TEHRAN- US President Donald Trump is rolling out the red carpet at the White House for a wanted criminal whose army has slaughtered close to 62,000 Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip in cold blood. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose arrest warrant has been issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for committing war crimes in Gaza, is set to meet with Trump on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. local time. 

Netanyahu, known as Bibi, was welcomed to the US capital on Sunday night by Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon.

Trump has anticipated “big meetings” with Netanyahu. 

“Bibi Netanyahu’s coming on Tuesday, and I think we have some very big meetings scheduled,” the US president told reporters in Maryland.

Bibi’s US visit comes two weeks after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect which paused the regime’s genocidal war on Gaza. 

Israel signed the truce deal after failing to meet its military objectives in Gaza, which included the elimination of Hamas. 

The Israeli army invaded Gaza on October 7, 2023, after Hamas carried out a surprise military operation in southern Israel on the morning of the same date. More than 1,100 people were killed in the Hamas attack and about 250 others were taken captive. 

Officials in Gaza say more than 61,700 Palestinians were killed in Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza StripDozens of the captives are still held in Gaza who are expected to be freed based on the three-phase ceasefire deal that took effect on January 19.

Hamas has freed 18 captives in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinians from Israeli jails since then. 

The resistance movement will free other captives if Israel complies with the deal which includes the full withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza in its second phase.

But Netanyahu has said he will discuss “victory over Hamas” with Trump amid intense pressure from within his cabinet to resume the war.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has threatened to quit and strip Netanyahu of his Knesset majority if he refuses to do so. 

For now, it appears that Netanyahu wants to have his cake and eat it too. 

The Israeli army has failed to secure the release of the remaining captives through military action. The resumption of the war on Gaza will jeopardize the lives of the captives which would lead to growing domestic divisions. Besides, a renewed conflict will further deepen Israel’s international isolation.

Presently, Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its brutal war in Gaza. 

On Monday, the head of the Gaza Government Information Office updated the death toll from Israel’s war on the Palestinian territory to 61,709.

Salama Maarouf told reporters that the bodies of 76 percent of the Palestinians killed in the war have been recovered and brought to medical centers.

“Only 47,487 bodies were transferred to hospitals, while 14,222 remained missing under the rubble.”

He added that 17,881 children, including 214 newborn infants are among the fatalities.  

Israel’s “war crimes and crimes against humanity” in Gaza pushed the ICC to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former war minister Yoav Gallant in November last year.

Effectively, Netanyahu is internationally a wanted suspect and ICC member states are under legal obligation to arrest them. The United States, which has thrown its full military and political weight behind Israel’s war on Gaza, has rejected the ICC’s decision.

But the US brokered the January ceasefire deal along with Egypt and Qatar amid Israel’s inability to achieve its war goals. 

The United States has spared no effort to support Israel since its establishment in 1948. During the Gaza war, Washington provided Tel Aviv with additional military aid worth tens of billions of dollars. 

At the moment, Trump's endorsement of Netanyahu suggests he is betting on the wrong horse although all Israeli leaders have the blood of Palestinians on their hands.