President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are meeting at the president's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, Monday, as the Trump administration is intent on moving into the second phase of the Gaza peace plan. The president said the two men have about five major subjects to discuss on Monday, Gaza being one of them. 

When Netanyahu arrived, Mr. Trump said "as quickly as we can...there has to be a disarmament," when he was asked how soon the second phase of the peace plan could begin. "We have to disarm with Hamas, so one of the things we'll talk about, certainly. But there has to be a disarming of Hamas. Otherwise, very quickly." 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Netanyahu ahead of Mr. Trump's meeting. Netanyahu's visit comes a week after U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, met with senior officials from Qatar, Egypt and Turkey to discuss next steps in the peace plan. Hamas, refusing to disarm, has not yet returned all Israeli hostage remains, and Israel has recently conducted some strikes in Gaza. Mr. Trump said the family of a man who is still missing was at Mar-a-Lago Monday.

The first phase of the plan called for an immediate ceasefire, as well as the return of all hostages and the provision of humanitarian aid. But the second phase, which entails the terrorist group's disarmament and effective ending of Hamas's rule, replaced by a transitional governance, has remained elusive. 

The Israel-Hamas ceasefire went into effect in November, more than two years after the war began with the attack by Hamas-led terrorists on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. 

This is the sixth meeting between Mr. Trump and Netanyahu since the president took office in January. 

Mr. Trump praised Netanyahu, telling reporters "he's a wartime prime minister who's a hero." And the president said he has spoken with Israeli President Isaac Herzog about a pardon for Netanyahu, who is facing bribery and fraud charges. 

"How do you not give a pardon, you know?" Mr. Trump said. "I think it's a very hard thing not to do it. ... He tells me it's on its way." 

Netanyahu's visit comes on the heels of Mr. Trump's meeting Sunday at Mar-a-Lago with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as the U.S. president continues to try to to broker a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia. After that meeting, Mr. Trump and Zelenskyy said they're nearly in agreement on a peace plan for Ukraine, and the Ukrainian leader praised what he called "strong security guarantees" from the U.S. But Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom Mr. Trump spoke before and after his meeting with Zelenskyy, hasn't shown a willingness to compromise on his territorial demands. Russia attacked Kyiv shortly before Mr. Trump's meeting with Zelenskyy. 

Mr. Trump has been spending the holidays at his Mar-a-Lago estate, mixing in golf with meetings with world leaders. The president will return to the White House after New Year's Day.