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Trump and Netanyahu hold talks as US president warns 'no guarantees' fragile peace in Gaza will hold

U.S. President Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are set to meet Tuesday as the Israeli prime minister faces competing pressure from his right-wing coalition to end a temporary truce against Hamas militants in Gaza and from war-weary Israelis who want the remaining hostages home and the 15-month conflict to end.

Trump is guarded about the long-term prospects for the truce, even as he takes credit for pressuring Hamas and Israel into the hostage and ceasefire agreement that went into effect the day before he returned to office last month.

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Two Israeli soldiers killed in West Bank shooting attack

The Israeli army said two soldiers were killed in a shooting attack on a military post in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday.

A further six soldiers were lightly wounded when "a terrorist fired at the soldiers at a military post in Tayasir" in the north of the territory, the army added.

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Car bomb kills 15 in northern Syria

A car bomb on Monday killed 15 people, mostly women farm workers, in the northern Syrian city of Manbij where Kurdish forces are battling Turkey-backed groups, state media reported.

Citing White Helmet rescuers, SANA news agency said there had been a "massacre" on a local road, with "the explosion of a car bomb near a vehicle transporting agricultural workers" killing 14 women and one man.

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Palestinians accuse Israel of 'ethnic cleansing' as 70 killed in West Bank

The office of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas denounced an Israeli operation in the occupied West Bank as "ethnic cleansing" on Monday, with the health ministry saying Israeli forces killed 70 people in the territory this year.

In a statement, spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said the Palestinian presidency "condemned the occupation authorities' expansion of their comprehensive war on our Palestinian people in the West Bank to implement their plans aimed at displacing citizens and ethnic cleansing."

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Hamas officials say 'ready' for negotiations on phase two of Gaza truce

Hamas is ready to begin talks on the details of a second phase of the ongoing truce in Gaza, two officials from the Palestinian militant group told AFP on Monday.

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Syria leader says Saudis want to help rebuild war-torn country

Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa said Saudi Arabia had a "genuine desire" to support his war-torn country, after meeting on Sunday with the oil-rich Gulf state's crown prince.

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Iran warns against 'ethnic cleansing' of Palestinians

Iran on Monday condemned U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal to relocate Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, warning it would amount to "ethnic cleansing".

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Syrian leader in Turkey on Tuesday on second international trip

Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa will visit Turkey on Tuesday on his second international visit since the toppling of Bashar al-Assad in December, the Turkish presidency said.

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Gaza ceasefire sees its smoothest exchange yet of Israeli and Palestinian captives

The ceasefire in Gaza saw its smoothest exchange yet of Israeli captives for Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, and the crucial Rafah border crossing reopened two days before discussions on the truce's far more difficult second phase begin.

And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, giving him a chance to showcase his ties to Israel's closest ally and press his case for what should come next after 15 months of war.

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Netanyahu heads to US to discuss 'victory over Hamas' with Trump

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he will discuss "victory over Hamas," countering Iran and expanding diplomatic relations with Arab countries in his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Tuesday's meeting at the White House will be Trump's first with a foreign leader since returning to office. It comes as U.S. and Arab mediators begin the daunting work of brokering the next phase of an agreement to wind down the war in the Gaza Strip and release dozens of militant-held hostages.

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