‘Gaza peace plan first phase nearly complete, Hamas must disarm in next,’ says Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the first phase of the UN-endorsed Gaza ceasefire plan is close to completion and that the second phase must involve the disarmament of Hamas. The Israeli PM said he would discuss the next steps with US President Donald Trump in Washington later this month. Trump’s Gaza proposals were codified in a UN Security Council resolution on 17 November. “We’re about to finish the first stage,” Netanyahu said. “But we have to make sure that we achieve the same results in the second stage, and that’s something I look forward to discussing with President Trump.”

Netanyahu was speaking at a joint press conference with the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said, “Phase two must come now, and then phase three must also be considered.”

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Merz is the first leader of a major European state to meet Netanyahu in Israel since the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, in November 2024 for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

After winning federal elections in February, Merz had said he would invite Netanyahu to Germany despite the ICC warrants, but said on Sunday a visit was not currently under consideration. Netanyahu dismisses the warrants as “trumped-up charges” from a “corrupt prosecutor”.

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During the first phase of the current ceasefire agreement, Hamas released the last 20 living Israeli hostages in exchange for about 2,000 Palestinian detainees held by Israel, and it has handed over all but one of 28 bodies of hostages killed during the war.

The Israeli forces have, meanwhile, withdrawn to a ceasefire line, leaving them in control of 58% of the Gaza Strip.

Hamas is supposed to disarm, Israeli troops are meant to withdraw farther, and an international stabilisation force (ISF) is to be set up under the control of a “board of peace” of world leaders chaired by Trump, overseeing a technocratic Palestinian committee to run the day-to-day governance of Gaza.

Emphasising on Hamas disarmament, Netanyahu said, “I think it’s important to make sure that Hamas complies not only with the ceasefire, but also with their commitment which they undertook to disarm and have Gaza demilitarise.”