🔗 Share this article

Benjamin Netanyahu has remarked that the primary part of the internationally-supported Gaza truce plan is nearing finalization, stating that the next stage must require the demilitarization of Hamas.

Forthcoming Talks in Washington

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

“We’re about to finish the first phase,” Netanyahu stated. “But we have to guarantee that we achieve the identical objectives in the second phase, and that’s something I am eager to discussing with President Trump.”

European Leader Meets with Netanyahu

The prime minister was talking at a shared news conference with the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, who commented: “Stage two must begin now and then phase three must also be taken into account.”

Merz is the first leader of a significant European state to hold talks with Netanyahu in Israel since the international criminal court released warrants for arrest for the Israeli prime minister and his ex- 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 indicated he would invite Netanyahu to Germany notwithstanding the ICC warrants, but said on Sunday a trip was not presently under consideration. Netanyahu rejects the warrants as “fabricated charges” from a “corrupt prosecutor”.

Terms of the Current Truce

Under the initial stage of the current ceasefire agreement, Hamas freed the final 20 surviving Israeli hostages in return for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, and it has transferred all but one of 28 remains of hostages who died during the war. At the same time, Israeli forces have withdrawn to a ceasefire line, leaving them in control of 58% of the Gaza Strip.

Following the ceasefire was declared on 10 October, Israeli forces have been responsible for the deaths of more than 360 Palestinians, including an estimated 70 children. Three Israeli soldiers have been fatally wounded in Hamas military actions over the identical period.

Next Steps and Unclear Timeline

Not one of Trump’s suggestions, nor UN Security Council resolution 2803 which largely endorsed them, detailed a schedule transitioning the ceasefire into a permanent peace. Hamas is supposed to disarm, Israeli troops are meant to withdraw farther, and an international stabilisation force (ISF) is to be created under the control of a “peace board” of world leaders led by Trump, overseeing a administrative Palestinian council to run daily administration of Gaza.

The sequencing of these steps is ambiguous in Trump’s plan or in resolution 2803. In his remarks on Sunday, Netanyahu put his emphasis on Hamas disarmament.

“I think it’s crucial to ensure that Hamas adheres not only with the ceasefire, but also with their commitment which they undertook to disarm and have Gaza demilitarized,” he asserted.

Possible Alternatives and Diplomatic Positions

Netanyahu brought up the prospects of “alternatives” to the ISF, without clarifying what those might be. He would not rule out Israeli annexation of the West Bank, describing it as a topic of “negotiation”, and emphasized that Israel was strongly opposed the creation of a Palestinian state, the objective 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 Legal Cases

Netanyahu stated the primary reason he would not be able to make a return visit to Germany was the ICC arrest warrants, which he described as invented by the court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, as a means of diverting attention from allegations of sexual harassment against him. Khan has refuted any misconduct, but stepped aside from his role in May pending the conclusion of an investigation.

Netanyahu asserted Khan was “damaging the standing of the ICC” with “trumped-up allegations of starvation and genocide” from a “compromised official”.

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

Asked about the possibility of Netanyahu visiting Germany, Merz told reporters on Sunday: “There is no reason to consider this at the present time.”