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Benjamin Netanyahu has asserted that the first segment of the United Nations-backed Gaza truce agreement is close to finalization, noting that the next stage must require the demilitarization of Hamas.

Upcoming Discussions in Washington

The Israeli premier said he would examine the next steps later this month in Washington with Donald Trump, whose Gaza initiatives were formalized in a UN security council resolution on 17 November.

“We’re about to finish the first phase,” Netanyahu said. “But we have to ensure that we attain the identical outcomes in the next phase, and that’s something I am eager to discussing with President Trump.”

European Chancellor Meets with Netanyahu

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

Merz is the first head of state of a leading European state to hold talks with Netanyahu in Israel since the International Criminal Court (ICC) released arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, in November last year for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

After winning federal elections in February, Merz had stated he would welcome Netanyahu to Germany notwithstanding the ICC warrants, but said on Sunday a trip was not at this time under consideration. Netanyahu disregards the warrants as “trumped-up allegations” from a “corrupt prosecutor”.

Terms of the Current Ceasefire

Under the first phase of the existing ceasefire agreement, Hamas released the last 20 living Israeli captives in return 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. At the same time, Israeli forces have withdrawn to a truce line, leaving them in occupation of 58% of the Gaza Strip.

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

Next Steps and Ambiguous Sequencing

Not one of Trump’s proposals, nor UN security council resolution 2803 which mostly supported them, specified a schedule extending the ceasefire into a lasting peace. 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 “peace board” of world leaders headed by Trump, overseeing a technocratic Palestinian council to run daily administration of Gaza.

The order of these steps is not clear in Trump’s proposals or in resolution 2803. In his remarks on Sunday, Netanyahu focused on Hamas disarmament.

“I think it’s vital to make sure that Hamas complies not only with the ceasefire, but also with their pledge which they undertook to disarm and have Gaza demilitarise,” he asserted.

Potential Alternatives and Political Stances

Netanyahu raised the possibility of “other options” to the ISF, without explaining what those might be. He would not dismiss Israeli annexation of the West Bank, describing it as a topic of “debate”, and emphasized that Israel was strongly opposed the establishment of a Palestinian state, the goal of the peace process supported by most European and Arab capitals as well as the vast majority of UN member states.

International Criminal Court Warrants and Judicial Cases

Netanyahu said the reason he would not be able make a reciprocal visit to Germany was the ICC arrest warrants, which he characterized as invented by the court’s top prosecutor, Karim Khan, as a means of shifting focus from allegations of sexual harassment against him. Khan has refuted any misconduct, but stepped aside from his role in May awaiting the outcome of an inquiry.

Netanyahu said Khan was “harming the credibility of the ICC” with “trumped-up allegations of starvation and acts of genocide” from a “compromised official”.

A separate tribunal, the international court of justice, is weighing up charges that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. In September, a UN independent commission of inquiry concluded that Israel had committed genocide.

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