Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to hold an important meeting with US President Donald Trump in Florida today to discuss the latest developments on the Gaza ceasefire plan.
The meeting is part of Netanyahu's series of visits to the US this year to meet Trump, who is seen as a key ally in determining the direction of the Israeli-Palestinian peace plan.
According to an Israeli official, Netanyahu left for the US yesterday and will meet with Trump a day later.
However, the location of their meeting was not disclosed due to security reasons.
In the middle of this month, Trump informed the media that Netanyahu would most likely visit him in Florida in conjunction with the Christmas holiday.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the discussions are expected to cover various regional issues including the situation in Iran, as well as the negotiations for a security agreement between Israel and Syria.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss the status of the ceasefire with the Hezbollah group in Lebanon and the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
So far, progress on the implementation of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement signed last October has reportedly been slow, despite the plan being worked on by Washington with regional allies.
Both sides still accuse each other of violating the ceasefire, while the mediators fear that Israel and Hamas are deliberately delaying the settlement process.
In the next stage, Israel is expected to withdraw from Gaza and an interim authority will be established to administer the Palestinian territory in place of Hamas.
In the meantime, an International Stabilization Force (ISF) will also be deployed to the area.
The agreement requires Hamas to hand over their weapons, which are now the main issue in this dispute.
According to a report by the US news portal, Axios, the meeting between Trump and Netanyahu is very important to accelerate the implementation of the agreement.
