Trump to meet Israeli leaders on Monday

US President Donald Trump is meeting with the leaders of Israel's two largest parties at the White House on Monday, as he prepares to announce his proposal for ending the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

Trump will host Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at 11am local time (16:00 GMT), before meeting with Benny Gantz, Netanyahu's rival in the upcoming March election, at 12:30pm (17:30 GMT). 

According to reports, the meeting with Netanyahu is scheduled to last for over an hour, while the meeting with Gantz is scheduled to last between 30 to 45 minutes.

Netanyahu, who has called Trump "the greatest friend that Israel has ever had," has said he hopes to "make history" in Washington this week.

According to preliminary plans, the so-called "deal of the century" will see Jerusalem declared as the capital of Israel.

Israel would also claim sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and annex most illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, as well as the land linking them.

The creation of a demilitarised Palestinian state would be agreed to at a later time.

According to Haaretz, Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and the architect of the plan, said in private conversations two years ago that his job was to "make it hard" for the Palestinians to reject the plan, and "not to give them an easy way out".

The Palestinian leadership has not been invited to the talks and has rejected Trump's initiative.