Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he expects the Gaza ceasefire plan to move into the second phase “very shortly.”
Netanyahu, speaking during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz after a meeting between the two leaders, said they discussed how to “bring an end to the Hamas rule in Gaza.”
“We finished the first part,” he said, adding, “And then we very shortly expect to move into the second phase, which is more difficult.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu take part in a press conference after talks in Israel.
Michael Kappeler/picture alliance via Getty Images
Netanyahu also said he will meet with U.S. President Trump later this month to discuss “opportunities for peace” in the region.
CBS News has reached out to the White House for confirmation of the meeting and additional meetings. The two leaders have met at least three times since Mr. Trump returned to the White House for a second term in January.
The first phase of the U.S. peace plan began on Oct. 10, halting fighting and exchanging hostages for Palestinian prisoners. The next phase involves an international security force and other measures and has not yet started. Concerns remain over the force’s role and makeup.
Netanyahu stressed that the second phase of the ceasefire, the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza, could begin as soon as the end of the month. The remains of Ran Gvili, a 24-year-old police officer who was killed on Oct. 7, 2023 and whose body was taken to Gaza, have not yet been returned.
“And now we have a second phase, no less daunting, and that is to achieve the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza,” Netanyahu said. “There’s a third phase, and that is to deradicalize Gaza, something that also people believed was impossible. But it was done in Germany, it was done in Japan, it’s done in the Gulf states, can be done in Gaza too.”
Arab and Western officials told The Associated Press on Friday that an international body overseeing the ceasefire, to be led by Mr. Trump himself, is expected to be appointed by the end of the year. In the long term, the plan also calls for a possible “pathway” to Palestinian independence.
On Saturday, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told an international conference in the Qatari capital that international mediators, led by the U.S., are working “to force the way forward” to the second phase to cement the deal.
“What we have just done is a pause,” he told the Doha Forum. “We cannot consider it yet a ceasefire.”
“A ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal of Israeli forces, there is stability back in Gaza, people can go in and out, which is not the case today,” he said.
The Gaza ceasefire remains fragile, with both sides accusing each other of violating it.
The war erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists entered Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking over 250 people hostage. Israel responded with an offensive that has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry.
AFP
contributed to this report.
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