Key events
Trump invites Netanyahu to be first foreign leader to visit White House
Andrew Roth
Donald Trump has invited Benjamin Netanyahu to be the first foreign leader to visit the White House, in a major concession to a US ally who is wanted by the international criminal court for war crimes.
The invitation was made in a letter from the US president, which invited the Israeli prime minister to come to the White House on 4 February to “discuss how we can bring peace to Israel and its neighbors, and efforts to counter our shared adversaries”.
“It will be my honor to host you as my first foreign leader during my second term,” the letter read.
Trump and Netanyahu have had a difficult personal relationship, but Israel remains the US’s closest ally in the region. Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, is said to have had a tense conversation with Netanyahu in the days before a hostages-for-ceasefire deal was negotiated between Hamas and Israel, on the day before Trump’s inauguration.
Since then, Trump has lifted a ban on supplying Israel with 2,000lb bombs that had been held back by the Biden administration in opposition to Israel’s overwhelming use of force against Gaza.
Opening summary
Donald Trump has invited Benjamin Netanyahu to be the first foreign leader to visit the White House, in a major concession to a US ally who is wanted by the international criminal court for war crimes.
The invitation was made in a letter from the US president, which invited the Israeli prime minister to come to the White House on 4 February to “discuss how we can bring peace to Israel and its neighbors, and efforts to counter our shared adversaries”.
“It will be my honor to host you as my first foreign leader during my second term,” the letter read.
Trump has said he is “not confident” that the ceasefire in Gaza will hold. Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israel and Hamas should soon commence negotiating a longer-term peace that many fear will fail and lead to a return to bloodshed following more than 15 months of fighting.
More on Trump’s invitation to Netanyahu in a moment, but first here are some of the latest developments in the Middle East:
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More than 375,000 Palestinians have crossed into northern Gaza since Israel allowed their return on Monday morning, the United Nations said on Tuesday. That represents over a third of the million people who fled in the war’s opening days.
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An increase in humanitarian aid into Gaza has continued under the ceasefire. “In this past week alone, approximately 4,200 trucks carrying aid have entered the Gaza Strip following inspections,” said Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Sharren Haskel. Under the ceasefire deal, 600 trucks of aid are meant to enter a day.
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The Jordanian air force has begun delivering 20 tonnes of food and medical supplies to Gaza, a government spokesperson said on Tuesday.
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The government of Qatar, a mediator in the ceasefire talks, said on Tuesday that while complaints have been raised by both sides, no confirmed ceasefire violations have occurred that could cause the agreement to collapse.
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Israel has vowed to go ahead with its ban on the UN’s Palestinian relief agency, Unrwa, which has been told to vacate its headquarters in East Jerusalem by Thursday.
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The head of the body, Philippe Lazzarini, told the UN security council that the ban was “jeopardizing any prospect for peace and security” and “harming the lives and future of Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territory”.
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Numerous US allies – including Jordan, Qatar, and France – have rejected Donald Trump’s proposal that people in Gaza should be moved into Jordan or Egypt.
