Trump Says Israel Has 'Full Backing' Of US To Defeat Hamas

Washington- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a White House visit on Monday to extend a formal apology to his Qatari counterpart for a recent military strike targeting Hamas officials in the Gulf emirate that infuriated Arab leaders and triggered rare criticism by the US of Israel.

While Netanyahu was meeting with President Donald Trump, the White House released a Trump plan for ending the Israel-Hamas war and Gaza governance. There's no immediate word on whether Israel or Hamas has accepted the 20-point plan.

The plan calls for a temporary governing board that would be headed by Trump and include former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The plan does not require people to leave Gaza and calls for the war to end immediately if both sides accept it. It also calls for all remaining hostages to be released within 72 hours of Israel accepting the plan.

Trump says Israel would have the“full backing” of the United States to take steps to defeat Hamas if it doesn't accept proposed peace deal.

“I think we are beyond very close,” Trump said at the start of a news conference with Netanyahu where he detailed the deal.

Netanyahu made the call to Qatar's prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, as he met with Trump for critical talks aimed at ending the war in Gaza and developing a US plan on postwar governance in the war-battered Palestinian territory, according to the White House.

“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,” the White House said in a statement.“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.”

The White House talks, and apology from Netanyahu, come at a tenuous moment. Israel is increasingly isolated, losing support from many countries that were long its steadfast allies. At home, Netanyahu's governing coalition appears more fragile than ever. And the White House is showing signs of impatience.

The question now is whether Trump, who has offered steadfast backing to Netanyahu throughout the war, will change his tone and turn up the pressure on Israel to wind down the conflict.

As he welcomed Netanyahu to the White House, Trump responded affirmatively when asked by reporters whether he was confident a deal would be soon reached to end the fighting between Israel and Hamas.

“I am. I'm very confident,” Trump said.

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