Trump adviser Waltz to meet with Israel’s Dermer, source says

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, will meet with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer on Wednesday, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Waltz and Dermer are expected to discuss the efforts to reach a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal and the Iranian threat, a reporter for Axios, which earlier reported the meeting, said on X, citing a source familiar with the meeting.

The meeting comes just weeks before Trump takes office on Jan. 20 following campaign promises to end the wars in the Middle East and elsewhere, though he has offered scant details on how he plans to proceed.

On Monday, Trump vowed there would be “hell to pay” in the Middle East if hostages held in the Gaza Strip were not released prior to his inauguration.

“Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Israeli leaders on Tuesday hailed Trump’s pledge while the reaction in Gaza was less enthusiastic.

Israel launched its war after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023.

Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and captured more than 250 people, including dual Israeli-American nationals, according to Israeli tallies. Around half of the 101 foreign and Israeli hostages still held incommunicado in Gaza are believed to be alive.

Hamas has called for an end to the war and total Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as part of any deal to release remaining hostages.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the war will go on until Hamas is eradicated and poses no more threat to Israel.

Israeli officials have also said they expect Trump to take a hard line against Iran when he takes office.

(Reporting by Steve Holland and Susan Heavey; additional writing by Ismail Shakil; editing by Jonathan Oatis)