Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that his country and the Palestinian Hamas movement are expected to "move very quickly into the second phase of the ceasefire" after Hamas returns the remains of the last hostage in the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu told reporters at a conference with visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that the second phase of the ceasefire, which includes the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza, could begin as early as the end of the month.
Hamas still holds the remains of Ran Gwilyi, a 24-year-old police officer who was killed on October 7, 2023, and whose body was transferred to Gaza.
The second phase includes the deployment of an international army to secure Gaza, as well as the formation of an interim Palestinian government that will run day-to-day affairs under the supervision of an international committee, headed by the President of the United States (US) Donald Trump.
Hamas claims it has not been able to retrieve all the remains because they are buried in the rubble of Israeli attacks, while Jerusalem has accused the rebels of delay and threatened to continue attacks or halt the flow of humanitarian aid if all the remains are not returned.
Merz said Germany is helping implement the second phase of the ceasefire by sending officers and diplomats to a US-run civil-military coordination center in southern Israel, as well as by sending humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu said that few believe that the first phase of the ceasefire is fully achievable, and that the second phase is equally challenging.
"As I mentioned to the Chancellor, there is a third phase, which is the deradicalization of Gaza, something that people also believed was impossible. But it was done in Germany, it was done in Japan, it was done in the Gulf countries. It can be done in Gaza, but of course Hamas must be dismantled," he said.
Merz said that Germany "will always stand in defense of the existence and security of Israel" after the Holocaust, adding that it is "part of the unchanging essence of the relationship" between the two countries.
He stated, however, that Germany still believes that a two-state solution is the best option, but that "the federal government remains of the view 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 had not planned a diplomatic trip because of an arrest warrant issued last year by the International Criminal Court, the United Nations' (UN) top war crimes court.
Germany temporarily suspended the export of military equipment to Israel, ending it after the ceasefire began.
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