Initial Stage of Gaza Strip Truce Plan Nearly Complete, Says Netanyahu

Benjamin Netanyahu has remarked that the first segment of the UN-endorsed Gaza halt in hostilities framework is close to completion, stating that the next stage must include the demilitarization of Hamas.

Forthcoming Talks in Washington

The Israeli leader stated he would discuss the subsequent actions in the coming weeks in Washington with Donald Trump, whose Gaza proposals were codified in a UN Security Council decision on 17 November.

“We’re about to complete the first stage,” Netanyahu stated. “But we have to ensure that we secure the same results in the next stage, and that’s something I am eager to addressing with President Trump.”

German Leader Visits Netanyahu

The prime minister was talking at a joint media briefing with the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, who commented: “Phase two must begin now and then the third phase must also be considered.”

Merz is the first leader of a significant European state to meet Netanyahu in Israel since the international criminal court issued warrants for arrest for the Israeli prime minister and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, in November last year for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity allegations in Gaza.

After securing victory in federal elections in February, Merz had said he would welcome Netanyahu to Germany regardless of the ICC warrants, but said on Sunday a visit was not at this time planned. Netanyahu rejects the warrants as “baseless charges” from a “corrupt prosecutor”.

Terms of the Ongoing Ceasefire

During the initial stage of the present ceasefire deal, Hamas freed the last 20 surviving Israeli hostages in return for some 2,000 Palestinian detainees held by Israel, and it has handed over all but one of 28 bodies of hostages killed during the war. Meanwhile, Israeli forces have pulled back to a truce line, leaving them in occupation of 58% of the Gaza Strip.

Since the ceasefire was declared on 10 October, Israeli forces have killed over 360 Palestinians, including an estimated 70 children. Three Israeli soldiers have been killed in Hamas military actions over the same period.

Next Steps and Ambiguous Sequencing

Not one of Trump’s suggestions, nor UN security council resolution 2803 which mostly supported them, detailed a timetable transitioning the ceasefire into a permanent peace. Hamas is supposed to disarm, Israeli troops are meant to retreat more, and an international stabilization force is to be set up under the control of a “board of peace” of world leaders headed by Trump, supervising a administrative Palestinian committee to run daily administration of Gaza.

The order of these measures is not clear in Trump’s plan or in resolution 2803. In his statements on Sunday, Netanyahu stressed Hamas disarmament.

“I think it’s important to ensure that Hamas abides not only with the ceasefire, but also with their commitment which they agreed to to disarm and have Gaza demilitarise,” he asserted.

Possible Options and Political Stances

Netanyahu raised the prospects of “alternatives” to the ISF, without clarifying what those might be. He would not dismiss Israeli sovereignty of the West Bank, describing it as a subject of “negotiation”, and reiterated that Israel was strongly opposed the establishment of a Palestinian state, the goal of the peace process desired by most European and Arab governments as well as the vast majority of UN member states.

International Criminal Court Warrants and Judicial Proceedings

Netanyahu said the primary reason he would not be able make a return visit to Germany was the ICC arrest warrants, which he described as invented by the court’s top prosecutor, Karim Khan, as a means of shifting focus from allegations of sexual harassment against him. Khan has refuted any misconduct, but stepped down from his role in May awaiting the outcome of an inquiry.

Netanyahu said Khan was “harming the standing of the ICC” with “unfounded charges of starvation and genocide” from a “corrupt official”.

Another tribunal, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), is weighing up charges that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. In September, a UN independent commission of inquiry concluded that Israel had carried out genocide.

Asked about the prospect of Netanyahu visiting Germany, Merz told reporters on Sunday: “There is little cause to consider this at the present time.”