United States (US) President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Washington on July 7 to discuss the “voluntary migration” of Palestinians, defying international consensus and distracting from ongoing ceasefire negotiations in Qatar.

Speaking to reporters at the White House during his dinner with Trump, Netanyahu said the US and Israel were working with other countries so that the residents of Gaza could move to neighboring nations.

He also said that both Israel and the US were actively working to find countries that would take Palestinians from Gaza.

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"We're working with the United States very closely about finding countries that will seek to realize what they always say, that they wanted to give the Palestinians a better future. I think we're getting close to finding several countries,” said Netanyahu.

Netanyahu said if people wanted to stay, “they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave".

Netanyahu said Israelis would not want a Palestinian state after what happened on Oct 7, 2023 when Hamas militants launched a surprise attack, which is against UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions for a two-state solution to the crisis.

Trump said talks to end the conflict in Gaza have been "going along very well" and expressed confidence that Palestinian militant group Hamas was willing to end the 21-month conflict.

Trump has met Netanyahu three times this year, despite a standing arrest warrant for the Israeli leader issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). US announced sanctions for ICC judges days ago.

US envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, who was also present at the dinner, said that there is “momentum” and that he was heading to the region in the coming days to work on the ceasefire deal.

The move to relocate people from Gaza had previously been condemned by the international community, including the Palestinian Authority.

At the BRICS Summit in Brazil on July 6 and 7, a joint communique from world leaders stressed that efforts to stabilize and rebuild Gaza must go hand-in-hand with a just and lasting political resolution of the protracted conflict.

“We express our firm opposition to the forced displacement, temporary or permanent, under any pretext, of any of the Palestinian population from the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as well as any geographic or demographic changes to the territory of the Gaza Strip,” the Rio Declaration stated.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, former Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas called talk of relocation “a recipe for catastrophe” as it ensured that “no post-war agreement in Gaza is durable”.

Meanwhile, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called on Netanyahu to bring back the team indirectly negotiating a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas in Doha, saying that Israel should not be negotiating with those who have killed its soldiers.

Instead, Ben-Gvir said they should be “starved to death” and “not resuscitated with humanitarian aid that gives them oxygen”.

As the Washington meeting took place, a series of Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip were reported at dawn on July 8.

The bombing of civilian homes and shelters for the displaced was reported to have killed at least 24 people, including children and women, and injured dozens more, according to the Palestinian WAFA news agency.

Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital announced the killing of four citizens, including an infant, while Baptist Hospital announced the death of two citizens and the injury of others.

Five Israeli soldiers were killed and 14 were wounded by a roadside bomb in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza on July 7, Israel’s military announced on July 8.

Gokhan Batu, an analyst on Israel studies at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies in Turkiye, told China Daily that Netanyahu’s third visit to the White House in the past six months appeared to be “the warmest yet”.

However, he said it remained “difficult to foresee” what the visit would mean in terms of concrete actions in the context of the ongoing conflict.

“President Trump’s recent public commitment to ending the war in Gaza is likely to remain a critical point of discussion. Yet, it is not merely the end of the war that matters — it is how the war will end that carries significant implications,” said Batu.

Batu said Netanyahu now seems to understand that instead of imposing his agenda, he must persuade Trump by speaking in his language and aligning with his political tone.

“The United States, meanwhile, is once again signaling a desire to provide Iran with a diplomatic off-ramp and bring it back to the negotiating table,” he said.

“Netanyahu appears increasingly aware that some degree of strategic alignment with Washington is now necessary,” said Batu.

Ayman Yousef, a professor of international relations at the Arab American University in Jenin, West Bank, told China Daily that there are some opportunities for a political settlement between Hamas and Israel and that the US is vital to that.

“Now we have two perspectives. The American perspective represented by Trump, who’s trying to convince Netanyahu to go for this political settlement or political deal with Hamas,” said Yousef, adding that Trump sees normalization with Iran and a settlement in Gaza going “hand-in-hand” as part of a more comprehensive approach to the whole Middle East.

On the other hand, Yousef said, there is the perspective represented by Netanyahu and the more right-wing elements of his government.

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“Netanyahu tried to convince President Trump that Hamas is more connected with an Iranian project, and it is the continuation of the Iranian threat, and in order to settle this dispute with Hamas and Iran, more military force is needed,” said Yousef.

He added that Netanyahu believes that negotiation and military action must go together in order to convince Hamas and even Iran that the US and Israel are united when it comes to their political horizons and different political scenarios in the Middle East.

“I think we are in the climax where we have two scenarios: either a political settlement will be reached or more military escalation will be deepening in north Gaza,” said Yousef.

Contact the writer at jan@chinadailyapac.com