Israel-Hamas war: Trump hosts Netanyahu at White House

US President Donald Trump said he had a "great discussion" with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Iran and trade as the two met at the White House.

Netanyahu is the first foreign leader to visit Trump since the US president announced tariffs on countries around the world.

"We will eliminate the trade deficit with the United States... We think it's the right thing to do," Netanyahu told reporters after their meeting in the Oval Office.

The two leaders also discussed the war in Gaza, Israel-Turkey ties, and the International Criminal Court.

In Berlin, protesters have taken to the streets in support of four pro-Palestinian activists facing deportation. Authorities claim the activists resisted arrest and engaged in supporting a banned terrorist group, but none of them have been convicted.

French President Emmanuel Macron, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, and Jordan's King Abdullah II discussed the latest developments in Gaza in a joint call with US President Donald Trump, the French presidency said.

"On the initiative of the president of the Republic, a call was organized today… to discuss the situation in Gaza," the statement said.

Macron was in Egypt, where he met el-Sissi as well as King Abdullah.

No further details about their discussion with Trump were made public.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to meet PresidentDonald Trump in Washington.

Now the White House confirmed that a press conference scheduled after the meeting was canceled.

There was no immediate reason given for the change, but the two leaders were still due to meet in front of reporters in the Oval Office, where they will discuss tariffs and Gaza.

Israel's Supreme Court will hear arguments on Tuesday over the dismissal of Ronen Bar as head of Shin Bet, the country's internal intelligence agency, and whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acted lawfully.

Netanyahu said last month that he had lost confidence in Bar because the agency did not stop the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. 

The decision was blocked by a Supreme Court temporary injunction.

Bar's sacking fueled a wave of protests against the Israeli government.

Critics of Netanyahu claimed that the true reason for his decision to dismiss the intelligence chief was an investigation into possible ties between several of the prime minister's aides and Qatar.

Netanyahu dismissed it as a political witch-hunt against him by what he called the "Deep State."

The heads of six United Nations (UN) agencies called for an immediate ceasefire in Gazaand the renewal of humanitarian aid to the Strip.

Israel has stopped allowing any aid to come in since renewing the attacks on the Gaza Strip in early March after a two-month ceasefire with Islamist militant organization Hamas.

"More than 2.1 million people are trapped, bombed and starved again, while, at crossing points, food, medicine, fuel and shelter supplies are piling up," said a statement co-signed by the heads of six UN agencies including the UN's aid coordination agency (OCHA) and the World Food Programme.

 

Israel denies violating humanitarian law in Gaza and blames Hamas fighters for harm to civilians for operating among them, which the fighters deny.

"We are witnessing acts of war in Gaza that show an utter disregard for human life," the organizations said, while calling for world leaders to intervene.

"Protect civilians. Facilitate aid. Release hostages. Renew a ceasefire," it concluded.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the Palestinian militant group Hamas should have no role in governing the Gaza Strip after the end of the war with Israel.

According to Macron, the Palestinian Authority should lead the enclave's post-war governance, with Hamas posing no threat to Israel anymore.

During his visit to Cairo, Macron hailed Egypt for the country's "crucial work" on the Gaza Strip's reconstruction plan, while also adding that both countries "condemn the resumption of Israeli strikes on the war-ridden territory."

Both the French leader and his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, called for an immediate return to the ceasefire agreement, which also includes the resumption of aid entering Gaza, while rejecting US President Donald Trump's plan of resettling Gaza's population.

Two people were killed overnight as an Israeli airstrike struck a tent used by journalists in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis outside the Nasser hospital and wounding six other journalists.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the target was Hassan Abdel Fattah Mohammed Eslaiah, whom they identify as a "Hamas terrorist." According to the IDF, Eslaiah participatedin Hamas' October 7, 2023 terror attack on Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed.

Eslaiah "operates under the guise of a journalist and owns a press company," the IDF said. According to a statement by the Nasser hospital, Eslaiah was among the six journalists injured in the Israeli strike.

Yousef al-Faqawi, a reporter for the Palestine Today news website, was killed.

The Palestinian Journalists Protection Center (PJPC) condemned the attack, saying "the deliberate targeting of journalists constitutes a war crime."

Israelhas repeatedly accused journalists in Gazaof working with Islamist militant group Hamas.