Hostage deal discussed between Trump and Netanyahu

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have said that new negotiations were in the works aimed at getting more hostages released from Hamas captivity in Gaza, AFP reports.

“We’re working now on another deal that we hope will succeed, and we’re committed to getting all the hostages out,” Netanyahu told reporters in the Oval Office.

Trump for his part said: “We are trying very hard to get the hostages out. We’re looking at another ceasefire, we’ll see what happens.”

Netanyahu added that “the hostages are in agony, and we want to get them all out.”

The Israeli leader, seated next to Trump, highlighted an earlier hostage release agreement negotiated in part by Trump’s regional envoy Steve Witkoff that “got 25 out.”

Meanwhile US President Donald Trump has said he would like the conflict in Gaza to stop, as he hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Reuters reports.

Trump said work was ongoing to free hostages held by Hamas, but said securing the release of all the hostages was “a long process.”

Asked if he would deliver on his promise during his campaign for president to end the conflict in Gaza, Trump said: “I’d like to see the war stop, and I think the war will stop at some point, that won’t be in the too-distant future.”