Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said a second phase of the US-brokered plan to end the war in Gaza is close – but that key issues still need to be resolved.
Under the second phase of President Donald Trump’s plan, Israel should withdraw its troops further from Gaza as a transitional authority is set up and an international security force is deployed. Hamas is meant to disarm and reconstruction to begin.
With questions outstanding over Hamas disarmament, one senior official has suggested the group is ready to consider “freezing or storing” its remaining weapons.
The US and other mediators have been applying pressure on both sides to advance to the next stages of Trump’s plan.
According to Arab media reports, a Red Cross team and members of Hamas’s armed wing, are resuming searches for the last remaining deceased Israeli hostage, police officer Sergeant Ran Gvili, in the Zeitoun area of Gaza City.
Gvili was killed in the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attacks and his body should be returned under the terms of the initial ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. “We’ll get him out”, Netanyahu said at a news conference on Sunday.
Two months after the Gaza ceasefire came into effect, both sides continue to accuse each other of almost daily violations. Israeli forces remain in control of more than half of the Gaza Strip. Hamas has largely re-established itself in the remainder of the territory.
Speaking to journalists, Netanyahu said that he would hold important discussions with President Trump at the end of the month on how to ensure the plan’s second stage was achieved. An Israeli government spokeswoman announced on Monday that the meeting would take place on 29 December.
Credit: bbc.com
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