Secret talks at the White House were held by senior US, Israeli and Qatar officials on Tuesday, focusing on the main friction point remaining to reach the truce and hostage exchange in Gaza, according to two sources citing the Ax.

According to the same source, US President Donald Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu twice in the last 48 hours, as he has pressured both in Israel and Hamas to complete the deal. White House envoy Steve Whitkov said on Tuesday that three of the four main disagreements have been resolved in recent days.

The friction point, according to Axios sources, relates to the lines on which the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) will be withdrawn during the 60 -day truce. However, at the Tuesday’s secret meeting, clear progress was made.

Concerning the backdrop of the meeting, Axios reports that shortly before the Trump -Netanian meeting on Tuesday night, Whitkov met with a high -ranking Qatar official and Netanyahu’s top adviser Ron Dermer.

Two sources with immediate knowledge of the issue said the meeting focused on the rearrangement of the Israeli forces in the context of a possible truce agreement.

The point of friction

Both sources reported that Whitkov and the Qatarian official made it clear to the Dermer that the map proposed by Israel, which includes much more limited rearrangement than the previous truce, is not acceptable as a negotiation starting point.

The Qatarian official warned that Hamas would probably reject the proposal and that talks may collapse because of it, even reaching the point of asking for Qatar, which is mediated in the event of failure.

Whitkov told Dermer that a rearrangement map that looks like a “Smotric plan” and foresees a constant Israeli presence in large parts of the Gaza Strip is not accepted by the Trump administration. He was referring to the supranationalist Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotric, who is pushing Netanyahu to maintain Israeli forces in extensive areas of Gaza.

Dermer, according to the same report, argued that Netanyahu is under intense pressure not to make significant concessions from his own government alliance.

He also stressed that Netanyahu cannot make such a decision unilaterally and would require approval from the Council of Ministers.

However, according to sources, as a result of the meeting, Israel then presented a new map, which provides for a wider withdrawal of IDF. The new map has led to significant progress and substantially increased the chances of reaching an agreement.

One of the sources told Axios that “there are still some gaps, but we are currently moving in a positive direction.”

The agreement on the table includes the release of 18 living hostages held in Gaza and the return of 10 corpses over the 60 -day cessation of hostilities.

Netanyahu may also have a new meeting with Trump before his scheduled departure from Washington on Thursday night.