Netanyahu says Israel and Hamas will soon enter the second phase of the ceasefire

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel and Hamas are “expected to move to the second phase of the ceasefire soon” after Israel and Hamas return the remains of the last hostages they held in Gaza.

Speaking at a news conference with visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Netanyahu stressed that the second phase of the disarmament of Hamas and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza could begin by the end of the month.

Hamas has not handed over the remains of Ran Gwili, a 24-year-old police officer killed in a Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023. His body was taken to Gaza.

The second phase of the ceasefire also includes the deployment of an international force to secure Gaza and the creation of an interim Palestinian government to run day-to-day operations under the supervision of an international board led by US President Donald Trump.

A senior Hamas official told The Associated Press on Sunday that the group was ready to discuss “freezing or storing or keeping” its weapons as part of a ceasefire.

Netanyahu said the second phase will be challenging

Netanyahu said few people believed the first phase of the ceasefire could be achieved, and that the second phase was also challenging.

“As I told the chancellor, there is a third step, and that is decolonizing Gaza, which people also 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, but of course Hamas has to be dismantled,” he said.

The return of Gvili’s remains — and Israel’s return of the bodies of 15 Palestinians in return — would complete the first phase of Trump’s 20-point cease-fire plan.

Hamas says Israel’s two-year offensive on Gaza has left all of the remains unreached. Israel has accused the rebels of holding back and threatened to resume military operations or withhold humanitarian aid if all remains are not returned.

“We cannot go to the next stage before Ran Gwili returns home,” a group of hostages’ families said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Israeli army chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir on Sunday called the so-called Yellow Line a “new border” separating most of Israeli-controlled Gaza from the rest of the territory.

“We have operational control over wide parts of the Gaza Strip and we will remain on those defense lines,” Zamir said. “The Yellow Line is a new frontier, serving as the front line of defense and line of operational activity for our communities.”

Germany says support for Israel remains unchanged

Merz said that Germany, Israel’s closest ally, was assisting the implementation of the second phase by sending officials and diplomats to the US-led Civil and Military Coordination Center in southern Israel and sending humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The chancellor also said that Germany still believes that a two-state solution is the best possible option, but that “the German federal government’s recognition of a Palestinian state can only come at the end of such a process, not at the beginning.”

The US plan for Gaza leaves the door open for Palestinian independence. Netanyahu has long claimed that the creation of a Palestinian state would reward Hamas and eventually lead to an even larger state run by Hamas on Israel’s borders.

Netanyahu also said that while he would like to visit Germany, he has not planned a diplomatic trip because he is concerned about an arrest warrant issued last year by the International Criminal Court, the UN’s top war crimes court, 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 was not aware of future sanctions from the European Union against Israel, nor of any plans to renew the German ban on military exports to Israel.

Germany imposed a temporary embargo on military equipment exports to Israel, which was lifted after the ceasefire began on October 10.

Israel kills rebels in Gaza

The Israeli military said it killed a militant who crossed the yellow line and approached its troops.

Gaza’s health ministry says Israeli forces have killed more than 370 Palestinians since the cease-fire began, and the bodies of six killed in attacks in the past 24 hours have been brought to local hospitals.

In the original attack led by Hamas in 2023, the militants killed around 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostage. Almost all hostages or their remnants have been returned in armistices or other agreements.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed at least 70,360 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in Gaza, which is under a government run by Hamas. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but said nearly half of the dead were women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas government in Gaza and its numbers are considered reliable by the United Nations and other international bodies.

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Grieshaber reported from Berlin.

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Find more of AP’s Israel-Hamas coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war