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<p data-start="0" data-end="238"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">US President Donald Trump on Monday said discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had yielded significant progress, with several contentious issues addressed during a brief meeting at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.</span></p>
<p data-start="240" data-end="654"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Trump met Netanyahu a day after holding talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and described the interaction as productive. Speaking to reporters, the US president said the two leaders had already resolved &ldquo;about three of the difficulties&rdquo; within minutes of their discussion. &ldquo;This is a very good group. We made a lot of progress already,&rdquo; Trump said, adding that the meeting lasted around five minutes.</span></p>
<p data-start="656" data-end="1037"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The talks focused on the Gaza ceasefire, Israel&rsquo;s security concerns, and regional challenges involving Iran and Lebanon&rsquo;s Hezbollah. Trump struck a strongly supportive tone towards Netanyahu, underlining his confidence in the Israeli leader&rsquo;s role. &ldquo;I feel that if you had the wrong prime minister, Israel would not exist,&rdquo; Trump said, expressing praise for Netanyahu&rsquo;s leadership.</span></p>
<p data-start="1039" data-end="1499"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">On Gaza, Trump said he wanted to move to the second phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas as soon as possible, but stressed that Hamas must be disarmed. Under the ceasefire agreement reached in October, Israel withdrew from parts of Gaza, while Hamas agreed to give up weapons and relinquish any governing role. The initial phase included a partial Israeli pullback, increased humanitarian aid, and the exchange of hostages for Palestinian detainees.</span></p>
<p data-start="1501" data-end="1822"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Despite the ceasefire, violence has not fully stopped. Israeli strikes have continued, resulting in hundreds of Palestinian deaths, while Palestinian militants have also killed Israeli soldiers. Trump said the reopening of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza would depend on Hamas returning the remains of hostages.</span></p>
<p data-start="1824" data-end="2264"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Addressing Iran, Trump said he would be open to backing another swift Israeli strike if Tehran continued advancing its ballistic missile and nuclear programmes. He recalled that earlier this year, Israel and Iran were involved in nearly two weeks of hostilities, during which US forces struck Iranian nuclear facilities. Netanyahu has said Israel does not seek direct confrontation with Iran but remains concerned about Tehran&rsquo;s activities.</span></p>
<p data-start="2266" data-end="2784"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The leaders also discussed the situation in Lebanon, where a US-backed ceasefire in November 2024 ended more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. The agreement called for the disarmament of Hezbollah south of the Litani River. While Lebanon has indicated progress towards meeting the disarmament deadline, Hezbollah has resisted calls to surrender its weapons. Israel has continued near-daily strikes in Lebanon, saying they are aimed at preventing Hezbollah from rebuilding its military capabilities.</span></p>
<p data-start="2786" data-end="2985" data-is-last-node="" data-is-only-node=""><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The meeting underscored close coordination between Washington and Tel Aviv at a time of heightened regional tensions, with both leaders signalling alignment on key security and diplomatic priorities.</span></p>
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US president backs Israeli PM, says key issues eased at Mar-a-Lago meet

Trump, Netanyahu claim progress after talks

US president backs Israeli PM, says key issues eased at Mar-a-Lago meet

December 30, 2025 | 19:10 IST