Trump and Netanyahu meet for a second time amid Gaza ceasefire talks

Watch: The BBC asks about the Trump administration's vision for Gaza

It marks Netanyahu's third state visit to the US since Trump's second term.

Earlier on Tuesday, Netanyahu met with vice-president JD Vance. He also met with Trump for several hours during a dinner at the White House on Monday.

Netanyahu arrived at the White House shortly after 17:00 EST (21:00 GMT) on Tuesday for the meeting, which was not open to members of the press.

The meeting came after Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff suggested Israel and Hamas had one remaining issue to agree on for a 60-day ceasefire deal.

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Tuesday evening for the second time in as many days to discuss the ongoing war in Gaza.

The meeting of the two leaders lasted around two hours.

Netanyahu also met with the Republican House of Representative Speaker Mike Johnson.

After that meeting, the Israeli Prime Minister said he did not believe Israel's military campaign in Gaza was done, but that negotiators are "certainly working" on a ceasefire.

"We still have to finish the job in Gaza, release all our hostages, eliminate and destroy Hamas' military and government capabilities," Netanyahu said.

Witkoff later said that Israel and Hamas were closing the gap on issues that previously prevented them from reaching a deal, and that he hoped a temporary, 60-day ceasefire will be agreed on this week.

"We had four issues and now we're down to one", Witkoff said of the sticking points in negotiations.

He added that the draft deal would also include the release of 10 hostages who are alive, and the bodies of nine who are deceased.

Before the Israeli Prime Minister's meeting with Trump on Monday, a Qatari delegation arrived at the White House and spoke with officials for several hours, Axios reported, citing a source with knowledge of the talks.

Trump told reporters on Monday evening that ceasefire talks are "going very well". But Qatar, which has played a mediator role in negotiations, said on Tuesday morning that more time was needed for negotiations.

"I don't think that I can give any timeline at the moment, but I can say right now that we will need time for this," Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said.

Before discussions resumed on Tuesday, a Palestinian source familiar with the talks told the BBC they have not made any headway.

The latest round of negotiations between Hamas and Israel began on Sunday.

The ongoing Gaza war began on 7 October 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 57,500 in Gaza according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Trump delays tariffs as the rest of the world plays hardball

2 hours ago Share Save Faisal Islam • @faisalislam Economics editor, BBC News Share Save

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Donald Trump's White House had grandly promised "90 deals in 90 days" after partially pausing the process of levying what the US president called "reciprocal" tariffs. In reality, there won't even be nine deals done by the time we reach Trump's first cut-off date on 9 July. The revealing thing here, the poker "tell" if you like, is the extension of the deadline from Wednesday until 1 August, with a possibility of further extensions - or delays - to come. From the US perspective, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says all focus has been on the 18 countries that are responsible for 95% of America's trade deficit. The jaunty letters being sent from the US to its trading partners this week are simply a reincarnation of that infamous White House "Liberation Day" blue board. The rates are basically the same as were first revealed on 2 April. The infamous equation, which turned out to use a measure of the size of the deficit as a proxy for "the sum of all trade cheating" lives on, in a form.

This is all being announced without the market turmoil seen earlier this year because of this additional delay. Financial markets believe in rolling delays, in the idea of TACO, that Trump Always Chickens Out - although they may embolden foot-dragging on all sides that lead to a renewed crisis. However, the real takeaway here has been the Trump administration's inability to strike deals. The letters are an admission of failure. The White House may be playing hardball, but so are most other nations. Japan and South Korea were singled out for the first two letters, which effectively further blow up their trade deals with the US. The Japanese have done little to hide their fury at the US approach. Its finance minister even hinted at using its ownership of the world's biggest stockpile of US government debt - basically the biggest banker of America's debts - as a source of potential leverage. The dynamic from April has not really changed. The rest of the world sees that markets punish the US when a trade war looks real, when American retailers warn the White House of higher prices and empty shelves. And there is still a plausible court case working its way through the system that could render the tariffs illegal.

Horizon scandal's 'tragic toll' and 'sacked Gregg'

32 minutes ago Share Save Share Save

BBC The Post Office Horizon IT scandal dominates many of Wednesday's front pages, with the first report from the official inquiry finding it had a "disastrous" impact on those wrongly accused and prosecuted for criminal offences. Sir Wyn Williams' report found at least 59 people had contemplated suicide at various points, of whom 10 attempted to take their own lives, and more than 13 people may have killed themselves over the scandal.

The Daily Mail leads on the reaction to Sir Wyn's report as campaigners say the Post Office has "blood on its hands". Catherine, Princess of Wales, also graces the front page as she attends the state banquet for French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte at Windsor Castle.

The Post Office scandal is also splashed across the Daily Express, highlighting the impact it had on the lives of those caught up in it. And while Catherine is featured too, the paper is pointing out her "new look hairstyle" ahead of the state banquet. A tribute to the late Norman Tebbit, who served as a cabinet minister in Margaret Thatcher's government, is also featured at the bottom of the page.

The Horizon scandal is covered on the front page of the Times, but it is the vote for strike action from resident doctors in England that is leading the paper. The government made clear a pay rise was off the table after the British Medical Association said 55% of its 48,000 resident doctor members had voted in the ballot with 90% supporting industrial action. The doctors were awarded a 5.4% pay rise for this financial year, following a 22% increase over the previous two years. The Prince and Princess of Wales are pictured together for the state banquet for Macron, who earlier warned that Britain and France were dangerously dependent on the US.

The Metro also leads on the first volume of Sir Wyn's report on the Horizon scandal, which found victims had divorced, suffered serious mental health issues and alcohol addiction as a result of their ordeals. The Post Office apologised "unreservedly" and said it would carefully consider the findings.

Macron's state visit to the UK and a proposed deal on the small boats crisis lead the Daily Telegraph. The paper reports that the French president is demanding Sir Keir Starmer make Britain less appealing to Channel migrants to secure a "one in, one out" agreement. Gregg Wallace's sacking from MasterChef is also covered on the front page. The presenter was fired as a result of an inquiry into alleged misconduct, BBC News understands. It comes as 50 more people have approached the BBC with fresh claims about the TV presenter. Wallace denies the claims.

The Sun has splashed Wallace's sacking on the front page, with the presenter accusing BBC News of "uncorroborated tittle tattle" in its reporting. The inquiry into allegations against him, conducted by an independent law firm on behalf of MasterChef's production company Banijay, is expected to report back imminently. In a lengthy statement on Instagram on Tuesday, Wallace said he had been cleared by that report of "the most serious and sensational allegations" made against him. BBC News has not seen the Banijay report.

Wallace insists he won't be "cancelled" after his sacking, the Daily Star reports on its front page. For 20 years, Wallace was one of the most high-profile presenters on British television and the face of the BBC One cooking show. But he stepped aside from the show in November after the BBC's initial investigation at the end of last year, when 13 people accused him of making inappropriate sexual comments.

The Guardian is leading its front page with plans to be published on Wednesday designed to save the criminal justice system from total collapse. The paper reports that thousands of cases that would normally be heard in front of a jury should be decided by judges alone, according to recommendations made by a former senior judge. Sir Brian Leveson was asked by the Lord Chancellor to come up with a series of proposals to reduce the backlog of cases in the criminal courts. There are almost 77,000 cases waiting for trial in the Crown Court in England and Wales - meaning some defendants and victims are waiting years for justice.

The Financial Times is leading with a debt warning from the independent budget watchdog, which says the UK faces "daunting" risks to the public finances. The OBR says the country's soaring debt load has led to "substantial erosion" of its capacity to respond to future shocks.