Israeli premier delays sending negotiators to Qatar for Gaza ceasefire talks until Trump meeting

By Zein Khalil and Ikram Kouachi

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to delay sending his negotiating team to Qatar for talks on the second phase of a Gaza ceasefire agreement until his meeting with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, Israeli media said.

Netanyahu flew earlier Sunday for Washington for talks with Trump.

Negotiations were scheduled to start in Doha on Monday, but Netanyahu decided to delay sending his negotiating team until he meets with the US president.

Israeli news site Walla, citing unnamed Israeli officials, said Netanyahu "wants to wait until his meeting with Trump to gauge his stance on the second phase of the deal and whether he can reach understandings with him."

"Serious discussions on the second phase will not begin until after Netanyahu’s talks with Trump. Nothing significant will happen before then," a senior Israeli official said.

In pre-departure statements at Ben Gurion Airport, Netanyahu called his meeting with Trump “a testimony to the strength of the Israeli-American alliance.”

Netanyahu was scheduled to meet with his negotiating team on Saturday, but he canceled the meeting at the last moment, Walla said.

Instead, the Israeli premier sent his military secretary, Maj. Gen. Romen Gofman, to inform the team that they would not be traveling to Qatar at this stage.

The decision, made unilaterally by Netanyahu, was not discussed with the negotiators, the broadcaster said.

Earlier this week, Netanyahu informed the negotiation team that talks on the second phase will be headed by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.

The move, he argued, was necessary since "these negotiations are political and strategic, focusing on Gaza’s post-war future,” according to Walla.

On Jan. 19, the first six-week phase of the Gaza and prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel went into effect, during which negotiations will continue for subsequent phases of the deal. The agreement is mediated by Egypt and Qatar, with support from the US.

Israel’s genocidal war has killed more than 47,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured more than 111,000 since Oct. 7, 2023.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.