US President Donald Trump will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid Middle East crisis. Both leaders will meet at the White House next week. This makes Netanyahu the first foreign leader to visit in Trump's second term.

The announcement comes as the United States pressures both Israel and Hamas to maintain a ceasefire that has brought a temporary halt to the ongoing 15-month conflict in Gaza. Discussions on the more challenging second phase of the ceasefire, which aims to bring an end to the war, are set to begin next Monday.

"I look forward to discussing how we can bring peace to Israel and its neighbours, and efforts to counter our shared adversaries." said the White House letter shared by Netanyahu's office.

The February 4 meeting will be important for Netanyahu to reaffirm the support he's had from Trump over the years and defend Israel’s actions in the ongoing war. The two previously met face-to-face for the first time in nearly four years at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida last year.

Israel is the largest recipient of US military aid, and Netanyahu is likely to encourage Trump not to hold up some weapons deliveries the way the Biden administration did, though it continued other deliveries and overall military support.

Netanyahu also hopes Trump will intensify pressure on Iran and revive efforts to secure a historic normalisation agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a key regional rival of Iran and the most influential country in the Arab world. Even before assuming office this month, Trump had sent his special Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, to the region to work alongside the Biden administration in securing the current Gaza ceasefire.

But Netanyahu has vowed to renew the war if Hamas doesn't meet his demands in negotiations over the ceasefire's second phase, meant to discuss a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a “sustainable calm."