Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting with US President Donald Trump focused on freeing hostages held in Gaza, the Israeli leaders has said while underlining his determination to "eliminate" the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas.
Netanyahu said on X that the leaders also discussed the consequences and possibilities of "the great victory we achieved over Iran", following an aerial war in June in which the United States joined Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic's nuclear sites.
Netanyahu is making his third US visit since Trump took office on January 20 and had earlier told reporters that while he did not think Israel's campaign in the Palestinian enclave was done, negotiators are "certainly working" on a ceasefire.
Trump met Netanyahu on Tuesday for the second time in two days to discuss the situation in Gaza, with the president's Middle East envoy indicating that Israel and Hamas were nearing an agreement on a ceasefire deal after 21 months of war.
A delegation from Qatar, the host of indirect talks between Israeli negotiators and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, met senior White House officials before Netanyahu's arrival on Tuesday, Axios said, citing a source familiar with the details.
The White House had no immediate comment on the report.
Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, said the number of issues preventing Israel and Hamas reaching an agreement had decreased from four to one, expressing optimism for a temporary ceasefire deal by the end of the week.
Witkoff told reporters at a cabinet meeting that the anticipated agreement would involve a 60-day ceasefire, with the release of 10 living and nine deceased hostages.
Netanyahu met with Vice-President JD Vance before visiting the US Capitol on Tuesday, and is due back in Congress on Wednesday to meet US Senate leaders.
"We have still to finish the job in Gaza, release all our hostages, eliminate and destroy Hamas' military and government capabilities," Netanyahu told reporters after a meeting with Republican House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson.
The Gaza conflict began with a Hamas attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that resulted in the deaths of about 1200 people and the taking of 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
About 50 hostages remain in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive.
Israel's retaliatory war has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, as reported by Gaza's health ministry, and reduced much of Gaza to rubble.
At least 40 Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes in the previous 24 hours, Gaza authorities said.
Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis said the dead included included 17 women and 10 children, with one strike killing 10 people from the same family.
Hamas has long demanded an end to the war before it would free the remaining hostages.
Israel has insisted it would not agree to stop fighting until all hostages are released and Hamas dismantled.
The United Nations estimates that most of Gaza's population of more than two million has been displaced, with experts saying in May that nearly half a million people faced the risk of starvation.
Trump had strongly supported Netanyahu, even wading into domestic Israeli politics by criticising prosecutors over a corruption trial against the Israeli leader on bribery, fraud and breach-of-trust charges that Netanyahu denies.
In his remarks to reporters at the US Congress, Netanyahu praised Trump, saying there has never been closer co-ordination between the US and Israel in his country's history.