Trump, Bibi set to hold talks on Gaza truce deal

President Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are set to meet today as the Israeli prime minister faces competing pressure from his right-wing coalition to end a temporary truce against Hamas militants in Gaza and from war-weary Israelis who want the remaining hostages home and the 15-month conflict to end.

Trump is guarded about the long-term prospects for the truce, even as he takes credit for pressuring Hamas and Israel into the hostage and ceasefire agreement that went into effect the day before he returned to office last month.

“I have no guarantees that the peace is going to hold," Trump told reporters on Monday. The leaders' talks are expected to touch on a long-sought Israel-Saudi Arabia normalisation deal and concerns about Iran's N programme.

Netanyahu said he would send a delegation to Qatar to continue indirect talks with Hamas that are being mediated by the Gulf Arab country. Netanyahu is under intense pressure from hard-right members of his coalition to abandon the ceasefire. Hamas said on Tuesday that talks on the second phase of the ceasefire with had begun.