After meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he expected progress in pursuing the Gaza deal.
“We discussed how to end Hamas rule in Gaza, we completed the first phase and now we hope to move very soon to the second phase, which is more difficult, or equally difficult,” he said.
He reiterated that, according to the first phase of the agreement, Hamas must still return to Israel the body of the last hostage held in Gaza, Israeli Ran Gvili.
The second phase of the agreement, based on US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, provides for the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, the prime minister noted. The plan also provides for the sending of an international force to Palestinian territory and the withdrawal of the Israeli army.
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“I will have very important conversations at the end of the month on how to ensure the success of the second phase,” he added. “There is a third phase, which consists of the deradicalization of Gaza, something that many consider impossible. But it has already been done in Germany (…) and it can also be done in Gaza, but, of course, Hamas must be dismantled,” Netanyahu stressed.
The prime minister continued: “Now this must come to fruition,” said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, asserting that Germany would contribute to the reconstruction of Gaza and the restoration of peace. “Hamas cannot play any role in Gaza. »
Temporary Stabilization Force
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Israel on Saturday June 12 for a diplomatic visit, his first since taking office. The objective is to consolidate the privileged relations between the two countries, after the tensions born from the war in the Gaza Strip and the violence perpetrated by extremist Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank.
The Chancellor also met former hostages Ziv and Gali Berman, who have dual Israeli and German nationality, kidnapped during the Hamas attack on Israel, which sparked the war on October 7, 2023.
Merz repeatedly reaffirmed Germany’s support for Israel on Sunday, emphasizing that “Gaza must no longer pose a threat to Israel.”
On Saturday, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said negotiations aimed at consolidating the US-backed peace deal in the Gaza Strip were at a critical stage.
The U.S. plan would authorize a Peace Council tasked with transitional governance to establish a temporary international stabilization force in Gaza that could “use all necessary measures” to fulfill its mandate.
Since the truce began on October 10, Hamas has returned the bodies of 27 dead hostages and 20 people still detained, in exchange for the release of around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Although the intensity of the fighting has since diminished, Hamas and Israel accuse each other of violating the ceasefire agreement.
Find other reports like this one on RFI, partner of Metropolises.
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