The leaders' first encounter since US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites opened with Netanyahu handing Trump a letter sent to the Nobel Committee, praising what he called the president’s efforts to end Middle East conflicts.
“I want to express the appreciation and admiration not only of all Israelis, but of the Jewish people,” the Israeli leader said while passing over the single-page note. “You deserve it.”
Trump replied: “Coming from you this is very meaningful.”
The handshake in the White House Blue Room quickly gave way to hard questions over Gaza.
Trump is urging a truce in Israel’s 21-month war against Hamas that Gaza health officials say has killed nearly 60,000 people, most of them Palestinians.
Indirect Israeli-Hamas negotiations resumed in Qatar on Monday after a six-week hiatus, yet core disputes remain, notably Israeli guarantees the campaign will not resume and Netanyahu’s demand that Hamas be banished from the enclave for good.
Rights groups and UN agencies accuse Israel of inflicting a humanitarian catastrophe by flattening large swathes of the crowded coastal strip, displacing most of its 2.3 million residents and wrecking hospitals, water and power systems.
Washington has faced growing domestic and international criticism for supplying arms used in the campaign, a backdrop that raises pressure on Trump to secure at least a pause that would allow more aid to reach civilians and remaining hostages to be released.
Asked whether Palestinians could be forced out under a reported Israeli plan to move them from the ruins of Rafah into a tent camp, Trump pointed to Netanyahu.
“It’s called free choice,” the prime minister replied, insisting Gaza “shouldn’t be a prison” and that residents able to leave “should be able to leave.”
He said Israel and Washington were talking to unnamed countries willing to offer Palestinians “a better future”.
Netanyahu, wanted by the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes in Gaza, reaffirmed that Israel would keep “overall security” control.
“The Palestinians should have all the powers to govern themselves, but none of the powers to threaten us,” he said, ruling out a fully sovereign Palestinian state.
Trump provided no details on ceasefire preparations, saying only that Hamas “want to meet” and “want that ceasefire.” On Iran, he voiced hope the United States would not strike again.
“They want to work something out. They’re very different now than they were two weeks ago,” he said, without giving a timetable for negotiations.
Before leaving Israel, Netanyahu said his negotiators had “clear instructions” to reach a ceasefire consistent with terms Israel has already accepted. An Israeli official later told the Guardian the opening session in Doha was positive, while Palestinian delegates described it as inconclusive.
Netanyahu, who earlier met Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, will remain in Washington for talks with Vice President J.D. Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson and other senior officials in the coming days.
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Source: PAP, BBC, Reuters, Guardian