Benjamin Netanyahu told Donald Trump that he would nominate him for the Nobel peace prize on Monday, as the two leaders met for the first time since the US launched strikes on Iran’s nuclear program as part of a short-lived war between Israel and Iran, writes The Guardian.

“Trump was expected to press Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire in Israel’s 21-month-old war against Hamas in Gaza amid an outcry over the humanitarian cost of an offensive that has led to nearly 60,000 deaths, most of them Palestinian.

Israeli and Hamas negotiators met for indirect talks for the first time in 6 weeks in Qatar on Monday. While both sides have spoken positively about the prospects for a ceasefire, a number of crucial negotiating points remain including guarantees from the Israeli side that the war would not continue and Netanyahu’s insistence that Hamas be banished from Gaza for good.

Before a dinner in the Blue Room at the White House, Trump was asked whether he believed that Palestinians should be forcibly removed from Gaza, amid reports that Israel has laid out plans to force all Palestinians in Gaza into a camp on the ruins of Rafah – a plan that has been criticised as a blueprint for ethnic cleansing. Trump directed Netanyahu to answer the question.

“It’s called free choice. You know, if people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave. It shouldn’t a prison. It should be an open place and give people a free choice.

We’re working with the US very closely about finding countries that will seek to realize what they always say they wanted – to give the Palestinians a better future. And … I think we’re getting close to finding several countries”, - said Netanyahu, who is wanted by the international criminal court for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war.

At the beginning of the meeting, Netanyahu presented Trump with a letter that he said he had sent to a committee for the Nobel peace prize commending Trump’s efforts to end conflicts in the Middle East.