🔗 Share this article

Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that the first segment of the internationally-supported Gaza truce plan is nearing finalization, stating that the second stage must entail the disarmament of Hamas.

Upcoming Discussions in Washington

The Israeli premier revealed he would address the subsequent actions in late November in Washington with Donald Trump, whose Gaza plans were outlined in a UN security council decision on 17 November.

“We’re about to finish the initial stage,” Netanyahu said. “But we have to make sure that we achieve the same results in the second stage, and that’s something I anticipate reviewing with President Trump.”

German Chancellor Meets with Netanyahu

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

Merz is the initial head of state of a major European state to hold talks with Netanyahu in Israel since the international criminal court delivered arrest warrants 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 winning federal elections in February, Merz had said he would invite Netanyahu to Germany regardless of the ICC warrants, but said on Sunday a visit was not currently being considered. Netanyahu disregards the warrants as “baseless charges” from a “corrupt prosecutor”.

Terms of the Current Ceasefire

Under the first phase of the present ceasefire deal, Hamas released the last 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 remains of hostages who died during the war. Meanwhile, Israeli forces have pulled back to a demarcation line, leaving them in occupation of 58% of the Gaza Strip.

Since the ceasefire was put into effect on 10 October, Israeli forces have been responsible for the deaths of over 360 Palestinians, including an approximate 70 children. Three Israeli soldiers have been killed in Hamas attacks over the same period.

Next Steps and Unclear Timeline

Neither Trump’s proposals, nor UN security council resolution 2803 which mostly supported them, specified a schedule extending the ceasefire into a permanent peace. Hamas is expected to disarm, Israeli troops are meant to pull back further, and an international stabilisation force (ISF) is to be established under the control of a “peace board” of world leaders headed by Trump, overseeing a technocratic Palestinian committee to run daily administration of Gaza.

The sequencing of these steps is vague in Trump’s proposals or in resolution 2803. In his statements on Sunday, Netanyahu stressed Hamas disarmament.

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

Possible Options and Political Positions

Netanyahu mentioned the prospects of “alternatives” to the ISF, without elaborating on what those might be. He would not exclude Israeli sovereignty of the West Bank, labeling it as a subject of “debate”, and reiterated that Israel was adamantly against the creation of a Palestinian state, the objective of the peace process supported by most European and Arab capitals as well as the overwhelming majority of UN member states.

International Criminal Court Charges and Legal Proceedings

Netanyahu claimed the 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 way of shifting focus 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 “damaging the credibility of the ICC” with “trumped-up allegations of deprivation and acts of genocide” from a “compromised official”.

Another court, the international court of justice, 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.

Questioned about the possibility of Netanyahu visiting Germany, Merz told reporters on Sunday: “There is no reason to discuss this at the moment.”