First Stage of Gaza Truce Plan Almost Finished, States Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu has proclaimed that the initial part of the United Nations-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal is approaching conclusion, and added that the subsequent phase must require the demilitarization of Hamas.
Forthcoming Talks in Washington
The Israeli premier stated he would talk about the next steps later this month in Washington with Donald Trump, whose Gaza initiatives were outlined in a UN security council decision on 17 November.
“We’re about to conclude the first stage,” Netanyahu said. “But we have to make sure that we secure the identical results in the second stage, and that’s something I am eager to addressing with President Trump.”
German Leader Meets with Netanyahu
The prime minister was addressing the media at a joint media briefing with the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, who stated: “Stage two must come now and then phase three must also be examined.”
Merz is the first leader of a leading European state to hold talks with Netanyahu in Israel since the international criminal court released 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 securing victory in federal elections in February, Merz had said he would invite Netanyahu to Germany regardless of the ICC warrants, but noted on Sunday a trip was not currently being considered. Netanyahu disregards the warrants as “trumped-up charges” from a “corrupt prosecutor”.
Details of the Ongoing Truce
Under the first phase of the present ceasefire agreement, Hamas released the final 20 surviving Israeli captives in exchange for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, and it has handed over all but one of 28 bodies of hostages killed during the war. Meanwhile, Israeli forces have withdrawn to a demarcation line, leaving them in occupation of 58% of the Gaza Strip.
Following the ceasefire was put into effect on 10 October, Israeli forces have killed more than 360 Palestinians, including an estimated 70 children. Three Israeli soldiers have been fatally wounded in Hamas military actions over the same timeframe.
Future Stages and Ambiguous Sequencing
Neither Trump’s suggestions, nor UN security council resolution 2803 which largely endorsed them, specified a schedule extending the ceasefire into a lasting peace. Hamas is required to disarm, Israeli troops are supposed to retreat more, and an international stabilization force is to be created under the control of a “peace board” of world leaders led by Trump, supervising a technocratic Palestinian council to run day-to-day administration of Gaza.
The timeline of these steps is ambiguous in Trump’s plan or in resolution 2803. In his remarks on Sunday, Netanyahu stressed Hamas disarmament.
“I think it’s vital to ensure that Hamas adheres not only with the ceasefire, but also with their pledge which they agreed to to disarm and have Gaza demilitarise,” he asserted.
Potential Options and Political Positions
Netanyahu brought up the prospects of “alternatives” to the ISF, without elaborating on what those might be. He would not dismiss Israeli sovereignty of the West Bank, labeling it as a subject of “debate”, and stressed that Israel was adamantly against the establishment of a Palestinian state, the aim of the peace process desired by most European and Arab capitals as well as the overwhelming majority of UN member states.
ICC Charges and Judicial Proceedings
Netanyahu claimed the primary reason he would not be able make a return visit to Germany was the ICC arrest warrants, which he characterized 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 refuted any wrongdoing, but stepped down from his role in May pending the conclusion of an investigation.
Netanyahu said Khan was “harming the standing of the ICC” with “unfounded charges of deprivation and acts of genocide” from a “corrupt official”.
A separate tribunal, the international court of justice, is reviewing charges that Israel has perpetrated genocide in Gaza. In September, a UN autonomous commission of inquiry found that Israel had carried out genocide.
Asked about the prospect of Netanyahu visiting Germany, Merz told reporters on Sunday: “There is little cause to discuss this at the moment.”
