Overview
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will move "very soon" into the second phase of the U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire plan.
- The next stage is described as disarming Hamas, installing a temporary governing authority in Gaza, and deploying an international stabilization force.
- Netanyahu is scheduled to meet President Donald Trump in Washington on December 29 to discuss the plan’s implementation.
- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz publicly cautioned Israel that there must be no formal, political, structural or de facto annexation measures in the West Bank.
- Merz underscored Germany’s enduring commitment to Israel’s security, called for Israel to be accountable under international law in Gaza, and urged more humanitarian aid after meeting Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Aqaba.