Israel's PM says second phase of Gaza peace plan is close

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.

After meeting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Jerusalem on Sunday, Netanyahu reiterated that Hamas rule of Gaza had to end and that the armed group had to follow through on "their commitment" to give up their weapons and for the strip to be demilitarised.

Later, when addressing a gathering of Israeli ambassadors and diplomats, he expressed scepticism about whether a planned multinational force would be able to disarm Hamas.

"Now there is a question here: our friends in America want to try to establish an international force that will do the job. I said - please. Are there volunteers here? Please, on the contrary," Netanyahu said, seemingly questioning whether foreign troops would be willing to disarm Hamas by force.

"And we know that there are certain tasks that this force can do. I don't want to go into detail, they can't do everything, and maybe they can't do the main thing, but we'll see."

He went on to reiterate that Israel would ensure disarmament would happen, saying: "It can be done the easy way, it can be done the hard way. But eventually it will be done."

Speaking to the Associated Press, a top Hamas official, Bassem Naim, said his group was ready for talks on "freezing or storing" its arsenal of weapons in a possible approach to one of the most challenging issues ahead.

"We are open to have a comprehensive approach in order to avoid further escalations or in order to avoid any further clashes or explosions," Naim - a member of the Hamas political bureau - said in an interview in Qatar, where much of the group's leadership is based.

Hamas has previously refused to give up its weapons without the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

Naim also claimed that Israel had failed to carry out key ceasefire pledges, saying Gaza had not been flooded with aid and the Rafah border crossing with Egypt had not reopened.

Humanitarian agencies say there has been a dramatic increase in supplies entering the strip, but that they are still facing Israeli restrictions on their work and insecurity.

Last week, Israel said it was ready to reopen Rafah - Gaza's main gateway to the world - but only for people to leave. Egypt and the Palestinians did not accept that and insisted that Israel was obliged to open the crossing in both directions.

The ceasefire deal stopped a devastating two-year Israeli offensive in Gaza, triggered by the deadly Hamas attacks and mass hostage taking in southern Israel.

The first stage of the peace plan involved the return of the 20 living hostages and the remains of the 28 dead hostages still in Gaza. In exchange for the release of the living hostages, Israel handed over nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees. For each of the Israeli hostages handed over, Israel has been sending back the bodies of 15 Palestinians.

Israel has accused Hamas of delaying the return of dead hostages.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says that more than 370 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire took hold.

Israel says its strikes have been in response to Palestinian violations, including people entering Israeli-held parts of Gaza.

Three Israeli soldiers have also been killed in fighting with dozens of Hamas operatives still said to be holed up in underground tunnels in the very south of Gaza.

Last week, Trump said that the second phase of the Gaza plan was "going to happen pretty soon", and on Saturday, the Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani said that "a critical moment" had been reached.