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Full Screenblair House, on the other side of the street from the White House in Washington. File image. Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP/TT
No other foreign leader has been allowed to live as many times in the White House’s famous guest house as Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israeli Prime Minister is on site in Washington to meet Donald Trump – and try to bed for phase two of Gaza’s ceasefire.
Netanyahu was welcomed to Blair House, the rich guesthouse adjacent to the White House, on Sunday evening. According to a press release, he was then reminded that this is the 14th time he lives there-a higher figure than for any other foreign leader since the guesthouse was created in the 19th century.
It is intense days waiting. On Monday, he will meet Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s new Middle Eastern endoring, who received part of the honor that this week eventually became a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Six weeks
The two men will discuss the next phase in the settlement – a delicate work that has barely begun, and that looks more difficult and more difficult because Israel and Palestinian counterpart Hamas have already struggled several times about the current first phase.
The actual negotiations with Hamas have not yet begun, and it begins to rush. Phase one will last for a total of six weeks, which means it will end in early March. Several hawks around Netanyahu would like to see that there will be no second phase, but that the war is then resumed.
Agree on Iran?
On Tuesday, Trump then receives Netanyahu. Prior to that meeting, the US Nygamle President has sent mixed signals about how satisfied he is with Israel’s policy.
On the one hand, Trump has talked about giving Israel free hands by sending Gaza’s population to other countries, on the other, Witkoff has thus pressed Netanyahu to a ceasefire.
The question is also what they can come up with about Lebanon’s Hezbollahmilis and its powerful benefactor Iran. In the past, they have agreed on a very tough line against the regime in Tehran, but now Trump seems more craving for a diplomatic settlement than continued war threats.