The White House has called Trump’s visit a “historic return to the Middle East” but Israel is once again not on the itinerary.

President Trump is pressuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike a hostage deal and end the war in Gaza. The push comes as Israel intensifies airstrikes in Khan Younis. Debora Patta reports.

President Donald Trump heads to the Middle East for peace deals and business negotiations, even as tensions allegedly rise with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

By Yousef Saba, Gram Slattery, Pesha Magid and Nafisa Eltahir RIYADH (Reuters) -President Donald Trump kicked off his trip to the Gulf on Tuesday with a surprise announcement that the United States will lift long-standing sanctions on Syria,

Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel are "worried about any deal" President Trump might strike with Iran, one source told NBC News.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would normally celebrate a hostage release such as that taking place on Monday, though in this case the deal with Hamas is another sign US President Donald Trump is starting to make decisions without him.

This moment is testing the relationship of the two men, both of whom are politically divisive, fiercely combative and have outsize egos.

Benjamin Netanyahu states Israel will not stop its Gaza war, even with hostage deals. This complicates ceasefire talks after Hamas freed an American hostage. Israeli forces struck hospitals, claiming Hamas presence.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that Israeli forces will enter Gaza with "full force" in the coming days, adding that there was "no way" Israel would stop the war. In comments released by his office on Tuesday,