Trump and Netanyahu meet for crucial talks on Iran and Gaza

Washington is seeking fresh momentum for the US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza, which could be in danger of stalling ahead of a complicated, second phase.

The 20-point peace plan promoted by Trump and signed by both Israel and Hamas recognises Palestinian aspirations to a sovereign state.

However, Netanyahu and his ministers have consistently rejected Palestinian statehood since the ceasefire came into effect in October.

Other expected points of discussion are the future of relations with Syria's new government, Iranian rearmament and Hezbollah's role in Lebanon.

The talks mark the sixth meeting since Trump's return to office 11 months ago.

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Reporters asked Trump about his latest call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, to which the US President said they had a "very good talk".

Trump said: "By the time we finished, it was 2.30am in Russia. We had a very good talk. We spoke at 8am in the morning, our time, and it was a very productive talk. 

"And we have a few very thorny issues as you can imagine... we have a couple of issues that we're going to get resolved, hopefully, and if we get them resolved, you're going to have peace."

Trump was also asked about Iran and concerns about rearmament.

He said: "I hear that Iran is trying to build up again, and if they are, we're going to have to knock them down, we'll knock them down, we'll knock the hell out of them.

"But hopefully that's not happening. I heard Iran wants to make a deal. If they want to make a deal, that's much smarter.

"You know, they could have made a deal the last time, before we did a big attack on them."