Key events
Trump thanks Netanyahu for agreeing to Gaza plan
He thanks Netanyahu for agreeing to the plan.
‘Beyond very close’ on Gaza ceasefire deal, says Trump
“We’re at a minimum, very, very close. And I think we’re beyond very close,” Trump says of reaching a ceasefire deal for Gaza.
They’ve just discussed ending the war in Gaza, Iran, trade, the Abraham Accords, the bigger picture of “peace in the Middle East”, says Trump.
Over an hour behind schedule Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have finally arrived.
White House announces plan to ‘end Gaza conflict’ ahead of Trump-Netanyahu press conference
The White House has just sent out out a lengthy plan “to end the Gaza conflict”. Among the key points coming through on Reuters are:
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If both sides agree to the proposal, the war will immediately end, with all military operations – including aerial and artillery bombardment – to be suspended
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Israel will not annex or occupy Gaza
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No one will be forced to leave Gaza and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return
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A Trump economic development plan “to rebuild and reenergize Gaza will be created”
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Within 72 hours of Israel accepting the proposal, all remaining hostages – alive and dead – will be returned
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The US will establish a dialogue between Israel and Palestinians “to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous coexistence”
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The US will work with Arab and international partners “to develop a temporary international stabilization force to immediately deploy in Gaza”
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Hamas members who commit to peaceful coexistence and decommission their weapons will be given amnesty
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Once all hostages are released, Israel will release 250 life sentence prisoners plus1,700 Gazans detained after October 7 2023
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Entry of and distribution of aid to proceed without interference from two parties through the UN
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Hamas and other factions to agree to not have any role in governance of Gaza, whether direct or indirect or in any form
Netanyahu ‘expressed deep regret’ that Israeli strike on Doha killed Qatari serviceman, says White House
Here is the White House’s readout confirming the trilateral call reported earlier during which Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to Qatari PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani over Israel’s strikes on Doha earlier this month.
Today, President Donald J. Trump hosted a trilateral phone call with His Excellency Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and His Excellency Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani of Qatar.
The President expressed his desire to put Israeli-Qatar relations on a positive track after years of mutual grievances and miscommunications.
The leaders accepted the president’s proposal to establish a trilateral mechanism to enhance coordination, improve communication, resolve mutual grievances, and strengthen collective efforts to prevent threats. They underscored their shared commitment to working together constructively and clearing away misperceptions, while building on the longstanding ties both have with the United States.
As a first step, Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed his deep regret that Israel’s missile strike against Hamas targets in Qatar unintentionally killed a Qatari serviceman.
He further expressed regret that, in targeting Hamas leadership during hostage negotiations, Israel violated Qatari sovereignty and affirmed that Israel will not conduct such an attack again in the future.
Prime Minister Al Thani welcomed these assurances, emphasizing Qatar’s readiness to continue contributing meaningfully to regional security and stability. Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed commitment to the same.
The leaders discussed a proposal for ending the war in Gaza, prospects for a more secure Middle East, and the need for greater understanding between their countries.
President Trump praised both leaders for their willingness to take steps toward greater cooperation in the interest of peace and security for all.
Chris Stein
A top House Democrat has condemned Republican speaker Mike Johnson for cancelling the chamber’s final two work days of the month, as the parties remain at loggerheads over how to prevent a government shutdown.
The House of Representatives was scheduled to be in session today and Tuesday but the Republican leadership cancelled those days earlier this month, in what was seen as an effort to pressure Democrats to accept their proposal for keeping the government funded beyond Tuesday.
In a letter to Johnson, House Democratic whip Katherine Clark said cancelling those days delays the swearing-in of newly elected Democratic representative Adelita Grijalva, as well as undermines the funding negotiations.
“We ask that you reverse your decision to cancel votes on Tuesday, September 30. If you remain unwilling to call the House into session, Representative-elect Grijalva should be sworn in during the pro forma session on Tuesday,” she wrote.
Once sworn in, Grijalva is expected to provide the final signature needed for a petition forcing a vote on legislation to release files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein to succeed.
“Any delay in swearing in Representative-elect Grijalva unnecessarily deprives her constituents of representation and calls into question if the motive behind the delay is to further avoid the release of the Epstein files,” Clark said.
While we wait for Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu’s press conference to begin, it’s worth remembering that anything agreed to today still has to be agreed to by Hamas – which is not represented in these negotiations – and as yet there’s no indication that they’ve done so.
Though any announcement coming out of the White House today will centre on the Trump administration’s 21-point ceasefire and postwar governance plan for Gaza, Reuters reports that Hamas spokesman Taher Al-Nono signalled that there had been no softening of the group’s refusal to disarm, and said it had not yet received Trump’s plan. “When we do, we will state our position on it according to the interests of our people,” he said.
Therefore, any agreement reach on the proposal today, which includes a number of actions Hamas must take including the release of all the remaining Israeli hostages within 48 hours and for the group to play no role in Gaza’s future governance, is likely only preliminary.
Netanyahu apologizes to Qatar over Doha attack while at White House – reports
Benjamin Netanyahu has apologized to the Qatari prime minister over the Doha strike while at the White House this morning, according to multiple outlets.
According to Axios, which first reported the call, Netanyahu apologized to Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani for violating Qatar’s sovereignty in carrying out the strike and expressed regret for killing a civilian.
According to CNN’s Israeli source, Netanyahu did not, however, say he was sorry for targeting Hamas.
Axios reports that the apology call was a key Qatari condition for resuming its mediation with Hamas over a deal to end the war in Gaza and free the remaining hostages.
A Qatari technical team is also at the White House, a separate source briefed on the talks told Reuters. The New York Times also reports that a delegation of Qatari officials is in Washington as a part of an effort to achieve a deal.
Jeffries says GOP promises not enough on Obamacare sticking point as shutdown deadline looms
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries has spoken to reporters ahead of the looming 11th-hour meeting with Donald Trump and top bipartisan leadership later this afternoon to try to avoid a government shutdown.
Asked if Democrats would back a seven-week funding bill if Republicans say they will negotiate an extension of the Affordable Care Act tax subsidies, which are due to expire at the end of the year, Jeffries said “no one can trust” the Republicans’ promises on healthcare.
Highlighting that the Senate failed to pass a Democratic-led government funding proposal that included a permanent extension of them, he told reporters:
Enough with the games that Republicans have been playing connected to the health care of the American people. No one can trust their word on health care. Are you kidding me?
He also brought up previous GOP efforts to repeal the ACA, telling reporters:
These people have been trying to repeal and displace people off the Affordable Care Act since 2010 – that’s 15 years. On behalf of the American people, we’re supposed to simply take their word that they’re willing to negotiate? The American people know that would be an unreasonable thing for us.
Responding to Trump’s repeated claim that it’s up to Democrats whether the government shuts down, Jeffries said: “We’ve said from the beginning that we’re willing to find a bipartisan path forward.”
He accused Republicans of trying to “misrepresent” the Democratic position, for example by falsely claiming that they want to extend healthcare to so-called “illegal aliens”. Jeffries emphasized that it’s already illegal for undocumented immigrants to receive federal healthcare benefits.
Let me address the continued effort to try to misrepresent the Democratic position. In fact, Republicans are lying because they know they don’t have the high ground. They have a weak position because they’re trying to continue to hurt the American people.
He added:
Nowhere have Democrats suggested that we’re interested in changing federal law. The question for the president is whether he’s interested in protecting the health care of the American people.
He said the Democratic leadership will “have a good faith negotiation about landing the plane in a way that avoids a government shutdown” but doesn’t compromise on their demands.
Johnson urges GOP unity as government barrels towards shutdown
House speaker Mike Johnson has “implored his Republican members on a private call this morning to stay unified in their position as the government barrels towards a shutdown and said he does not plan to bring the House back this week”, two sources on the call have told CNN.
The sources added that Johnson called on GOP lawmakers not to hold political events this week even though many will remain in their districts with the House not in session. He suggested he would bring the House back next week.
The orders from Johnson to the House GOP conference comes just hours before the top four congressional leaders will meet with Donald Trump at the White House in a last-ditch effort to avoid a shutdown before the government runs out of funding tomorrow night.
Johnson indicated that congressional GOP leaders are planning to hold a joint news conference on Wednesday – the first day of a would-be shutdown, the sources added.
UAE presses Netanyahu to accept Trump’s Gaza peace proposal and abandon plans to annex West Bank
The UAE is pressing Benjamin Netanyahu to accept Donald Trump’s Gaza peace proposal at their meeting today and to abandon any plan to annex the West Bank, a delegate with knowledge of the matter has told Reuters.
The United Arab Emirates, the most prominent Arab country to normalise ties with Israel under the Abraham Accords during the first Trump administration, warned Netanyahu that annexation would shut the door to further Israeli normalisation with leading Arab and Muslim nations, including Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, the delegate added.
The Israeli PM faces pressure to annex the occupied West Bank from far-right Israeli politicians who want to extend sovereignty over the area and snuff out hopes for a two-state solution.
We are waiting for Netanyahu to give Israel’s response to Trump’s Gaza peace proposal at his meeting with the US president today.
The UAE position on Trump’s plan was communicated to Netanyahu by its foreign minister sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed in a meeting with the Israeli leader on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in New York on Friday, the delegate told Reuters. He called on Netanyahu to engage seriously with the Trump administration to move the plan forward to implementation, the delegate said.
The uncertainty surrounding the meeting casts it as “one of the most critical” in the yearslong relationship between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, professor Eytan Gilboa, an expert on US-Israeli relations at Bar-Ilan and Reichman universities, has told the Associated Press.
“Netanyahu might have to choose between Trump and his coalition members,” a number of whom want the war to continue, Gilboa said. A move by Netanyahu to end the war would leave him on shaky political ground at home a year before elections.
Oded Ailam, a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, agreed Trump is likely to demand a permanent ceasefire, leaving Netanyahu with few options.
Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to continue the offensive until Hamas is destroyed, including only days ago in his defiant UN speech in which he declared he would “finish the job” in Gaza as scores of delegates walked out.
If Trump puts the pressure on, the Israeli leader would probably seek to include “red lines” in any deal, Ailam told AP. Netanyahu, he said, might demand that Hamas be dismantled. Netanyahu might also set a condition that if the militant group resumes fighting or returns to power, the Israeli military would have the right to operate freely in Gaza, he said.
