🔗 Share this article

Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that the opening phase of the UN-endorsed Gaza truce framework is nearing completion, and added that the second phase must include the demilitarization of Hamas.

Forthcoming Discussions in Washington

The Israeli premier stated he would examine the next steps in late November in Washington with Donald Trump, whose Gaza plans were outlined in a UN security council decision on 17 November.

“We are nearing complete the initial stage,” Netanyahu stated. “But we have to ensure that we attain the equivalent results in the second stage, and that’s something I am eager to reviewing with President Trump.”

European Chancellor Meets with Netanyahu

The prime minister was speaking at a shared press conference with the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, who stated: “Phase two must begin now and then stage three must also be taken into account.”

Merz is the first head of state of a major European state to confer with Netanyahu in Israel since the International Criminal Court (ICC) delivered arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister and his ex- defence minister, Yoav Gallant, in November last year for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

After winning federal elections in February, Merz had said he would welcome Netanyahu to Germany despite the ICC warrants, but noted on Sunday a visit was not at this time planned. Netanyahu disregards the warrants as “trumped-up allegations” from a “biased prosecuting office”.

Terms of the Ongoing Truce

Under the first phase of the current ceasefire agreement, Hamas freed the remaining 20 surviving Israeli captives 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. Concurrently, Israeli forces have pulled back to a truce line, resulting in them in control of 58% of the Gaza Strip.

Following 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 identical period.

Next Steps and Ambiguous Sequencing

Neither Trump’s proposals, nor UN security council resolution 2803 which mostly endorsed them, specified a schedule extending the ceasefire into a lasting peace. Hamas is required to disarm, Israeli troops are meant to withdraw farther, and an international stabilisation force (ISF) is to be created under the authority of a “peace board” of world leaders headed by Trump, overseeing a technocratic Palestinian council to run daily administration of Gaza.

The timeline of these actions is unclear in Trump’s proposals or in resolution 2803. In his statements on Sunday, Netanyahu put his emphasis on Hamas disarmament.

“I think it’s crucial to make sure that Hamas abides not only with the ceasefire, but also with their pledge which they agreed to to disarm and have Gaza demilitarise,” he stated.

Potential Options and Diplomatic Positions

Netanyahu mentioned the prospects of “other options” to the ISF, without clarifying what those might be. He would not dismiss Israeli annexation of the West Bank, labeling it as a topic of “discussion”, and stressed that Israel was strongly against the establishment of a Palestinian state, the objective of the peace process desired by most European and Arab capitals as well as the overwhelming majority of UN member states.

International Criminal Court Charges and Judicial Proceedings

Netanyahu claimed the primary reason he would not be able to make a return visit to Germany was the ICC arrest warrants, which he described as fabricated by the court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, as a way of diverting attention from accusations of sexual harassment against him. Khan has denied any wrongdoing, but stepped aside from his role in May awaiting the conclusion of an investigation.

Netanyahu remarked Khan was “destroying the credibility of the ICC” with “false charges of deprivation and acts of genocide” from a “corrupt prosecutor”.

A separate court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), is weighing up allegations that Israel has perpetrated genocide in Gaza. In September, a UN independent investigative commission concluded that Israel had committed genocide.

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