As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed Israel on Sunday for Washington, where he will meet with US President Donald Trump, he highlighted his opposition to any hostage deal that would ultimately leave Hamas in power in Gaza.

“Twenty living hostages remain and 30 who are fallen. I am determined, we are determined, to bring back all of them,” the premier told reporters, as he prepared to board the Wing of Zion state plane.

But, he added, “we are determined to ensure that Gaza will no longer constitute a threat to Israel. That means, we will not allow a situation that encourages more kidnappings, more murders, more beheadings, more invasions.”

“That means one thing: eliminating Hamas’s military and governing capabilities. Hamas will not be there,” he said. An Israeli negotiating team was traveling to Doha, meanwhile, for indirect talks with the terror group on a deal.

Asked whether there will be a hostage deal within the week, Netanyahu turned back to the reporters — something he rarely does – and said: “We are working to reach this deal under the terms we have agreed to.”

“I sent a team to the negotiations with clear directives,” he said. “I think the conversation with President Trump can certainly help advance the outcome we are all hoping for.”

Gaza is expected to be the main subject of Monday’s discussion between Netanyahu and Trump, who has repeatedly called in recent days for an end to the war that began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

Trump said on Tuesday that Israel had accepted the latest ceasefire proposal, which provides for the release in five separate stages of 10 living and 18 slain hostages, in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire, an influx of humanitarian aid to the Strip, and the release of many Palestinian security prisoners and detainees. (Eight living hostages would be freed on the first day and two released on the 50th day, according to an Arab diplomat from one of the mediating countries. Five slain hostages would be returned on the seventh day, five more on the 30th day and eight more on the 60th day. That would leave 22 hostages still held in Gaza, 10 of them believed to be alive. It is not clear whether Israel or Hamas would determine who would be released.)

Hamas on Friday gave what it called a “positive” response to the proposal. However, the terror group stressed it has reservations about the proposed truce, most notably its temporary nature, and has demanded a guarantee that agreeing to the deal will lead to a permanent end of the war.

Netanyahu’s office called the demands — which also concerned aid mechanisms and IDF troop withdrawals — “unacceptable.”

The so-called Witkoff proposal on which the nascent deal is based provides for negotiations on a permanent ceasefire to be completed during the 60-day truce period. However, it adds that if the permanent ceasefire is not finalized in that period, “the temporary ceasefire may be extended under conditions and for a duration to be agreed upon by the parties so long as the parties are negotiating in good faith.”

One of Hamas’s reservations reportedly relates to the phrase “so long as the parties are negotiating in good faith,” which it wants deleted since it fears Netanyahu would exploit that phrase to avoid ending the war.

A Channel 12 report on Friday claimed Trump could personally pledge to do his utmost to ensure the success of negotiations on a permanent end to the war. Trump, the unsourced report claimed, could publicly “commit that negotiations over the terms for ending the war will continue even after a temporary ceasefire, and that he will do everything in his power to help the parties reach an agreement on the terms of a permanent ceasefire.”

Trump wants to finalize framework for ending war – report

Channel 12, citing senior US officials, reported that Trump wishes to finalize a framework for ending the war during Monday’s meeting.

A central topic the leaders will discuss is the “day after” plan in Gaza, the network said. It said post-war governance of the Strip would also be the main focus of diplomatic talks during the 60-day truce, should Hamas and Israel agree to the overall deal.

According to the report, Netanyahu continues to insist that the Palestinian Authority can have no role in governing post-war Gaza, while Trump’s proposal remains to be seen.

Israel is willing to be more flexible on its stance that Hamas leaders be exiled from the Gaza Strip as part of the agreement, said Channel 12. That is because, according to an Israeli official, “There aren’t many senior Hamas officials left in Gaza. They wouldn’t fill a ship to be exiled; even a paddleboard would do.”

According to US sources, the Trump administration is interested in the two leaders issuing a joint public declaration “that will obligate both sides” to whatever agreement arises.

“It could be that after the declaration, a few days will be needed to finalize details, but the goal is to establish commitment and obligation to the process,” the sources were quoted by Channel 12 as saying.

Israeli cabinet ministers told the network following a cabinet meeting Saturday night that “Netanyahu is interested in reaching a deal, despite the obstacles that still exist, and despite the fact that much debate is expected over the kind of terrorists and the number of terrorists who will be released” in a potential hostage-prisoner swap.

PM: Iran war created historic opportunity for peacemaking

The prime minister’s trip — his third to the White House since Trump’s election — also comes after the US attacked key Iranian nuclear facilities, then brokered a ceasefire, in the 12-day war that Israel launched against the Islamic Republic last month.

Addressing the aftermath of the Iran war, Netanyahu told journalists at the airport that Israel has an opportunity “to expand the circle of peace far beyond what we could have imagined.”

“We have already transformed the Middle East beyond recognition, and we now have a chance to bring a great future to the people of Israel and the Middle East,” he said.

A spate of reports last week said the premier has been working with Trump on a plan that would end the Gaza war, recommit Israel to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and normalize Israeli-Saudi and Israeli-Syrian relations. Netanyahu has not confirmed any such plan.

The premier told reporters that, while in Washington, he will thank Trump for his support during the Iran war, which resulted in a “tremendous victory” over the Islamic Republic.

“For years, we feared what we would do about Iran and whether we could overcome Iran,” Netanyahu said.

Israel launched its air campaign in Iran declaring the regime’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs to be imminent, existential threats.

“Our heroic pilots have flown not only [over Iran], but also over Lebanon,” the prime minister added. Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon fired rockets and drones at Israel every day for almost a year following Hamas’s October 7 attack, until a two-month open war with Israel that devastated the group in fall 2024, and ended with a November ceasefire.

The prime minister said that during his trip, he will meet with “all the senior officials in the administration, and senior congresspeople from both parties, and with many other important people.”

Netanyahu is slated to return to Israel on Thursday, though he often extends his trips to include the Jewish sabbath, and then returns on Saturday night.