land" could be in Egypt or Jordan. Asked by a reporter whether that would amount to forcibly displacing people from Gaza, Trump claimed that if Gazans had an opportunity to leave, "they'd love" to.

"They're there because they have no alternative. What do they have? It is a big pile of rubble right now. I mean, have you seen the pictures of it?"

Middle Eastern countries have consistently rejected proposals to transfer displaced people from Gaza, warning such a move would threaten regional stability.

Speaking to reporters earlier, senior Trump administration officials pushed back on claims that Trump wanted to forcibly move people from Gaza. Instead, they said, Trump wanted to make Gaza "habitable", adding that rebuilding the area could take 10 to 15 years because of the damage after 15 months of war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived at the White House.

He and President Trump will hold a bilateral meeting firstly with reporters present, before taking the meeting behind closed doors.

That will be followed by a news conference, which we will bring you all the key lines from, so keep checking in with us.

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly extended his trip to Washington until Saturday and in that time he can be expected to meet with other US leaders beyond President Donald Trump.

But it is the Trump sit-down today everyone is curious about.

Netanyahu told reporters before he left Israel he would discuss "victory over Hamas", countering Iran and freeing all hostages with Trump, according to media reports.

The first foreign leader to meet Trump at the White House in his second term, Netanyahu is in Washington at a critical juncture for the Gaza ceasefire.

After he arrived in the US capital the Israeli ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, who took up his post one week ago, described this as "an historic visit" on X.

"The US-Israel friendship is strong and is getting stronger," he added.

Netanyahu - facing a struggle for his political survival - has repeatedly stated that the existing Gaza deal is for a temporary ceasefire and that Israel has reserved "the right to return to fighting" against Hamas, saying this would have US backing.

His office has also indicated that this week’s trip, and specifically a meeting with Steve Witkoff, the US Middle East envoy who was a key mediator in the ceasefire, will start negotiations for a more permanent end to the war and the release of remaining hostages.

The two leaders are expected to discuss a range of regional issues, as well, including reviving efforts to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia and how to deal with Iran, which twice directly attacked Israel with missiles and drones last year.

Both men are also keen to build on the Abraham Accords, which set up diplomatic ties between Israel and several Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, in Trump's first term.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

It's extremely busy just outside the Oval Office ahead of Netanyahu's arrival.

Several dozen reporters have congregated outside, including a large contingent from the Israeli press corps.

Along a paved walkway near what is known as Pebble Beach, uniformed service members from the U.S. armed forces have formed into two lines, reached holding the flag of a U.S. state.

If everything runs on schedule, Netanyahu is expected to arrive in about shortly.

Although not visible from the White House grounds, chanting and megaphones from a nearby protest are clearly audible.

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent

In his previous term, the US president gave a series of wins to Netanyahu.

As well as securing the signing the Abraham Accords, Trump notably relocated the US embassy to Jerusalem, a move which was condemned by the Palestinians and others, and recognised Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, which is otherwise seen internationally as Syrian territory.

The new Trump administration includes pro-Israel figures expected to push back against pressure from other world powers over the Gaza war and endorse expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

They are considered to be illegal under international law, although Israel disagrees.

Trump has lifted Biden-era sanctions on Israeli settlers accused of violence against Palestinians and reportedly approved a shipment of 2,000lb bombs that had previously been blocked.

However, Trump and Netanyahu have had an up-and-down personal relationship and there is extensive speculation in the Israeli media about how the upcoming meeting between the pair will unfold.

Commenting in Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Nahum Barnea writes that "Netanyahu will try to sniff out the new Trump and to get a sense of what animates him, what turns him off and what infuriates him."

Ilana Gritzewsky is a former hostage - her partner is still being held by Hamas.

In the clip below, filmed at a rally in Washington DC, she pleads with President Trump to persist with the current ceasefire deal.

"If this deal falls apart, the hostages will die," she says.

"And you are the only one who can stop it from happening. Please, President Trump, don't let them be forgotten."

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

President Trump is currently in the Oval Office, where he is signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the main UN agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, as well as re-imposing the "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran.

The executive order also withdraws the US from the UN Human Rights Council.

The Iran executive order says it is designed to prevent the country from obtaining nuclear weapons, as well as hurting it economically through the use of sanctions and bringing down Iranian oil exports.

Speaking to reporters, Trump says the order is "very tough" on Iran and that he was "torn" on signing it.

"Hopefully, we are not going to have to use it very much," he says. "I'm unhappy to do it."

This visit has followed period of turmoil in the middle east, with a 15-month war in Gaza leaving more than 46,000 Palestinians killed and more than two million people displaced within the territory.Here's a quick look at some key events:

2023

• 7 October: Hundreds of Hamas-led gunmen launch an unprecedented attack on southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza. Israel in turn begins a wave of retaliatory strikes across Gaza
• 27 October: Israel launches a ground invasion of Gaza
• 21 November: During a week-long ceasefire, Hamas releases 105 of the hostages in return for some 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails

2024

• 31 May: US President Joe Biden outlines an Israeli proposal for a three-phase ceasefire forming the basis of the deal agreed upon months later
• 24 July: Netanyahu is in Washington to address Congress and meet with Biden, a visit that sparks large protests
• 26 July: Trump and Netanyahu meet at Mar-a-Lago for the first time in four years
• 6 November: Trump is declared the next president of the US
• 27 November: Israel reaches a deal on a ceasefire with Lebanon to end a 13-month conflict with the armed group Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas and Iran, which was triggered by the Gaza war

2025

• 13 January: Biden and Netanyahu speak by phone during Biden's final week in office, after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a ceasefire agreement was close
• 15 January: During the last days of Biden's administration, a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal is announced, with Trump claiming his presidential win led to the deal
• 19 January: The ceasefire comes into effect following a delay of several hours after Israel said Hamas had not handed over the names of the first 33 hostages due to be released
• 20 January: Donald Trump is inaugurated and takes over the White House
• Since the ceasefire was announced, a total of 18 Israeli prisoners and 183 Palestinian prisoners have been released

While we've been reporting in events in the US, over in Tel Aviv a rally has been taking place - including outside the US Embassy Branch Office.

Some people in the Israeli city have been showcasing placards featuring images of Trump, calling for all hostages to be returned to the country.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Administration officials have made it clear that phase two of the ceasefire plan - which could see the return of remaining hostages and a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza - will be among the primary topics of discussion between Trump and Netanyahu this afternoon.

In the briefing call earlier today, one White House official told reporters that observers "will hear some unity in how they and we intend to pursue that".

"Normalisation is one of the top goals in the Middle East for President Trump and for this administration," the official added. "So that will be a focus."

Read more about the ceasefire plan here.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

We've just heard from the Trump administration's national security adviser, Michael Waltz, along with special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff.

Speaking to reporters outside the West Wing of the White House, Witkoff says that US and Israeli officials have done over "guidelines and parameters" for the second phase of the ceasefire plan.

He also says that the US government views a return to Gaza's destruction as unfeasible for its residents.

Witkoff adds that the administration believes it is "physically impossible" to repair Gaza to a level in which it is inhabitable within the timeframe he says is currently set out in the agreement.

"There's nothing left," he told reporters.

Waltz says the US is "looking to a number of partners in the region to solve this problem", referring to neighbouring countries like Egypt or Jordan to agree to taking displaced Palestinians.

Middle Eastern nations have consistently refused to transfer displaced people from Gaza, warning such a proposal threatens regional stability.

Waltz goes on to say Trump is "driving practical, common sense solutions to what is admittedly a very difficult situation".

Additionally, Waltz says that he believes that the current geopolitical situation in the Middle East - including a weakened Hezbollah, the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria and Iran being "on the back foot" - has created conditions for negotiations to bear fruit.

"There's a lot of opportunity in the region, and mostly, there is optimism," he says, adding that he believes that the region "is on the precipice" of expanding the Abraham Accords.

The accords were an agreement that led to a normalisation of ties between Israel, the UAE, Bahrain and several other countries at the end of Trump's first term.

Netanyahu is expected to arrive at the White House at 16:00 EST (21:00 GMT).

Image source, Getty Images

The Israeli prime minister's trip to the White House comes as he is facing both political and legal troubles in his home country.

He has been charged in three separate cases involving fraud, bribery and breach of trust. In one case, he is accused of accepting luxurious gifts from a wealthy businessman. He has denied all the charges.

Netanyahu is also struggling for political survival, with members of his far-right coalition pressuring him to resume Israeli's military offensive and put an end to the temporary cease-fire deal in Gaza.

If any of his other allies quit, his government would lose its majority in the Israeli parliament.