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United States President Donald Trump said Monday that he has a “great relationship” with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and indicated he would discuss the potential deployment of Turkish forces to Gaza during talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“I have a great relationship with President Erdogan, and we’ll be talking about it. And if it’s good, I think that’s good,” Trump said when asked whether he expects Turkish troops to be stationed in Gaza as part of an international stabilization force under his 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan.
He added that the matter “will be having to do with Bibi,” using a nickname commonly associated with Netanyahu, ahead of their meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
Netanyahu is on his fifth visit to the United States since the start of Trump’s second term. The trip comes as negotiations advance toward the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire plan reached in October, following more than two years of Israel’s war on the Palestinian enclave.
The Israeli offensive has killed more than 71,200 Palestinians and wounded over 171,200 others since October 2023, according to health authorities.
The first phase of the ceasefire included a halt in fighting, a partial Israeli withdrawal, the exchange of Israeli hostages, living and deceased, for hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel, and the entry of what the agreement described as “full humanitarian aid” into Gaza.
The second phase of Trump’s 20-point plan includes a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of an international stabilization force and the establishment of a Palestinian technocratic committee to temporarily govern the territory.
Israel has opposed the participation of Turkish troops in such a force.
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Despite the ceasefire framework, Israel has kept Gaza’s crossings largely closed, blocking the entry of mobile homes and reconstruction materials and worsening humanitarian conditions for more than 2 million residents.
Axios reported last week, citing unnamed U.S. officials, that Trump’s senior advisers have grown “increasingly frustrated” with Netanyahu’s actions, which they said risk undermining the fragile ceasefire.
Also last week, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the next step would be the announcement of a “Board of Peace” and a Palestinian technocratic group to manage day-to-day governance in Gaza, followed by finalizing the structure and mandate of the international stabilization force.
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