Netanyahu and Trump discuss ceasefire at White House dinner | Breaking News & Latest Australia Updates

Netanyahu and Trump discuss ceasefire at White House dinner — Topic:World Politics Donald Trump hosted Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli officials at a White House dinner.(Reuters: Kevin Lamarque) Israeli Prime Mini...

Topic:World Politics

Donald Trump hosted Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli officials at a White House dinner.(Reuters: Kevin Lamarque)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has travelled to Washington to meet Donald Trump, who is encouraging Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire.

Mr Trump has also confirmed the US and Iran will restart diplomatic talks in coming days.

The Trump administration's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, will travel to Doha to join ceasefire negotiations between representatives of Israel and Hamas.

US President Donald Trump has hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for dinner at the White House as America pushes for a new ceasefire in Gaza.

Mr Trump also confirmed the US would hold new talks with Iran following last month's American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

"We have scheduled Iran talks, and they want to talk," he said.

Mr Netanyahu — whose freedom to travel to many parts of the world has been curtailed becausehe is subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant— is expected to spend several days in the US as Israeli and Hamas representatives take part in ceasefire negotiations in Qatar.

The Israeli prime minister used a White House dinner table press conference to tell Mr Trump he had nominated him for a Nobel Peace Prize, and said: "I think we can work out a peace between us and the entire Middle East with President Trump's leadership."

After almost 21 months of the Israeli bombardment of Gaza — which has flattened most of the enclave's buildings, displaced most of the population and killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to the Gazan health ministry — the Trump administration is proposing a new 60-day ceasefire deal.

In his first comments since the alleged ceasefire between Israel and Iran was announced, the US President let rip, and Israel's PM heard him loud and clear.

The deal would involve the phased release of hostages and withdrawal of Israeli troops from parts of Gaza while negotiations take place to bring the war to a permanent end.

Mr Trump has said he is optimistic a deal will be struck this week. He last week said he would be "very firm" with Israel in his effort to secure one.

Mr Netanyahu has vowed to continue Israel's assault on Gaza until Hamas is dismantled and all hostages are free.

And Hamas has sought a guarantee that a ceasefire would lead to an end to the war, which it says must happen before the hostages are released.

Those two seemingly irreconcilable positions threaten to create a barrier to progress in the ceasefire talks, which Qatar is mediating with support from Egypt.

But at the White House, Mr Netanyahu said: "We will work out a peace with our Palestinian neighbours, those who don't want to destroy us, and we'll work out a peace in which our security, the sovereign power of security, always remains in our hands."

Demonstrators gathered near the White House as Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu dined inside.(AP: Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

The US's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to travel to Doha to rejoin the talks later this week.

Mr Witkoff also said talks between the US and Iran would happen "very quickly, in the next week or so".

The controversial leaders of Israel's far-right politics were boycotted by the US in the past. But they've been meeting with Donald Trump's officials and dining at his resort.

Before the strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities last month, the US had been negotiating with Iran over a possible deal to relax economic sanctions in return for a guarantee Iran would end its nuclear program.

US outletAxiosand Israel's Channel 12 last week reported the nuclear talks would soon restart in Norway.

But Mr Trump would not confirm the location or other specifics."I'd rather not say, but you'll be reading about it tomorrow or seeing it tomorrow," he said.

Asked what the focus of the talks would be, he said: "It's a really good question, because if you remember when it [the US attack on Iran] was done, I sort of said: 'What's the purpose of talking? It's been knocked down and knocked down completely.'

"But they've requested a meeting and I'm going to go to a meeting, and if we can put something down on paper, that would be fine."

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