Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday (July 12, 2025) that the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza is “almost” completed and he plans to move on to the second soon.
“We talked about how we can put an end to Hamas’ power in Gaza,” he said after a meeting with Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The next level “is more difficult or as difficult” as the previous one.
Disarm Hamas and demilitarize the enclave
Netanyahu recalled that according to the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas has yet to return to Israel Ran Gvili, the last body of the hostages kidnapped by the Islamist movement in Gaza.
The second phase of Trump’s peace plan includes the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, the prime minister recalled.
This includes, among other things, the stationing of an international force in Palestinian territory and the withdrawal of the Israeli army.
Merz reiterates Germany’s support for Israel
This Saturday, Merz arrived in Israel for his first diplomatic visit since his inauguration, with the aim of strengthening relations between the two countries, after some tensions due to the conflict in the Palestinian enclave and violence by extremist Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank.
“Germany must defend the existence and security of Israel,” he said at the Yad Vashem memorial. He also emphasized his country’s “historical responsibility” in the extermination of six million Jews in World War II.
rr afp/dpa/the times of israel
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