President Donald Trump said Tuesday afternoon that he will meet again with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late Tuesday for a second time at the White House to discuss efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and a hostage release agreement.
"We'll be talking about... Gaza almost exclusively," Trump told reporters during a cabinet meeting.
"We have to solve this problem. Gaza is a tragedy. Netanyahu wants to solve it, I want to solve it, and I think the other side wants to solve it," he added, in an apparent reference to Hamas, before asking US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff for his opinion.
Witkov explained that three of the four remaining issues have been resolved since the start of the ongoing rapprochement talks in Doha on Sunday.
"We hope to reach an agreement by the end of this week that will lead to a 60-day ceasefire," Witkoff added.
He explained that the agreement would include the release of 10 living hostages, along with the bodies of nine dead hostages. Witkoff appears to have mistakenly halved the number of bodies to be released, as the proposal called for the release of 18 bodies. "We are meeting, at the president's direction, with all the families of the hostages to inform them, and we believe this will lead to lasting peace in Gaza," Witkoff said.
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Trump: I will meet with Netanyahu to discuss Gaza exclusively.