ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he will discuss “victory over Hamas,” tightening the screw on Iran and expanding diplomatic relations with Arab countries when he meets US President Donald Trump in Washington tomorrow.

Altough Hamas freed three male hostages and Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday in the fourth such exchange since the Gaza ceasefire began on January 19, it says it will not release hostages due to go free in the ceasefire’s second phase without peace and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Mr Netanyahu has said Israel is still committed to victory over Hamas and the return of all the hostages captured in the group’s October 7 2023 attack on southern Israel.

Mr Trump has stood by Israel, but has also pledged to end wars in the Middle East. He took credit for helping to broker the Gaza ceasefire agreement which led to the release of 18 hostages, as well as hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Mr Netanyahu claimed today that, by working together, he and the US president could “strengthen security, broaden the circle of peace and achieve a remarkable era of peace through strength.”

Mr Trump is believed to be seeking a deal in which Israel would establish diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia, but the kingdom says it will only agree to do so if the war ends and there is a credible pathway to a Palestinian state.

Mr Netanyahu’s government is opposed to Palestinian statehood and far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has threatened to leave the coalition if the war is not resumed after the first phase ends next month.

That would increase the chances of early elections, which Mr Netanyahu could lose.

Mr Trump’s own plan, to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza and the occupied West Bank, suffered a heavy blow on Saturday when Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League all rejected his call for them to be taken in by Egypt and Jordan.

The same day, 50 sick and wounded Palestinian children left Gaza for treatment through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt as the enclave’s sole exit opened for the first time in nine months.

In the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military said today that it was expanding an operation focused on the city of Jenin to the town of Tamun.

A 73-year-old man was shot dead by Israeli troops in Jenin early today and five Palestinians, including a 16-year-old, were killed in air strikes overnight, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.