Israel’s strategic affairs minister meets with Trump, Axios reports

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer met with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Axios reported on Monday, citing two Israeli officials and two U.S. officials.

The Sunday meeting at Trump’s Florida estate between the president-elect and Dermer, a close aide of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, preceded a meeting between the Israeli minister and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday.

Axios reported that Dermer passed messages from Netanyahu to Trump. He also briefed Trump on Israel’s plans for Gaza, Lebanon and Iran for the next two months before Trump takes office, according to the report.

Axios said Dermer additionally met with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who was a top adviser on the Middle East during Trump’s 2017-2021 administration.

Netanyahu said on Sunday he had spoken with Trump three times in the prior few days to tighten the alliance between Israel and the United States.

Hopes for a truce in Israel’s war in Gaza suffered a setback, with Qatar suspending its role as a mediator in negotiations. Israel separately said on Monday there was progress in talks about a ceasefire in its war in Lebanon.

Some analysts say Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration may no longer have enough leverage to get agreement on ceasefires between Israel and its foes after Trump won the U.S. presidential election. He is set to take office on Jan. 20.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza has killed over 43,000, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Israel’s separate military operations in Lebanon have killed over 3,000 and displaced over a million. Israel says it is targeting Lebanese Hezbollah militants.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Jasper Ward in Washington; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Cynthia Osterman)