WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump was optimistic about the chances of a Gaza agreement on Monday as he welcomed Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House to push the Israeli Prime Minister to accept his peace plan.
“I am, I am very confident,” Trump told journalists by greeting Netanyahu when he was asked if he was convinced that there would be peace in Gaza.
He repeated “very confident” when he was asked if all the games were on board with the plan of 21 points to put an end to the war of almost two years, free hostages held by Hamas and disarm the Palestinian activists.
The American president met the main Arab leaders to the United Nations last week and said on Sunday on social networks that “all are on board for something special, for the first time”.
But Netanyahu gave few reasons for optimism, promising in a provocative speech on Friday to “end the work” against Hamas and to reject the Palestinian state – recently recognized by several Western nations.
The White House announced that the pair should hold a joint press conference at 1:15 p.m. (1715 GMT), in an apparent indication that Trump hopes to announce a breakthrough.
“To reach a good deal, a reasonable case for both parties, the two parties must abandon a little and could leave the table a little unhappy,” said the white house press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday.
Hamas has not yet given a reaction to the plan.
‘Stand firm’
Trump’s plan, according to the Times of Israel and the American news site, asked for an immediate cease-fire, a progressive Israeli withdrawal and the release of the hostages within 48 hours.
Israel would then release more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including several life mandates.
Normally, a faithful ally of Netanyahu, the American president showed growing signs of frustration before the fourth visit of the White House of the Israeli Prime Minister since the return of Trump in power.
Trump was furious by the recent strike from Israel against Hamas members in the keys to American Qatar.
And he warned Netanyahu last week against the annexation of the West Bank occupied by Israeli, like some members of the Netanyahu cabinet urged, a decision that would seriously complicate the road to the Palestinian state.
Netanyahu’s coalition government is supported by the far -right ministers who oppose a peace agreement. The path to an agreement remains dotted with traps.
Israel and the Arab states still leave the wording of the key parts of the peace plan, including the role of any international force and the Palestinian authority based in Ramallah in Gaza d’Etu-rére.
“The probability of … a reformed Palestinian authority that completely changes its scratches, which accepts a Jewish state … Finally, good luck,” Netanyahu told Fox News in an interview on Sunday.
Gaza voice
The Israeli strikes continued through the Gaza Strip, killing at least four people in Khan Yunis, according to the Civil Defense Agency of the territory managed by Hamas.
The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza urged Trump to maintain his Gaza proposal.
A mobile artillery unit is triggered towards Gaza near the border in Israel, September 28, 2025. Photo: Reuters
“We ask you respectfully to remain firm against any attempt to sabotage the agreement that you have concluded,” the hostage and missing families in an open letter to Trump said.
In Gaza, people expressed a mixture of hope, exhaustion and mistrust before the meeting of the White House.
“I’m not waiting for Trump because Trump supports Netanyahu to destroy the Gaza Strip and move people to carry out the Riviera project,” said Mohammed Abu Rabee, 34, referring to Trump’s previous proposal to transform Palestinian territory into “Riviera of the Middle East”.
The result may depend on the extent to which Trump pushes Netanyahu, said Natan Sachs, a principal researcher at the Middle East Institute.
“Netanyahu has a clear preference to continue the war and defeat Hamas, but I don’t think it is impossible for Trump to convince him of the contrary,” Sachs told AFP.
The Gaza War was launched by the attack on October 7, 2023 of Hamas, which killed 1,219 people, mainly civilians, according to an AFP count of Israeli official figures.
The offensive of Israel killed 66,055 Palestinians, also mainly civilians, according to personalities from the Ministry of Health in the territory led by Hamas that the United Nations consider reliable.
