MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington D.C. today.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
He's here at the invitation of the president, and tomorrow becomes the first foreign leader to meet with Trump in his second term. Here's Netanyahu as he left for his trip.
PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: I think it's a testimony to the strength of the Israeli-American alliance. It's also a testimony to the strength of our personal friendship.
INSKEEP: They certainly have things to discuss. A ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas is holding in its third week as talks about the next phase of the deal are scheduled to begin today.
MARTIN: To talk more about all of this, we're joined by NPR's Kat Lonsdorf in Tel Aviv. Kat, good morning.
KAT LONSDORF, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: Tell us what we know about Netanyahu's visit to the White House. What can we expect?
LONSDORF: Yeah, Trump and Netanyahu have a lot to discuss, some of which is left over from Trump's first term - things like the Abraham Accords and the normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia. Also, how to deal with Iran. That's Israel's big enemy, but also a country that Trump has focused on a lot, too. But more immediately, there's Gaza. Just in the last week or so, Trump has been adamant about the very controversial idea of relocating Palestinians in Gaza out to neighboring Egypt or Jordan. He says, in order to allow for rebuilding. Both Egypt and Jordan have rejected that idea. Palestinians in Gaza also don't want that. And then there's the ceasefire deal, which is now in the middle of the first six-week phase, but talks of the next phase are supposed to start today. So they will most certainly be discussing that as well.
MARTIN: Kat, what can you tell us about this next phase of the deal? What do we know?
LONSDORF: Yeah, details are still being hammered out. That's what the talks starting today are for. The talks will look a lot like they have in the past with the U.S., Qatar and Egypt acting as mediators between Hamas and Israel. We know that the second phase is crucial to ending the war. President Biden, who helped create the framework for this deal, did outline some of it in the second phase. Male Israeli soldiers who are being held hostage in Gaza will be released. We haven't seen that so far. In exchange, more Palestinian prisoners and detainees are expected to be released, and the remaining Israeli forces in Gaza will withdraw, which will lead to a permanent ceasefire.
MARTIN: And what about the process for all of this? Like, what does that look like?
LONSDORF: Yeah, Netanyahu is meeting with U.S. Mideast Envoy Steve Witkoff today in Washington. Witkoff has been instrumental in getting this agreement implemented, and he and Netanyahu are expected to talk about Phase 2. Witkoff's been talking with other countries ahead of today's talks. He spoke with Egyptian negotiators yesterday, for example. What we don't know is what demands each side might make that could derail the deal. For example, Netanyahu has a lot of pressure from key far-right members in his government to demand the elimination of Hamas in Gaza. Hamas still appears to control Gaza very much so even after more than a year of intense fighting with Israel attempting to eliminate the militant group. Netanyahu's is in a really tricky political situation here where those far-right members have threatened to leave his government and collapse his coalition if he doesn't secure this as part of the deal. On the other hand, President Trump has been fairly clear about wanting the deal to go forward and continuing the ceasefire. So there are some areas of potential disagreement, and it's something we're going to be keeping a close eye on.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Kat Lonsdorf in Tel Aviv. Kat, thank you.
LONSDORF: Thank you.
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