U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a phone call on Monday to discuss Gaza.
“The two leaders stressed the importance and obligation of disarming Hamas and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, and discussed expanding the peace agreements,” the prime minister’s office wrote.
It added that Trump invited Netanyahu to meet at the White House “in the near future.” At press time, the White House had not released a readout of the call.
It’s not clear what peace agreements the two leaders discussed, but earlier on Monday Trump wrote that there was a “historic opportunity” for “peace in the Middle East” under Syria’s new president.
“It is very important that Israel maintain a strong and true dialogue with Syria, and that nothing takes place that will interfere with Syria’s evolution into a prosperous state,” Trump wrote.
“The new president of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is working diligently to make sure good things happen, and that both Syria and Israel will have a long and prosperous relationship together,” he added.
The message followed a meeting earlier on Monday between Trump’s special envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, and al-Sharaa in Damascus.
Israel has continued to carry out counter-terrorism raids in south Syria, with an Israel Defense Forces commander saying over the weekend that “the IDF will continue to stand as a barrier between residents and the enemy, and will be the first to identify, respond and defend.”
Syria’s government has objected to the raids even as it has increased cooperation with the United States on countering ISIS, with Syria joining the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition after al-Sharaa’s visit to the White House in November.
On Sunday, U.S. Central Command and the Syrian Ministry of Interior announced the elimination of 15 weapons-storage sites belonging to ISIS in southern Syria.
The “combined operation” included airstrikes and controlled ground detonations across Rif Dimashq province, destroying “over 130 mortars and rockets, multiple assault rifles, machine guns, anti-tank mines and materials for building improvised explosive devices” to ensure “gains made against ISIS are lasting and the group is not able to regenerate or export terrorist attacks to the U.S. homeland and around the world,” according to Admiral Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander.
He added that the coalition will “continue to aggressively pursue ISIS remnants in Syria.”
