Netanyahu to Meet Trump in US Amidst Apprehensions of Israeli Wider Offensives

The Israeli premier is set to confer with the US president at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Monday evening. This comes as concerns grow that Israel could begin new military actions against enemies in the region, possibly dragging the Middle East deeper into turmoil.

The Israeli leader flew from Israel on Sunday, marking his fifth meeting to see Trump in the United States in the current year.

Truce in Gaza and Pending Hurdles

A key discussion point will be the ceasefire in Gaza, which in October stopped the destructive two-year war. While the conditions for an first stage have been mostly completed, with Israeli forces retreating to new positions and Hamas freeing the surviving and almost all of the deceased hostages, significant challenges face the carrying out of the next stage of the US-brokered 20-point plan.

There are additionally apprehensions that Israel will launch new offensives against Hezbollah in Lebanon, breaking a ceasefire put in place more than a year ago, or against Iran, which it alleges of accelerating the manufacture of ballistic missiles in the past few months.

“The initial stage is essentially over, there’s one remaining Israeli deceased hostage which [Hamas] are having difficulty finding,” noted an analyst involved in back-channel talks.

Both sides trade accusations of breaking the truce. Hamas has declined to clearly commit to disarmament and has had notable achievements in imposing its authority in the parts of Gaza where nearly the entire population is located. Israel seems hesitant to pull out from the 53% of Gaza it now controls or to enable the unhindered flow of aid into the strip.

“The second phase has to begin … and I think the Americans realise that it’s late because Hamas has had too much time to reorganize and this is certainly not a situation that the Americans want to perpetuate,” the expert stated.

Humanitarian Toll and Present Conditions

More than 70,000 Palestinians, predominantly civilians, lost their lives in Gaza during the war and nearly the entire the territory’s 2.3 million population was forced from their homes. About 400 Palestinians have died in Gaza since the October ceasefire, and a great many continue to live in conditions of extreme difficulty.

In recent weeks, downpours and cold temperatures have worsened the suffering in Gaza, where the majority of housing and infrastructure have been heavily damaged or leveled.

The war was sparked by a sudden assault by Hamas in southern Israel in 2023, in which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 250 others captured.

Future Steps and Political Tensions

Under the future steps of the plan, an provisional government made up of unaffiliated Palestinian specialists is to administer the Palestinian territory instead of Hamas. An international stabilisation force of thousands of troops is to be deployed.

US officials have indicated the make-up of the new authority could be revealed in January.

Reports indicate that senior US officials are growing frustrated “as Netanyahu has taken steps to weaken the delicate truce and stall the peace process”.

“There are more and more signs that the American administration is getting frustrated with Netanyahu,” commented a regional analyst. “The question is what it’s going to do about it, because phase 2 is right now going nowhere fast.”

Netanyahu's Key Objectives

For Netanyahu, a priority will be convincing Trump to allow Israel to act to prevent Iran from fixing the destruction inflicted on its nuclear programme or building its ballistic missile capabilities.

Meanwhile, efforts to secure a security agreement between Israel and Syria have stalled and will also be discussed at Mar-a-Lago. Israeli officials have also called for more effective efforts to disarm Hezbollah.

Netanyahu faces an election within 10 months, and the upcoming polls will shape his agenda. “Everything is connected to [his] remaining in office,” an analyst said.

Opinion surveys indicate Netanyahu’s current coalition would struggle to form a government if elections were held now. Many voters are displeased over the failures that led to the 2023 Hamas raid, policies concerning military service exemptions, and a number of scandals.

A strong bond with Trump would reinforce Netanyahu’s appeal among swing voters and his base. This implies any open rift between the two leaders is extremely unlikely, analysts said.

Netanyahu is expected to seek to convince Trump of the need for Israel to maintain a defence advantage over potential regional enemies. Many Israeli officials were shaken by past US comments regarding advanced weapons sales to other regional states.