The Trump administration is eyeing an expansion of the Abraham Accords, hoping to bring new countries into the agreement, and the rebuilding of Gaza, senior administration officials said before the commander in chief’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The meeting is set to take place at the White House on Tuesday afternoon, followed by a joint press conference with President Donald Trump and Netanyahu. The meeting and the joint press conference will be the first Trump has held with a world leader since taking office again in January.
The two leaders are expected to discuss maintaining ceasefire deals and a joint commitment to freeing hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, senior administration officials said.
Officials said Trump is focused on getting all hostages out and ensuring Hamas cannot continue to govern.
Trump and Netanyahu are also expected to discuss the second phase of talks on the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.
‘There will be unity in how they intend to pursue that,’ one official said.
Beyond the ceasefire agreement, the president is expected to raise the issue of rebuilding Gaza.
A senior administration official said Trump sees Gaza as a ‘demolition site,’ and thinks it is ‘inhumane to force people to live’ there in its current state.
Officials said Trump expects it to take between 10 years and 15 years to rebuild Gaza, but said the rebuild is not something the U.S. is going to solve unilaterally.
Meanwhile, senior administration officials said the president hopes for an expansion of the Abraham Accords, which was brokered during the first Trump administration.
The Abraham Accords was a historic peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates that normalized relations and created bilateral agreements regarding ‘investment, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications, technology, energy, health care, culture, the environment, the establishment of reciprocal embassies, and other areas of mutual benefit.’
‘We obviously hope that the expansion of the Abraham Accords will continue and flourish, in this administration,’ a senior administration official said, adding that the president sees ‘an opportunity throughout the region and throughout the world, to, to bring more countries into Abraham Accords.’
‘It’s going to take time. It’s not going to happen overnight. But that’s certainly on the top of the agenda,’ the official said.
In 2018, the Trump administration moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem – a relocation long debated in Washington – and one that showed the U.S. officially recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Also during the first Trump administration, the president recognized Israeli sovereignty of the Golan Heights and withdrew the U.S. from the U.N. Human Rights Council.
The meeting between Trump and Netanyahu is the first since July, when Netanyahu visited Trump’s Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
That meeting came during the Israeli prime minister’s visit to the U.S. During that visit, Netanyahu addressed Congress and met with former President Joe Biden to meet with families of American hostages held hostage by Hamas.
There are currently 79 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, including six dual U.S.-Israeli citizens.
Netanyahu, upon traveling to the U.S., said of Trump: ‘The fact that this will be his first meeting with a leader of a foreign country since his inauguration holds great significance for the State of Israel.’
‘First of all, it indicates the strength of the alliance between Israel and the United States. Secondly, it also reflects the strength of our connection; a connection that has already yielded great things for the State of Israel and the region, and has also brought about the historic peace agreements between Israel and four Arab countries – the ‘Abraham Accords’ that President Trump led,’ the prime minister said.
This comes nearly 16 months after the war in Gaza began, prompted by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel, leading to military retaliation from Israeli forces.
‘The decisions we made during the war, combined with the bravery of our IDF soldiers, have already changed the face of the Middle East,’ Netanyahu said.
‘They have changed it beyond recognition. I believe that with hard work alongside President Trump, we can change it even more for the better,’ he said.
Fox News’ Landon Mion, Yael Rotem-Kuriel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
