By Andrea Shalal and Kanishka Singh
PALM BEACH, Florida, Dec 29 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not agree fully on the issue of the Israeli-occupied West Bank but the Republican leader did not lay out what the disagreement was.
In a briefing after a meeting with Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Trump was asked if he had a message for Netanyahu about the West Bank and if he was concerned that settler violence in the West Bank could undermine peace.
“We have had a discussion, big discussion for a long time on the West Bank. And I wouldn’t say we agree on the West Bank 100%, but we’ll come to a conclusion on the West Bank,” Trump said.
“I don’t want to do that, it will be announced at an appropriate time,” Trump said when asked what the disagreement between them was. Netanyahu “will do the right thing,” Trump added.
Israel has been under mounting international pressure to curb attacks by settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank. Home to 2.7 million Palestinians, the West Bank has long been at the heart of plans for a future Palestinian state alongside Israel.
The United Nations, Palestinians and most countries regard settlements as illegal under international law. Israel disputes this, citing biblical ties to the land and security concerns. Around half a million Israeli settlers live in the West Bank.
The United Nations’ highest court said last year Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there were illegal and should be dismantled.
Over a thousand Palestinians were killed in the West Bank between October 2023 and October 2025, mostly in operations by security forces and some by settler violence, the U.N. has said. In the same period, 57 Israelis were killed in Palestinian attacks.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal in Palm Beach, Florida, and Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Howard Goller)
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