Netanyahu expects to enter next phase of Gaza truce 'shortly'

JERUSALEM, Dec 07 (AFP): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he expected to move into the second phase of the US-sponsored ceasefire plan for Gaza "very shortly".

Speaking during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz after a meeting between the two leaders, Netanyahu said: "We discussed how to bring an end to the Hamas rule in Gaza... We finished the first part.

"And then we very shortly expect to move into the second phase, which is more difficult." Netanyahu also said that he would meet US President Donald Trump later this month to discuss "opportunities for peace" in the region.

Under the terms of the ceasefire that entered into force on October 10, Palestinian militants committed to releasing 47 living and dead captives seized during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

All of the hostages have so far been released except for the body of an Israeli police officer.

"And now we have a second phase, no less daunting, and that is to achieve the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarisation of Gaza," Netanyahu added.

"There's a third phase, and that is to deradicalise Gaza, something that also people believed was impossible. But it was done in Germany, it was done in Japan, it's done in the Gulf states, can be done in Gaza too," the Israeli premier said.

Israel army kills 2

Palestinians

Israel's military said Sunday that its forces killed two men in the occupied West Bank after what it described as an attempted ramming attack, with the Palestinian Authority identifying the deceased as a 17- and 55-year-old.

The Ramallah-based health ministry named the two victims as Ahmad Khalil Al-Rajabi, 17, and Ziad Jabara Abu Dawoud, 55, after the incident on Saturday night in the Bab al-Zawiya area in the city of Hebron.

The older man was a sanitation worker, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.

The Israeli army said the shooting took place after an attempted ramming attack against its troops stationed at a checkpoint.

"A terrorist accelerated toward (Israeli) soldiers during an operational activity at a security checkpoint in Hebron. The soldiers responded by firing at the terrorist in the vehicle and he was eliminated," the army told AFP.

The military added that a second "uninvolved person" was hit but did not provide further information.

Israel's army radio said that according to a preliminary investigation, the "uninvolved" victim was the sanitation worker, who was travelling in a different vehicle than the one used for the attempted attack.