Tel Aviv, March 4 -- Israel Defence Minister Israel Katz spoke with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, whom he thanked, for President Trump's support for accelerating shipments of weapons and security equipment to Israel, and for his commitment to the "strong alliance between the countries."

Katz said that Israel had agreed to the outline proposed by the President's Special Envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and stressed the need to return all the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza and to destroy the Hamas regime there.

The Minister reviewed with the Secretary Hegseth the IDF's (Israel Defense Forces) activities in Judea and Samaria against terrorism, emphasized the importance of the security areas Israel's military establish...