The President of the United States, Donald Trump, and the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, agreed this Monday that the disarmament of the Hamas terrorist group is the priority in the new phase of the ceasefire in Gaza, after the recovery of the remains of Ran Gvili, the last Israeli hostage in the hands of the extremist organization.
“Now we need to disarm Hamas, as they promised,” said the American president, referring to the second phase of the ceasefire plan promoted by Washington.His statements came hours after the Israeli Army confirmed the location and identification of Gvili’s remains.
Trump also referred to the process that allowed the body of the Israeli non-commissioned officer to be recovered and highlighted the cooperation in that instance.
“They worked very hard to return the body. They were working with Israel on it. You can imagine how difficult it was,” he said, describing the search and identification tasks, which he described as “very difficult.”
According to the Republican president, the news was first transmitted by his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, before communicating it to Netanyahu.
“This is bigger than people think. Beyond the Gvili family and the people in Israel, no one believed that we would be able to bring back all the hostages. It was a great moment,” Trump said.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt called the return of the remains “an enormous achievement in foreign policy” and maintained that Trump “made the impossible possible” by closing the hostages chapter.
Netanyahu, for his part, appeared before the Israeli Parliament to make the government’s position clear.
“We are at the beginning of the next stage. What is the next stage? The disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip. It is not about reconstruction, but about disarming Hamas and achieving demilitarization,” said the prime minister.
Netanyahu stressed that Israel has no interest in delaying this process and that “the sooner we disarm Hamas and demilitarize Gaza, the sooner we will achieve the objectives of the war.”
The operation that led to the discovery of Gvili’s remains was carried out in a Muslim cemetery in Gaza, in an area controlled by the Israeli army. Since the ceasefire came into force on October 10, the agreements reached under the leadership of the United States contemplated the return of all those captured alive and the delivery of the remains of those who died in captivity.
The White House also reported that around twenty countries joined the Peace Board in recent days, the international organization led by Trump to supervise the cessation of hostilities in Gaza and promote the resolution of conflicts in the region.This forum seeks to guarantee compliance with the commitments assumed by the parties and verify the application of the three phases of the agreement.
Hamas, for its part, has expressed its willingness to transfer the civil administration of Gaza to a committee of Palestinian technocrats, a step that is part of the second phase of the peace plan.However, the Islamist group has claimed, through a letter sent to the mediators, that before discussing the delivery of weapons, Israel must comply with pending obligations of the first stage.
Among the demands are the opening of the Rafah crossing, the delivery of prefabricated housing, the entry of humanitarian aid and machinery, as well as strict respect for the ceasefire by the Israeli forces.
The disarmament process will be supervised by the Peace Board and, according to the agreement, must be completed before reconstruction and the establishment of a new government in Gaza begins.The Trump administration maintains that demilitarization is the essential step to avoid a new cycle of violence and consolidate lasting peace in the region.
(With information from EFE)
