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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet US President Donald Trump in Florida on Monday, an Israeli official told AFP, in what is seen as a crucial visit for the next steps of the fragile Gaza truce plan.It will be Netanyahu’s fifth visit to see key ally Trump in the United States this year.His trip comes as the Trump administration and regional mediators push to proceed to the second stage of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.An Israeli official on Saturday said Netanyahu would leave for the US on December 28 and meet with Trump a day later in Florida, without providing a specific location.Trump told reporters in mid-December that Netanyahu would probably visit him in Florida during the Christmas holidays.”He would like to see me. We haven’t set it up formally, but he’d like to see me,” Trump said before leaving for his Mar-a-Lago resort. Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported on Wednesday that a wide range of regional issues was expected to be discussed, including Iran, talks on an Israel-Syria security agreement, the ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon and the next stages of the Gaza deal.- ‘Going nowhere’ -Concerning Gaza, the timing of the meeting is “very significant”, said Gershon Baskin, the co-head of peacebuilding commission the Alliance for Two States, who has taken part in back-channel negotiations with Hamas.”Phase one is basically over, there’s one remaining Israeli deceased hostage which they (Hamas) are having difficulty finding,” he told AFP.”Phase two has to begin, it’s even late and I think the Americans realise that it’s late because Hamas has had too much time to re-establish its presence and this is certainly not a situation that the Americans want to leave in place,” he added.Progress in moving to the second phase of October’s Gaza ceasefire agreement, which was brokered by Washington and its regional allies, has so far been slow.Both sides allege frequent ceasefire violations and mediators fear that Israel and Hamas alike are stalling.Under the next stages, Israel is supposed to withdraw from its positions in Gaza, an interim authority is to govern the Palestinian territory instead of Hamas, and an international stabilisation force (ISF) is to be deployed.It also includes a provision for Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas to lay down its weapons — a major sticking point.On Friday, US news outlet Axios reported that the meeting between Trump and Netanyahu was key to advancing to the next steps of the deal.Citing White House officials, Axios said that the Trump administration wanted to announce the Palestinian technocratic government for Gaza and the ISF as soon as possible.It reported that senior Trump officials were growing exasperated “as Netanyahu has taken steps to undermine the fragile ceasefire and stall the peace process”.”There are more and more signs that the American administration is getting frustrated with Netanyahu,” said Yossi Mekelberg, a Middle East expert at London-based think-tank Chatham House.”The question is what it’s going to do about it,” he added, “because phase two is right now going nowhere.”- Iran tops agenda -While the Trump administration is keen for progress on Gaza, analysts said the prospect of Iran rebuilding its nuclear programme and ballistic missile capabilities was likely to top the agenda for Netanyahu.”All the news that we’ve heard in the Israeli media over the last two weeks about Iran building up its missiles and being a threat to Israel is all part of a planned strategy of deflecting attention from Gaza to the issue that Netanyahu loves to talk about which is Iran,” said Baskin.In June, Israel launched strikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites as well as residential areas.Iran responded with drone and missile strikes on Israel, and later on in the 12-day war, the United States joined Israel in targeting Iranian nuclear facilities.Mekelberg shared the view that Netanyahu could be attempting to shift attention from Gaza onto Iran.With Israel entering an election year, Mekelberg said with regards to the Trump meeting, Netanyahu would be “taking a defensive approach, to minimise what can be difficult for him coming back home”.”Everything is connected to staying in power,” he said of the long-time Israeli premier.

Saudi Arabia warned Saturday it would back Yemen’s government in any military confrontation with separatist forces and urged them to withdraw “peacefully” from recently-seized provinces.The statements came a day after reported Saudi air strikes on separatist positions in Yemen’s Hadramawt province — and after Washington called for restraint in the rapidly escalating conflict.General Turki al-Malki, the spokesman for the Riyadh-led groups, said they would act “directly and at the appropriate moment … to protect civilian life”, according to the Saudi news agency SPA.Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman posted on X that troops from the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) should “peacefully hand over” two regional governorates to the government.”It’s time,” he posted, “at this sensitive moment, to let reason prevail by withdrawing from the two provinces and doing so peacefully.”The STC had warned on Friday that they were undeterred after strikes blamed on Saudi Arabia hit their positions, in the latest escalation since they seized large swathes of territory in the Hadramawt and Mahrah provinces.There were no immediate reports of casualties in the strikes.In recent weeks, separatists backed by the United Arab Emirates and seeking to revive the formerly independent state of South Yemen have made territorial gains.Experts say their successes have embarrassed regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia, the main backer of the internationally-recognised Yemeni government.Farea al-Muslimi, from the Chatham House think tank in London, told AFP that the STC had crossed Riyadh’s “red lines” and that the situation could quickly get worse.”It is one bad thing to humiliate Saudi Arabia. And it is another much worse thing to humiliate Saudi Arabia publicly. And that’s exactly what they did,” he said.- US urges restraint -In Washington, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: “We urge restraint and continued diplomacy, with a view to reaching a lasting solution.”Following Friday’s raids, Yemen’s government urged the Saudi-led coalition to support its forces in Hadramawt, after separatists seized most of the country’s largest province.The government asked the coalition to “take all necessary military measures to protect innocent Yemeni civilians in Hadramawt province and support the armed forces”, the official Yemeni news agency said.A Yemeni military official said on Friday that around 15,000 Saudi-backed fighters were amassed near the Saudi border but had not been given orders to advance on separatist-held territory.The areas where they were deployed are located at the edges of territory seized in recent weeks by the UAE-backed STC.”We have not received military instructions to move towards the two provinces,” the official said, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.Separatist advances have added pressure on ties between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which support rival groups within Yemen’s government.The government is a patchwork of groups that includes the separatists, and is held together by shared opposition to the Iran-backed Houthis.The Houthis pushed the government out of Yemen’s capital Sanaa in 2014 and secured control over most of the north.The STC told AFP on Friday that Saudi Arabia had conducted two strikes, while a video aired on separatist-affiliated media showed a plume of smoke rising from the desert.The raids followed area clashes on Thursday between the separatists and a tribal leader close to Saudi Arabia, which the STC said killed two separatist fighters.On Friday, the UAE welcomed Saudi efforts to support security in Yemen, as the two Gulf allies sought to present a united front despite backing different sides in the fighting.

Somalia and the African Union reacted angrily Friday after Israel became the first country to formally recognise the northern region of Somaliland as an independent state.Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 and has pushed for international recognition for decades, with president Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi making it a top priority since taking office last year.Israel announced Friday that it viewed Somaliland as an “independent and sovereign state”, prompting Somalia to call the decision a “deliberate attack” on its sovereignty that would undermine regional peace.Several other countries condemned Israel’s decision. The African Union (AU) rejected the move and warned that it risked “setting a dangerous precedent with far-reaching implications for peace and stability across the continent”.Somaliland “remains an integral part” of Somalia, an AU member, said the pan-African body’s head Mahamoud Ali Youssouf.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the decision was “in the spirit of the Abraham Accords”, referring to a series of agreements brokered by US President Donald Trump in his first term that normalised ties between Israel and several Arab nations.Netanyahu had invited Abdullahi to visit, the Israeli leader’s office said.Asked by the New York Post newspaper whether the United States planned to also recognise Somaliland, Trump said “no”.”Does anyone know what Somaliland is, really?” he added.Hailing Israel’s decision as a “historic moment”, Abdullahi said in a post on X that it marked the beginning of a “strategic partnership”.The Palestinian Authority rejected Israel’s recognition of Somaliland.It said on X that Israel had previously named Somaliland “as a destination for the forced displacement of our Palestinian people, particularly from the Gaza Strip”, and warned against “complicity” with such a move.In Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, crowds of people took to the streets to celebrate, many carrying the flag of the breakaway state, said sources.- ‘Overt interference’ -Turkey, a close ally of Somalia, also condemned the move.”This initiative by Israel, which aligns with its expansionist policy… constitutes overt interference in Somalia’s domestic affairs”, a foreign ministry statement said.Egypt said its top diplomat had spoken with counterparts from Turkey, Somalia and Djibouti, who together condemned the move and emphasised “full support for the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia”.In a video showing Netanyahu speaking to Abdullahi by telephone, the Israeli leader said that he believed the new relationship would offer economic opportunities.”I am very, very happy and I am very proud of this day and I want to wish you and the people of Somaliland the very, very best,” Netanyahu said.A self-proclaimed republic, Somaliland enjoys a strategic position on the Gulf of Aden and has its own money, passports and army.But it has been diplomatically isolated since unilaterally declaring independence.- Strategic move -Israel’s regional security interests may lie behind the move.”Israel requires allies in the Red Sea region for many strategic reasons, among them the possibility of a future campaign against the Houthis,” said the Institute for National Security Studies in a paper last month, referring to Yemen’s Iran-backed rebels.Israel repeatedly hit targets in Yemen after the Gaza war broke out in October 2023, in response to Houthi attacks on Israel that the rebels said were in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.The Houthis have halted their attacks since a fragile truce began in Gaza in October.Somaliland’s lack of international recognition has hampered access to foreign loans, aid and investment, and the territory remains deeply impoverished.A deal between landlocked Ethiopia and Somaliland last year to lease a stretch of coastline for a port and military base enraged Somalia.Israel has been trying to bolster relations with countries in the Middle East and Africa.Historic agreements struck late in Trump’s first term in 2020 saw several countries including the Muslim-majority United Arab Emirates and Morocco normalise relations with Israel.But wars that have stoked Arab anger, particularly in Gaza, have hampered recent efforts to expand ties further.burs-jj/jgc/ceg/mjw