Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel and Hamas are expected to move into the second phase of the cease-fire once Hamas returns the body of the final hostage held in Gaza, noting that the next stage could begin before the month ends.
Netanyahu spoke during a news conference with visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and stressed that the second phase, the disarming of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza could begin as soon as the end of the month.
Hamas has yet to hand over the remains of Ran Gvili, a 24-year-old police officer who was killed in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack. His body was taken to Gaza.
The cease-fire's second stage also includes the deployment of an international force to secure Gaza and forming a temporary Palestinian government to run day-to-day affairs under the supervision of an international board led by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The return of Gvili's remains - and Israel's return of 15 bodies of Palestinians in exchange - would complete the first phase of Trump's 20-point cease-fire plan.
Hamas says it has not been able to reach all remains because they are buried under rubble left by Israel's two-year attacks in Gaza. Israel has accused the group of stalling and threatened to resume military operations or withhold humanitarian aid if all remains are not returned.
Merz said Germany, one of Israel's closest allies, is assisting with the implementation of the second phase by sending officers and diplomats to a U.S.-led civilian and military coordination center in southern Israel, and by sending humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Netanyahu said few people believed the cease-fire's first stage could be achieved, and the second phase is just as challenging.
"As I mentioned to the chancellor, there's a third phase, and that is to deradicalize Gaza, something that also people believed was impossible. But it was done in Germany, it was done in Japan, it was done in the Gulf States. It can be done in Gaza, too, but of course Hamas has to be dismantled," he said.
Merz said Germany will "always stand up for Israel's existence and security" after the atrocities of the Holocaust: "This is part of the unchanging core of our relationship. This applies today, it applies tomorrow and it applies forever."
The chancellor also said Germany still believes that a two-state-solution is the best possible option but that "the German federal government remains of the opinion that recognition of a Palestinian state can only come at the end of such a process, not at the beginning."
The U.S.-drafted plan for Gaza leaves the door open to Palestinian independence. Netanyahu has long asserted that creating a Palestinian state would reward Hamas and eventually lead to an even larger Hamas-run state on Israel's borders.
Netanyahu also said that while he would like to visit Germany, he hasn't planned a diplomatic trip because he is concerned about an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, the U.N.'s top war crimes court, last year in connection with the war in Gaza.
Merz said there are currently no plans for a visit but he may invite Netanyahu in the future. He added that he is not aware of future sanctions against Israel from the European Union nor any plans to renew German bans on military exports to Israel.
Germany had a temporary ban on exporting military equipment to Israel, which was lifted after the cease-fire began on Oct. 10.
The Israeli military said it killed a militant who approached its troops across the so-called Yellow Line that divides the Israeli-controlled majority of Gaza from the rest of the territory.
Gaza's Health Ministry says Israeli forces have killed more than 370 Palestinians since the start of the cease-fire, and that the bodies of six people killed in attacks had been brought to local hospitals over the past 24 hours.
In the original Hamas-led attack in 2023, around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 others were taken hostage. Almost all the hostages or their remains have been returned in cease-fires or other deals.
Israel's genocidal war in Gaza has killed at least 70,360 Palestinians.
