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US President Donald Trump, hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday, said the United States had scheduled talks with Iran and indicated progress on a controversial effort to relocate Palestinians out of Gaza.

During their meeting, Netanyahu gave Trump a letter that he said he had used to nominate the US president for the Nobel Peace Prize. Trump, appearing pleased by the gesture, thanked him.

Speaking to reporters at the beginning of a dinner between US and Israeli officials, Netanyahu said the United States and Israel were working with other countries who would give Palestinians a “better future,” suggesting that the residents of Gaza could move to neighboring nations.

“If people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave,” Netanyahu said.

“We’re working with the US very closely about finding countries that will seek to realize what they always say, that they wanted to give the Palestinians a better future. I think we’re getting close to finding several countries.”

Trump, who initially demurred to Netanyahu when asked about the relocating of Palestinians, said the countries around Israel were helping out. “We’ve had great cooperation from…surrounding countries, great cooperation from every single one of them. So something good will happen,” Trump said.

The president earlier this year floated relocating Palestinians and taking over the Gaza Strip to turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.

Gazans criticized the proposal and vowed never to leave their homes in the coastal enclave. Human rights groups condemned the plan as ethnic cleansing.

Trump and Netanyahu met for several hours in Washington while Israeli officials continued indirect negotiations with Hamas aimed at securing a US-brokered Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal.

Netanyahu returned to the Blair House guest house late on Monday, where he is due to meet Vice President JD Vance at 9.30 EDT on Tuesday.

Netanyahu’s visit follows Trump’s prediction, on the eve of their meeting, that such a deal could be reached this week. Before heading to Washington, the right-wing Israeli leader said his discussions with Trump could help advance negotiations under way in Qatar between Israel and the Palestinian militant group.

It was Trump’s third face-to-face encounter with Netanyahu since returning to office in January, and came just over two weeks after the president ordered the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites in support of Israeli air strikes. Trump then helped arrange a ceasefire in the 12-day Israel-Iran war.

Trump said his administration would be meeting with Iran. “We have scheduled Iran talks, and they … want to talk. They took a big drubbing,” he said.

Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said the meeting would take place in the next week or so.

Trump said he would like to lift sanctions on Iran at some point. “I would love to be able to, at the right time, take those sanctions off,” he said.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an interview released on Monday that he believed Iran could resolve its differences with the US through dialogue.

Trump and his aides appeared to be trying to seize on any momentum created by the weakening of Iran, which backs Hamas, to push both sides for a breakthrough in the 21-month Gaza war.

The two leaders, with their top advisers, held a private dinner in the White House Blue Room, instead of more traditional talks in the Oval Office, where the president usually greets visiting dignitaries.

Outside, hundreds of protesters, many wearing Palestinian keffiyeh scarves and waving Palestinian flags, gathered near the White House, waving banners that read “Stop Arming Israel” and “Say No to Genocide”. They also called for Netanyahu’s arrest, referring to the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against the Israeli leader over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

Netanyahu met earlier on Monday with Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He planned to visit the US Capitol on Tuesday to see congressional leaders.

Ahead of their visit, Netanyahu told reporters Israeli negotiators were driving for a deal on Gaza in Doha, Qatar’s capital.

Israeli officials also hope the outcome of the conflict with Iran will pave the way for normalization of relations with more of its neighbors such as Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia.

Second day of Qatar talks

Witkoff, who played a major role in crafting the 60-day ceasefire proposal at the center of the Qatar negotiations, will travel to Doha this week to join discussions there, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters earlier on Monday.

In a sign of continued gaps between the two sides, Palestinian sources said Israel’s refusal to allow the free and safe entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza remains the main obstacle to progress in the indirect talks. Israel insists it is taking steps to get food into Gaza but seeks to prevent militants from diverting supplies.

On the second day of negotiations, mediators hosted one round and talks were expected to resume in the evening, the Palestinian sources told Reuters.

The US-backed proposal envisages a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals from parts of Gaza and discussions on ending the war entirely.

Hamas has long demanded a final end to the war before it would free remaining hostages; Israel has insisted it would not agree to halt fighting until all hostages are released and Hamas dismantled.

Trump told reporters last week that he would be “very firm” with Netanyahu on the need for a speedy Gaza deal and that the Israeli leader also wanted to end the war.

Some of Netanyahu’s hardline coalition partners oppose halting military operations but, with Israelis having become increasingly weary of the Gaza war, his government is expected to back a ceasefire if he can secure acceptable terms.

A ceasefire at the start of this year collapsed in March, and talks to revive it have so far been fruitless. Meanwhile, Israel has intensified its military campaign in Gaza and sharply restricted food distribution.

Gazans were watching closely for any sign of a breakthrough. “I ask God almighty that the negotiating delegation or the mediators pressure with all their strength to solve this issue, because it has totally became unbearable,” said Abu Suleiman Qadoum, a displaced resident of Gaza city.

Trump has been strongly supportive of Netanyahu, even wading into domestic Israeli politics last month by criticizing prosecutors over a corruption trial against the Israeli leader on bribery, fraud and breach-of-trust charges that Netanyahu denies.

Israel’s war on Gaza

Since October 2023, more than 57,300 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli operations in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to Palestinian authorities.

Israel’s actions in Gaza have drawn global scrutiny. The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Moreover, Israel is facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun received American diplomat Thomas Barrack in Beirut on Monday and gave him the Lebanese state’s reply to a proposal from the United States about disarming Hezbollah.

Barrack, ambassador to Turkiye and special envoy for Syria, said Lebanon’s response was “something spectacular” and that he was “unbelievably satisfied” by the reply, which has not been made public as of yet.

The visit comes amid continued Israeli attacks on alleged Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, which have killed civilians, since a ceasefire went into effect on November 27, 2024.

Here’s what you need to know about the visit and what it means for Lebanon and Israel:

Why did the US envoy visit Lebanon?

Not for the summer weather.

Barrack went to receive the Lebanese state’s official response to a US proposal, delivered to Lebanon on June 19, to disarm the Hezbollah group.

Under the terms of a ceasefire deal with Israel from last November, Hezbollah was to withdraw its fighters from south of the Litani River – which runs across south Lebanon and up into the Bekaa Valley – and turn over military infrastructure and bases there.

However, according to diplomatic and political sources with knowledge of the agreement, the language was purposefully undefined, leaving it open to interpretation by both sides.

The US and Israel have chosen to interpret the ceasefire as contingent on Hezbollah’s complete disarmament in the entirety of the country.

Barrack insinuated in his statement after the meeting that support for Lebanon would be contingent on the Lebanese government acting in line with what he said was a “region moving at Mach speed”, although he did not specify what it was moving towards.

Over the past two years, Israel has waged war on Gaza, Iran, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, with full US support.

Developments have often been touted as victories against Iran and its allies in the region.

What was the Lebanese government’s response to the US demand?

The response has not yet been made public.

But reports indicate the government demanded that Israel withdraw from all Lebanese territories, including five points it occupied during the recent ceasefire and areas it stayed in after the 2000 withdrawal from southern Lebanon.

It also reportedly called on the US to pressure Israel to:

• abide by the ceasefire,
• return Lebanese prisoners it took, and
• adhere to United Nations  Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for a cessation of hostilities, for Hezbollah to withdraw from south of the Litani, and for financial and economic reforms, among other provisions.

Barrack said he received a seven-page reply from Aoun’s team and had not yet had time to study it, but that he was satisfied.

His comments also seemed to suggest Lebanon needs to meet certain expectations if it wants US support, talking about Lebanon turning over a new leaf, similar to neighbouring Syria, which has indicated it is willing to have a peace agreement with Israel.

“If you don’t want change, it’s no problem,” Barrack said, before adding: “The rest of the region is moving at high speed.”

Barrack did not specify if US support would be in the form of reconstruction financing – the World Bank says Lebanon needs $11bn for recovery following the latest Israeli aggression – or in terms of reining in Israel, which continues daily attacks on southern Lebanon and occasionally on Beirut and its periphery.

What are the demands for Hezbollah to disarm?

There are external and internal demands.

The external demands come mostly from the US and Israel. Before Hezbollah was battered in this latest war and lost much of its military leadership, Israel saw the group as a military threat.

Many Gulf states have also opposed Hezbollah and its benefactor Iran’s influence over Lebanon and the Levant.

Internally, Lebanon’s president and prime minister, as well as a variety of political parties and figures, want Hezbollah to disarm and for the Lebanese army and state to control the use of force and decisions of war and peace.

In much of Lebanon’s post-civil war period (1990 onwards), Hezbollah has been Lebanon’s political and military hegemon. Its support comes mostly from the Shia community, and most elected Shia officials are members of Hezbollah or their allies, the Amal Movement.

The group’s critics say the party has isolated Lebanon from good relations with regional and international countries and has grown from a party outside the corrupt Lebanese political system to that system’s protector.

What pressures are there on the Lebanese government to comply?

The US seems to have become the only power that can rein in Israel’s attacks, which are undermining the new government’s efforts at reform and at helping a segment of the population that feels they are not being properly supported by the state.

Historically, Hezbollah filled the void left by the state, while at times undermining the state’s attempts to fill that void.

Further pressure is on the country because it is badly in need of foreign investment and aid for reconstruction, which the US has signalled may be tied to disarming Hezbollah.

Here, Hezbollah seems to agree with the Lebanese government and has expressed some willingness to cooperate, as it knows many of its supporters need their homes or villages liberated or rebuilt.

What are the obstacles to Hezbollah disarming?

There are a few.

One is the continued Israeli attacks and presence in south Lebanon, in the five points that the Israeli military occupied during the ceasefire period and the continued occupation of the Shebaa Farms and Kfarchouba Hills.

Few in Hezbollah or among their supporters believe the group should disarm as long as Lebanese territory is under occupation or attack.

“We cannot be asked to soften our stance or lay down arms while [Israeli] aggression continues,” Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem told supporters in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday for Ashura, an important Shia commemoration.

Hezbollah says it is unwilling to disarm as long as Israeli presence remains in the south of the country and as long as the fear of invasion exists. Israel invaded Lebanon in 1978 and again in 1982, occupying the south until Hezbollah drove them out in 2000.

They reinvaded last year.

Hezbollah has also raised concerns about the Lebanon-Syria border, where clashes erupted earlier this year.

While both countries said they want border delineation, a resumption of tensions is not out of the question.

What about Israel?

That is the big question.

Whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will heed any pressures from the US to stop attacking Lebanon and to implement fully the terms of the agreements between the two countries remains to be seen.

It is unclear if Barrack’s visit to Beirut and the Lebanese state’s response had any effect on a meeting between Trump and Netanyahu in Washington, DC, on Monday.

What is clear from Lebanon is that it is hoping the US will get the Israelis to stop attacking the country, enforce the ceasefire, and support the Lebanese state as it attempts to complete the fragile task of bringing Hezbollah’s weapons under state control without isolating the Shia community from the nation-building project.