Netanyahu says Israel and Hamas will soon begin second phase of Gaza ceasefire

TEL AVIV, Israel: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday in Jerusalem that Israel and Hamas are “very shortly expected to move into the second phase of the ceasefire,” after Hamas returns the remains of the last hostage being held in Gaza.

Netanyahu made the comments during a news conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who is visiting Israel.

Netanyahu stressed that the second phase of the ceasefire, the disarming of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza could begin as soon as the end of the month.

Hamas is still holding 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.

The second stage also includes deploying an international force to secure Gaza and forming a temporary Palestinian government to run day-to-day affairs under the supervision of an international board led by President Donald Trump.

The return of Gvili’s remains would mark the completion of the first phase of Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan. Hamas says it has not been able to reach all of the remains because they are buried under rubble left by Israel’s two-year offensive in Gaza.

Israel has accused the militants of stalling and threatened to resume military operations or withhold humanitarian aid if all remains are not returned.

Merz said Sunday that Germany is assisting with the implementation of the second phase by sending officers and diplomats to a US-led civilian and military coordination center in southern Israel, and by sending humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Netanyahu said that few believed the first stage of the ceasefire could be achieved, and the second phase is just as challenging.

“As I mentioned to the chancellor, 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 was done in the Gulf States. It can be done in Gaza, too, but of course Hamas has to be dismantled.”

Merz said on Sunday that Germany will “always stand up for Israel’s existence and security,” after the atrocities of the Holocaust. “This is part of the unchanging core of our relationship. This applies today, it applies tomorrow, and it applies forever.”

The chancellor also said that Germany still believes that a two-state-solution is the best possible option but that “the German federal government remains of the opinion that recognition of a Palestinian state can only come at the end of such a process, not at the beginning.”

Netanyahu said that while he would like to visit Germany, he hasn’t planned a diplomatic trip because he is concerned about an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, the U.N.'s top war-crimes court, last year.

Merz said there are currently no plans for a visit, but that he may invite Netanyahu in the future. He added that he is not aware of future sanctions against Israel from the European Union nor any plans to renew German bans on military exports to Israel.

Germany had a temporary ban on exporting military equipment to Israel, which was lifted after the ceasefire began.

The Israeli military said it killed a militant who approached Israeli troops across the so-called Yellow Line, which divides the Israeli-controlled part of Gaza from the rest of the territory.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli forces have killed more than 370 Palestinians since the start of the ceasefire in October.

In the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the militants killed around 1,200 people and took more than 250 others hostage. Almost all the hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 70,100 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry which operates under the Hamas-run government.

It is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.