US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that talks with Israel and other countries on the Middle East were "progressing".
"The discussions on the Middle East with Israel and various other countries are progressing. Bibi Netanyahu's coming on Tuesday, and I think we have some very big meetings scheduled," Trump told reporters, as quoted by AFP.
Earlier on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed in Washington, DC, ahead of his meeting with Trump on Tuesday.
Before that, Netanyahu is scheduled to meet on Monday with Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy.
During Monday’s meeting with Witkoff, the parties are expected to discuss the extension of phase one of the ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas or progress toward the second phase. The 50th day of the deal is considered challenging because Israel is supposed to withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor.
Netanyahu will meet Trump to discuss the means by which the negotiations are being handled.
On Sunday morning, before he took off for Washington, Netanyahu told reporters, "The fact that this is would be President Trump's first meeting with a foreign leader since taking office is telling. I think it's a testimony to the strength of the Israeli-American alliance. It's also a testimony to the strength of our personal friendship; that friendship and cooperation have already yielded important results for the Middle East, including the historic Abraham Accords which President Trump led and which brought four historic peace treaties between Israel and its neighbors."
He noted that "at this meeting, we will deal with the critical issues facing Israel and our region: victory over Hamas, achieving the release of all our hostages, and dealing with the Iranian terror axis and all its components, an axis that threatens the peace of Israel, the Middle East, and the entire world."
Netanyahu added, "The decisions we made in the war have already changed the face of the Middle East. Our decisions and the courage of our soldiers have redrawn the map and I believe that working with President Trump we could redraw it further, for the better. I believe that we can strengthen security, broaden the circle of peace, and achieve a remarkable era of peace through strength."