Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated Sunday that Israel and Hamas are “very shortly anticipated to maneuver into the second section of the ceasefire,” after Hamas returns the stays of the final hostage held in Gaza.
Netanyahu spoke throughout a information convention with visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and careworn that the second section, which addresses the disarming of Hamas and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, may start as quickly as the tip of the month.
Hamas has but at hand over the stays of Ran Gvili, a 24-year-old police officer who was killed within the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, assault that sparked the battle. His physique was taken to Gaza.
The ceasefire’s second stage additionally consists of the deployment of a global power to safe Gaza and forming a brief Palestinian authorities to run day-to-day affairs underneath the supervision of a global board led by U.S. President Donald Trump.
A senior Hamas official on Sunday advised The Related Press the group is able to focus on “freezing or storing or laying down” its weapons as a part of the ceasefire in a potential strategy to one of the crucial tough points forward.
Netanyahu says second section can be difficult
Netanyahu stated few individuals believed the ceasefire’s first stage may very well be achieved, and the second section is simply as difficult.
“As I discussed to the chancellor, there’s a 3rd section, and that’s to deradicalize Gaza, one thing that additionally individuals believed was unattainable. But it surely was carried out in Germany, it was carried out in Japan, it was carried out within the Gulf States. It may be carried out in Gaza, too, however in fact Hamas needs to be dismantled,” he stated.
The return of Gvili’s stays — and Israel’s return of 15 our bodies of Palestinians in alternate — would full the primary section of Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan.
Hamas says it has not been in a position to attain all stays as a result of they’re buried underneath rubble left by Israel’s two-year offensive in Gaza. Israel has accused the militants of stalling and threatened to renew navy operations or withhold humanitarian support if all stays should not returned.
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A bunch of households of hostages stated in an announcement that “we can not advance to the following section earlier than Ran Gvili returns house.”
In the meantime, Israeli navy Chief of Workers Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir on Sunday known as the so-called Yellow Line that divides the Israeli-controlled majority of Gaza from the remainder of the territory a “new border.”
“We’ve got operational management over in depth components of the Gaza Strip and we’ll stay on these protection strains,” Zamir stated. “The Yellow Line is a brand new border line, serving as a ahead defensive position for our communities and a line of operational exercise.”
Germany says assist for Israel is unchanged
Merz stated Germany, one in every of Israel’s closest allies, is helping with the implementation of the second section by sending officers and diplomats to a U.S.-led civilian and navy coordination middle in southern Israel, and by sending humanitarian support to Gaza.
The chancellor additionally stated Germany nonetheless believes {that a} two-state-solution is the very best choice however that “the German federal authorities stays of the opinion that recognition of a Palestinian state can solely come on the finish of such a course of, not firstly.”
The U.S.-drafted plan for Gaza leaves the door open to Palestinian independence. Netanyahu has lengthy asserted that making a Palestinian state would reward Hamas and finally result in an excellent bigger Hamas-run state on Israel’s borders.
Netanyahu additionally stated that whereas he want to go to Germany, he hasn’t deliberate a diplomatic journey as a result of he’s involved about an arrest warrant issued by the Worldwide Legal Court docket, the U.N.’s high struggle crimes court docket, final 12 months in reference to the battle in Gaza.
Merz stated there are presently no plans for a go to however he could invite Netanyahu sooner or later. He added that he’s not conscious of future sanctions in opposition to Israel from the European Union nor any plans to resume German bans on navy exports to Israel.
Germany had a brief ban on exporting navy tools to Israel, which was lifted after the ceasefire started on Oct. 10.
Israel kills militant in Gaza
The Israeli navy stated it killed a militant who approached its troops throughout the Yellow Line.
Gaza’s Well being Ministry says Israeli forces have killed greater than 370 Palestinians because the begin of the ceasefire, and that the our bodies of six individuals killed in assaults had been dropped at native hospitals over the previous 24 hours.
Within the authentic Hamas-led assault in 2023, the militants killed round 1,200 individuals and took greater than 250 others hostage. Virtually all of the hostages or their stays have been returned in ceasefires or different offers.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed at the very least 70,360 Palestinians, in line with Gaza’s Well being Ministry, which operates underneath the Hamas-run authorities. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants, however says that almost half the lifeless have been girls and kids. The ministry is a part of Gaza’s Hamas authorities and its numbers are thought of dependable by the U.N. and different worldwide our bodies.
—Grieshaber reported from Berlin.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
