President Donald Trump is set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, as Washington looks for new momentum in a US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza that could be in danger of stalling before a complicated second phase.
Mr Trump could use the meeting at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to try to benefit from his strong relationship with Mr Netanyahu and look for ways to speed up the peace process.
Before the meeting, Mr Netanyahu met separately with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that Mr Trump championed has mostly held, but progress has slowed recently. Both sides accuse each other of breaches, and divisions have emerged among the US, Israel and Arab countries about the way forward.
The truce's first phase began in October, days after the two-year anniversary of the initial Hamas-led attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people. All but one of the 251 hostages taken then have been released, alive or dead.
The body of one hostage is still in Gaza and Mr Netanyahu has indicated that he is in no rush to move forward with the second phase of the ceasefire while the remains are still missing.
The second phase of Mr Trump's 20-point plan for Gaza, which has won UN Security Council backing, outlines a path for ending Hamas’s rule of the enclave.
If successful, the second phase would see the rebuilding of a demilitarised Gaza under international supervision by a group led by Mr Trump and known as the Board of Peace. The Palestinians would form a “technocratic, apolitical” committee to run daily affairs in Gaza, under the board's supervision.
It also calls for normalised relations between Israel and the Arab world, and a possible pathway to Palestinian independence. Then there are many logistical and humanitarian questions, including rebuilding war-ravaged Gaza, disarming Hamas and creating a security body called the International Stabilisation Force.
The Board of Peace would oversee Gaza’s reconstruction under a two-year, renewable UN mandate. Its members had been expected to be named by the end of the year and might even be revealed after Monday's meeting, but the announcement could be pushed into next month.
While the Trump administration is keen for progress on Gaza, analysts say the prospect of Iran rebuilding its nuclear programme and ballistic missile capabilities is likely to dominate Mr Netanyahu’s agenda.
Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed Iran's nuclear capabilities were “completely and fully obliterated” after US strikes in June. Israeli officials have been quoted in local media as expressing concern about Iran rebuilding its supply of long-range missiles capable of striking Israel.
Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian said Mr Netanyahu would discuss ensuring that “Hamas is disarmed, Gaza is demilitarised” in the second phase of the agreement.
He will also bring up the “danger Iran poses not only to the region of the Middle East, but the United States as well", Ms Bedrosian added.
