Trump to Meet Netanyahu for Talks on Gaza and Regional Security

The meeting follows months of intensive diplomacy in preparation for the next phase of the Gaza cease-fire.

President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., on Dec. 29, 2025. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Dec. 29, extending a series of high-level talks that have focused on the future of Gaza and regional security threats.

Netanyahu is first scheduled to meet U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at 10 a.m. in Palm Beach, Florida, according to the U.S. Department of State’s public schedule.

The Epoch Times contacted the White House for confirmation of the meeting but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Netanyahu’s visit marks his sixth meeting with Trump this year, according to Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon, who described the trip as a sign of enduring ties between the two allies.

“The visit underscores the strength of the alliance” between Israel and the United States, Danon said in a Dec. 28 post on X. Danon added that he welcomed Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, upon their arrival in Florida the same day.

Trump and Netanyahu have met repeatedly in both Israel and the United States in 2025, holding joint press conferences and private talks that have centered on Gaza and the October cease-fire that paused more than two years of fighting between Israel and Hamas.

During a phone call on Dec. 1, Netanyahu’s office said the two leaders discussed “the importance and obligation of disarming Hamas and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip,” as well as expanding regional peace agreements.

Netanyahu’s office said at the time that a visit with Trump would take place “in the near future.”

Earlier this month, Netanyahu said the cease-fire agreement brokered between Israel and Hamas two months ago was approaching its next scheduled phase, though implementation remains uncertain amid mutual accusations of violations.

Speaking at a news conference in Tel Aviv on Dec. 7 alongside visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Netanyahu said the cease-fire was “very shortly expected to move into [its] second phase.”

That phase, he said, would include disarming Hamas and demilitarizing Gaza, with the process possibly beginning by the end of December.

Netanyahu, on the same day, stressed that disarming Hamas was essential, more than two years after the terrorist group launched attacks on Israel that killed more than 1,200 people and resulted in more than 250 hostages being taken, including U.S. citizens.

Despite those statements, Israel and Hamas have accused each other of major breaches of the deal, and progress toward the more complex second phase has appeared limited.

Hamas has refused to disarm and has not returned the remains of the last Israeli hostage.

Israel has warned it will resume military action if Hamas does not comply with the agreement voluntarily.

“Hamas must be held to the agreement that they signed on which includes removal from governance, demilitarization, and de-radicalization. Israel will respond accordingly,” Netanyahu said in a Dec. 24 post on X.

Gaza Governance Plan

Rubio said on Dec. 19 that Washington wants a transitional administration for Gaza established quickly, as outlined in Trump’s plan for the territory.

He said the plan envisions a Board of Peace and a governing body composed of Palestinian technocrats, to be formed before the deployment of an international security force authorized by a Nov. 17 U.N. Security Council resolution.

Rubio said the United States viewed the transitional authority as a necessary step toward long-term stability and reconstruction.

Iran and Regional Security

Netanyahu has indicated that discussions with Trump could also include Iran and wider regional threats, even as Gaza remains the central focus.

Speaking at a joint news conference in Jerusalem on Dec. 22 with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, Netanyahu said Iran and its regional allies were expected to feature in future talks.

“Obviously, it will become an item in our discussions, but I have to tell you that I think the focus will be on Gaza the next stage, and on other issues that engages from the other Hs,” Netanyahu said, referring to the terrorist groups with names that begin with the letter H. “We have Hamas, but we also have Hezbollah, and our desire to see a stable and sovereign Lebanon, and of course, the Houthis as well that are blocking international shipping that affects Greece, affects Cyprus, and affects us as well.”

Under a U.S.–French-brokered cease-fire reached in 2024, Israel was to withdraw from southern Lebanon after more than a year of clashes with the terrorist group Hezbollah, while the Lebanese army was tasked with dismantling Hezbollah fortifications near the border.

The United States, which designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization in 2014, has led diplomatic efforts to prevent renewed fighting while emphasizing Israel’s security concerns. However, tensions have persisted, with Israel retaining positions inside Lebanon and conducting airstrikes it says are aimed at preventing Hezbollah from rearming.

Trump ordered U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June but has since floated the possibility of renewed diplomacy with Tehran.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Dec. 27 that Iran was engaged in a “full-fledged war” with the United States, Europe, and Israel, months after Iranian nuclear facilities were bombed during a 12-day aerial conflict.

Netanyahu has said Israel does not seek a direct confrontation with Iran but is closely monitoring Tehran’s actions.

He said he was aware of Pezeshkian’s remarks and would bring Iran’s activities to Trump’s attention during their meeting.