Netanyahu to face US Congress amid Gaza tensions

JERUSALEM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced yesterday that he will be traveling to Washington today morning instead of the previously scheduled Sunday evening.

Netanyahu is expected to meet U.S. President Joe Biden tomorrow afternoon and address Congress on July 24 during the visit to Washington, which will mark the premier's first since the formation of his current government in December 2022, according to Israeli daily Haaretz.

The statement did not explain the reasons behind the delay, which follows deadly airstrikes by Israel on a western Yemeni port city.

Earlier yesterday, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation reported that Netanyahu plans to meet with the Israeli negotiating team before his departure to Washington to discuss Tel Aviv's stance in hostage exchange negotiations with Palestinian group Hamas.

Israel's longest-serving premier will become the first foreign leader to address a joint meeting of the two chambers four times, pulling ahead of Britain's Winston Churchill on three.

However, Washington fears a backlash from the mounting civilian toll in the Gaza Strip, while protests in Israel by families of hostages taken by Hamas are also causing headaches for Netanyahu.

Biden and some Israeli ministers earlier said a deal negotiated through Qatar, Egyptian and U.S. mediators is possible. A plan outlined in May proposed a six-week ceasefire when some Israeli hostages would be swapped for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that negotiators were "inside the 10 yard line and driving toward the goal line.”

Hamas has accused Netanyahu of seeking to block a deal however and Blinken said he wants to "bring the agreement over the finish line" when Netanyahu is in Washington.