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Benjamin Netanyahu has remarked that the first segment of the internationally-supported Gaza truce agreement is close to completion, stating that the second stage must involve the disarmament of Hamas.

Forthcoming Discussions in Washington

The Israeli leader stated he would talk about the following stages in late November in Washington with Donald Trump, whose Gaza initiatives were formalized in a UN Security Council resolution on 17 November.

“We’re about to conclude the initial stage,” Netanyahu remarked. “But we have to guarantee that we achieve the same objectives in the second phase, and that’s something I am eager to reviewing with President Trump.”

German Chancellor Visits Netanyahu

The prime minister was speaking at a joint news conference with the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, who said: “The second phase must start immediately and then the third phase must also be examined.”

Merz is the first head of state 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 ex- defence minister, Yoav Gallant, in November last year for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

After winning federal elections in February, Merz had said he would invite Netanyahu to Germany notwithstanding the ICC warrants, but noted on Sunday a trip was not currently under consideration. Netanyahu disregards the warrants as “baseless allegations” from a “corrupt prosecutor”.

Details of the Ongoing Truce

Under the first phase of the existing ceasefire deal, Hamas freed the remaining 20 living Israeli hostages 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 pulled back to a truce line, leaving them in control of 58% of the Gaza Strip.

Following the ceasefire was declared on 10 October, Israeli forces have been responsible for the deaths of more than 360 Palestinians, including an approximate 70 children. Three Israeli soldiers have been fatally wounded in Hamas military actions over the same period.

Future Stages and Unclear Timeline

Neither Trump’s proposals, nor UN security council resolution 2803 which largely supported them, specified a schedule extending the ceasefire into a permanent peace. Hamas is required to disarm, Israeli troops are supposed to retreat more, and an international stabilisation force (ISF) is to be created under the control of a “board of peace” of world leaders chaired by Trump, overseeing a administrative Palestinian council to run daily administration of Gaza.

The timeline of these measures is unclear 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 undertook to disarm and have Gaza demilitarized,” he asserted.

Potential Options and Diplomatic 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, describing it as a topic of “debate”, and reiterated that Israel was strongly against the creation of a Palestinian state, the objective of the peace process supported by most European and Arab governments as well as the vast majority of UN member states.

ICC Warrants and Judicial Cases

Netanyahu stated the primary reason he would not be able to make a return visit to Germany was the ICC arrest warrants, which he characterized as manufactured by the court’s chief 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 pending the conclusion of an inquiry.

Netanyahu remarked Khan was “damaging the credibility of the ICC” with “unfounded allegations of starvation and genocide” from a “corrupt prosecutor”.

A separate tribunal, the international court of justice, is weighing up allegations that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. In September, a UN autonomous investigative commission found that Israel had committed genocide.

Questioned about the prospect of Netanyahu visiting Germany, Merz informed reporters on Sunday: “There is little cause to discuss this at the present time.”