President Donald Trump met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday as the U.S. pushes for a deal to extend the ceasefire in Gaza and free all the hostages held by Hamas.

The White House meeting was the first for Trump with any foreign leader in his second term, signaling the importance of the relationship with the United States’ strongest ally in the Middle East.

But tensions remain as Netanyahu faces pressure from his far right-wing allies back home to torpedo the ceasefire with Hamas and resume the assault on Gaza, while Trump hopes to forge a lasting deal with the Palestinians and even a regional peace deal.

In a joint news conference with the prime minister, Trump said he wants the U.S. to take ownership of the Gaza Strip and redevelop the territory after displaced Palestinians are “permanently” resettled in neighboring countries.

“We will own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site,” he said, adding that the U.S. would create “economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.”

The meeting came as Israel and Hamas resumed indirect talks aimed at forging a crucial second stage of the ceasefire deal and hostage release.

“We will bring all the hostages, we will not give up anyone,” Netanyahu told reporters before the meeting started. “Hamas will not remain in Gaza.”

It’s far from clear that the ceasefire will hold beyond the initial six weeks, or that Netanyahu even wants an extension.

The Israeli premier is suffering from low approval ratings and is battling corruption allegations. He could be vulnerable to pressure from far right-wing allies who say they will quit his government if he doesn’t order a resumption of the war that has so far failed to eliminate Hamas as promised.

Even though he strongly supports Israel, Trump also hopes to win concessions leading to a permanent ceasefire and hostage deal that would be a feather in his cap, especially since former President Joe Biden was unable to achieve the same goal.

Trump also wants to take credit for a bigger peace deal between Israel, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states that would amount to a major diplomatic achievement.

The talks came as the entire Middle East region sits at a critical turning point, with the Gaza truce looking fragile and a Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire agreement in Lebanon nearing its end.

There are also continued concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions despite Tehran suffering a string of major setbacks in recent months across the region, like the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and the decimation of Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Trump’s Middle East envoy said ahead of the meeting with Netanyahu that the proposed five-year timeline for rebuilding Gaza after a permanent peace deal is “preposterous.”

Steve Witkoff said it would be more like 15 years.

Trump has suggested that some or all Gaza Palestinians should be moved to neighboring Egypt or Jordan, but those countries have strongly rejected that idea and Palestinians denounce it as an endorsement of Israeli ethnic cleansing.

However, Trump reiterated that sentiment at the start of Tuesday’s meeting.

“I don’t think people should be going back,” he said. “You can’t live in Gaza right now. I think we need another location. I think it should be a location that’s going to make people happy.”

Multiple countries in the region have warned that relocating Gaza’s more than 2 million Palestinians would further threaten regional stability, prolong and expand the current conflict and severely undermine the elusive two-state solution.

But still, Trump said during the meeting that he believes Egypt, Jordan and other unspecified countries would take in Palestinians.

When asked if he was still considering an independent Palestinian state as part of a broader two-state solution, much like a plan he laid out in 2020, he also hinted that may no longer be on the table.

“A lot of death has occurred since I left and now came back,” Trump said. “Now we are faced with a situation that’s different — in some ways better and in some ways worse. But we are faced with a very complex and difficult situation that we’ll solve.”

Later, in the press conference with Netanyahu, Trump said he was not dismissing the idea of deploying U.S. troops to “take over and develop” Gaza.

“You are the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House,” Netanyahu said.

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