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Benjamin Netanyahu has proclaimed that the opening part of the internationally-supported Gaza truce plan is close to completion, stating that the second phase must involve the demilitarization of Hamas.

Forthcoming Discussions in Washington

The Israeli leader said he would talk about the following stages in the coming weeks in Washington with Donald Trump, whose Gaza plans were codified in a UN Security Council decision on 17 November.

“We are nearing complete the initial stage,” Netanyahu stated. “But we have to ensure that we secure the equivalent objectives in the second stage, and that’s something I look forward to discussing with President Trump.”

European Leader Meets with Netanyahu

The prime minister was speaking at a shared media briefing with the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, who said: “The second phase must come now and then phase three must also be taken into account.”

Merz is the first leader of a significant European state to meet Netanyahu in Israel since the international criminal court released arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister and his ex- defence minister, Yoav Gallant, in November last year for 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 noted on Sunday a trip was not at this time planned. Netanyahu rejects the warrants as “trumped-up allegations” from a “corrupt prosecuting office”.

Terms of the Ongoing Ceasefire

During the initial stage of the current ceasefire agreement, Hamas released the last 20 surviving Israeli hostages in exchange for some 2,000 Palestinian detainees held by Israel, and it has transferred all but one of 28 bodies of hostages killed during the war. Meanwhile, Israeli forces have pulled back to a ceasefire line, resulting in them in occupation of 58% of the Gaza Strip.

Since the ceasefire was put into effect on 10 October, Israeli forces have killed over 360 Palestinians, including an approximate 70 children. Three Israeli soldiers have been fatally wounded in Hamas military actions over the same timeframe.

Future Stages and Ambiguous Sequencing

Not one of Trump’s suggestions, nor UN Security Council resolution 2803 which mostly endorsed them, specified a timetable transitioning the ceasefire into a permanent peace. Hamas is expected to disarm, Israeli troops are meant to retreat more, and an international stabilisation force (ISF) is to be established under the control of a “board of peace” of world leaders headed by Trump, supervising a administrative Palestinian committee to run day-to-day governance of Gaza.

The order 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 ensure that Hamas complies not only with the ceasefire, but also with their commitment which they agreed to to disarm and have Gaza demilitarized,” he stated.

Potential Alternatives and Political Positions

Netanyahu brought up the prospects of “other options” to the ISF, without explaining what those might be. He would not exclude Israeli sovereignty of the West Bank, labeling it as a subject of “negotiation”, and emphasized that Israel was strongly against the establishment of a Palestinian state, the objective of the peace process desired by most European and Arab governments as well as the overwhelming majority of UN member states.

International Criminal Court Charges and Judicial Proceedings

Netanyahu claimed the reason he would not be able make a reciprocal visit to Germany was the ICC arrest warrants, which he described as invented by the court’s top prosecutor, Karim Khan, as a way of diverting attention from allegations of sexual harassment against him. Khan has refuted any wrongdoing, but stepped aside from his role in May awaiting the conclusion of an inquiry.

Netanyahu remarked Khan was “destroying the reputation of the ICC” with “unfounded allegations of deprivation and genocide” from a “corrupt prosecutor”.

A separate court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), is weighing up charges that Israel has perpetrated genocide in Gaza. In September, a UN independent investigative commission found that Israel had committed genocide.

Questioned about the possibility of Netanyahu visiting Germany, Merz told reporters on Sunday: “There is little cause to discuss this at the moment.”