U.S. diplomacy

By Jeff Mason and Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday there were "pretty good talks going on" regarding Gaza, when asked about the future of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas militants, but he offered little detail at a White House press conference.

A three-phase ceasefire in Gaza went into effect on January 19 and has led to the handover of 33 Israeli hostages held in Gaza and some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel.

An initial six-week first phase of that ceasefire is due to expire in two days. Israel said on Thursday it was sending negotiators to Cairo for talks, seeking to extend the first phase.

Trump was asked whether phase two would come to fruition.

"We'll see what happens. Nobody really knows, but we'll see what happens," he said at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. "We have some pretty good talks going on."

Israel and Hamas have accused each other of violating the ceasefire. The United Nations has described images of both emaciated Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees released as distressing, saying they reflected the dire conditions in which they were held.

Starmer reiterated support for a two-state solution, which calls for creating a state for Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza alongside Israel.

"Yes, I believe that the two-state solution is ultimately the only way for a lasting peace in the region," Starmer said in the press conference, when asked about Trump's proposal for a U.S. takeover of Gaza and a permanent displacement of Palestinians.

Trump's plan has been globally condemned as a proposal for ethnic cleansing.

U.S. ally Israel's military assault on Gaza has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians since October 2023, according to the Gaza health ministry, and led to accusations of genocide and war crimes that Israel denies. The assault internally displaced nearly Gaza's entire population and caused a hunger crisis.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Kanishka Singh; additional reporting by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Sonali Paul)

Trump was asked whether phase two would come to fruition. "We'll see what happens. Nobody really knows, but we'll see what happens," he said at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. "We have some pretty good talks going on." (Read more at Yahoo News)