Facing increasing isolation abroad and mounting domestic pressure, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet US President Donald Trump on Monday to defend his intention to “finish the job” in Gaza.

The meeting follows Trump’s unveiling of a 21-point plan aimed at ending the conflict in the Palestinian territory, announced during discussions with Arab and Muslim leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

On Sunday, Trump teased “something special” in upcoming Middle East talks, posting on his Truth Social platform: “WE WILL GET IT DONE!!!”

Earlier, on Friday, Trump told reporters in Washington, “I think we have a deal” on Gaza, while Netanyahu, speaking at the UN, reiterated his determination to “finish the job” against Hamas.

Experts, however, say Netanyahu appears increasingly cornered, facing growing international and domestic calls to end the war.

“He has no other choice but to accept Trump’s plan for a ceasefire,” said Eytan Gilboa, an expert on US-Israel relations at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University.

“The United States and Trump in particular remain almost his only ally on the global stage.”

Comprehensive agreement

In Israel, tens of thousands of protesters have pressured Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire, and on Saturday they urged Trump to use his influence.

“The only thing that can stop the slide into the abyss is a full, comprehensive agreement that ends the war and brings all the hostages and the soldiers home,” said Lishay Miran-Lavi, wife of Omri Miran, who remains captive in Gaza.

Directly addressing Trump, she urged: “Use your influence with Prime Minister Netanyahu.”

Israel’s international isolation has deepened in recent days, with countries including the UK, France, Canada and Australia officially recognising Palestinian statehood, breaking with longstanding US-led diplomatic protocols.

Trump’s 21-point plan, according to a diplomatic source, envisions a permanent ceasefire, the release of hostages, an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a major influx of humanitarian aid.

Hamas political bureau member Hossam Badran said Sunday evening that the group “had not received any official proposal from Qatari or Egyptian mediators”.

Arab and Muslim leaders have welcomed the proposal, but have also called for an immediate halt to Israel’s military operations and any occupation of Gaza.

Some elements of the plan will prove hard for Netanyahu to swallow, and could even lead to the collapse of his right-wing government coalition.

Among the most controversial is the involvement of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA) in the future governance of Gaza.

The PA ruled the territory until Hamas seized control in 2007, and its potential restoration represents a red line for Netanyahu’s hardline coalition partners.

While the US proposal conditions the PA’s return on implementing reform programmes, these changes “could take years” to materialise, Gilboa warned.

Broad consensus

Several far-right ministers in Netanyahu’s coalition have threatened to collapse the government if he agrees to the PA’s return, or if he ends the war without defeating Hamas.

However, opposition leader Yair Lapid has offered a parliamentary “safety net”, promising his centrist Yesh Atid party would support a ceasefire and hostage-release deal but it is not clear whether other opposition parties would follow suit.

“This kind of broad plan would need a broad consensus,” said Ksenia Svetlova, a former Knesset member who now heads the regional cooperation NGO ROPES.

Svetlova predicted Netanyahu would only accept parts of the deal, while trying to negotiate or postpone decisions on other elements “seem difficult in this moment”.

Another contentious point in the US proposal is who would guarantee security in the Gaza Strip once the Israeli army pulls out and Hamas is disarmed.

The proposal envisions an international security force comprising Palestinian personnel alongside troops from Arab and Muslim nations.

However, critical details about command structure and operational control remain unclear.

“This plan is internationalising the Gaza conflict in an unprecedented way,” Svetlova said, “but without a clear plan on who will be the guiding star, what the end goals are, who will see it through.”

“The unpredictability factor runs wild here, really.”

President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he would tell a gathering of US generals and admirals in Quantico, Virginia, that they were cherished leaders who needed to be strong and tough.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth summoned senior US military leaders from around the world for a meeting in Quantico on Tuesday — a rare gathering of the country’s military leadership in one location.

“I want to tell the generals that we love them, they’re cherished leaders, to be strong, be tough and be smart and be compassionate,” Trump told Reuters in an interview.

“That’s all that is, esprit de corps. It’s about time somebody did that,” he added.

Trump’s attendance could overshadow Hegseth, who was expected to discuss the need to adhere to a “warrior ethos” throughout the military and could touch on other areas.

The US has troops around the world, including in distant locations like South Korea, Japan and across the Middle East, which are commanded by two-, three- and four-star generals and admirals.

In almost every public speech he gives, Hegseth talks about the “warrior ethos” and the need for the US military to have a warrior mentality.

Earlier this month, Trump signed an executive order to rename the Department of Defense as the “Department of War,” reverting to a title it held until after World War Two when officials sought to emphasise the Pentagon’s role in preventing conflict.

Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has moved with stunning speed to reshape the department, firing top generals and admirals as he seeks to implement Trump’s national security agenda and root out diversity initiatives he calls discriminatory.

Officials have told Reuters that the event is expected to take place at the Marine Corps University in Quantico, Virginia.

Some of the senior-most officials, who are provided US military aircraft for official travel, are expected to fly into Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

It is unclear why the gathering could not have taken place virtually, and it will likely cost at least millions of dollars to transport and protect the large gathering.

• Shooter drove vehicle into church, fired assault-style weapon.
• Suspect died in gunfire exchange with police officers.
• Authorities expect more victims in church ruins.

At least two people were killed and several others injured Sunday after a shooter targeted a Mormon church in Michigan, authorities said, in the latest deadly tragedy that US President Donald Trump called part of a national “epidemic of violence.”

The suspect, a 40-year-old man from a nearby town in the northern US state, was shot dead by law enforcement responding to the attack, in which the church was also set ablaze, police said, without specifying any possible motive.

Trump called the shooting “horrendous” and said on his Truth Social platform, it “appears to be yet another targeted attack on Christians in the United States of America.”

Images from the scene showed emergency services escorting people on stretchers and a large plume of dark smoke at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, about 60 miles (97 kilometres) east of the capital Lansing.

Debbie Horkey, who lives near the church, told AFP: “My husband heard people screaming, one lady yelling for help.”

Local police chief William Renye said the suspect drove his vehicle into the church and then began firing at people inside with an assault rifle.

He told reporters the service was active with “hundreds of people within the church.”

Authorities believe the gunman also deliberately set fire to the church before he was killed by responding police officers, Renye said.

Ten gunshot victims were transported to the hospital, the official said, of whom two have died.

He added that the fire had been extinguished but that “we do believe that we will find additional victims once we have that scene secure.”

‘Epidemic of violence’

FBI agents are on the scene to assist the investigation, director Kash Patel said on X.

“Violence in a place of worship is a cowardly and criminal act. Our prayers are with the victims and their families during this tragedy,” he wrote.

Attorney General Pam Bondi also said she had been briefed on the incident.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called Sunday´s attack a “tragic act of violence.”

“Places of worship are meant to be sanctuaries of peacemaking, prayer and connection. We pray for peace and healing for all involved,” it wrote on X.

The United States, where firearms are readily available, has a long history of gun violence.

But tensions have soared in recent weeks after a series of high-profile attacks, including the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk in Utah and a deadly shooting at a federal immigration facility in Texas.

Sunday’s attack also comes a month after a mass shooting at a Catholic church and school in Minnesota, in which two children were killed while attending Mass, and several others were severely injured.

Political divisions have grown even deeper in the wake of the attacks, with Trump launching a campaign to target left-wing groups he accuses of being “domestic terrorists.”

In his Truth Social post Sunday, Trump wrote: “THIS EPIDEMIC OF VIOLENCE IN OUR COUNTRY MUST END, IMMEDIATELY!”

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a staunch Republican and Trump ally, said he had ordered the formation of task forces to work with law enforcement to better protect places of worship in his state after the Michigan shooting.

“The fundamental principle that thou shalt not kill must be strongly reaffirmed as a core tenet of our society and must be aggressively enforced by law enforcement,” he wrote on X.