Israel and Hamas to broker ‘second-phase’ of ceasefire

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel and Hamas are “very shortly expected to move into the second phase of the ceasefire,” contingent on Hamas releasing the remains of ‘the last' hostage. Netanyahu spoke during a news conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, claiming the second phase of the ceasefire, which addresses the disarmament of Hamas and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, could begin as soon as the end of the month, but human rights experts remain skeptical of Israel's dedication to a withdrawal of troops in Palestine.

A futile first phase

While news of a potential withdrawal of Israel's occupying forces from Palestine is a positive move for the civilians in Gaza and the West Bank, an important question remains: Has Israel observed the first phase? The answer is no. Since the ‘ceasefire' was implemented on October 10, 2025, Israel has broken it more than 590 times, killing at least 360 Palestinians, and increasing the total death toll in Gaza to more than 70,000 – the vast majority of which are women and children. Under the first phase, signed by US President Donald Trump, Israel was supposed to halt its war on Gaza, a war that has been deemed a genocide by the UN, Amnesty International, and more than 70 independent countries across the globe.

In addition to the halting of violence, Israel was also required to begin allowing aid into Gaza, something the country has spent millions of dollars on blocking. According to the United Nations in November, “Israeli authorities have rejected more than 100 requests to bring relief materials into Gaza since the ceasefire began nearly a month ago.” It's important to note that a significant portion of the blocked aid since October 10 has not been blocked by the Israeli government, but by Israeli citizens attempting to ensure the starvation of Palestinians in Gaza. While the Israeli government is not blocking aid as it was before the ceasefire was signed, it is still refusing to enforce rules protecting aid trucks going to Palestine.

Israel is still limiting the amount of aid allowed into Gaza, even if it has stopped explicitly blocking it. According to Dr Munir al-Bursh, the director general of Gaza's Ministry of Health, “We are facing a situation in which 54 percent of essential medicines are unavailable, and 40 percent of the drugs for surgeries and emergency care – the very medications we rely on to treat the wounded – are missing,” and according to journalist in Gaza, Hind Khoudary, “at least 600 trucks should be entering the Gaza Strip every single day, but what is entering is very little.”

‘Israel has committed genocide.'

Israel's ‘war' on Gaza has been deemed a genocide by the United Nations, Amnesty International, Médecins du Monde, Doctors without Borders and more than 70 independent countries across the globe. According to South African apartheid experts, Israel has subjected the country of Palestine to a vicious apartheid system since the 1940s. South Africa filed a case with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2023.

Reports estimate 70 per cent of the 70,000 dead in Gaza were civilians, 60 per cent were women, children, or the elderly. There have been 200,000 people injured since October 7, 2021, and 60 percent of Palestinians have now lost at least one family member. Gaza has the most amputated children per capita in the world. More than 250 journalists and at least 250 health care workers have been killed by Israel in the last three years, making it the most deadly conflict for journalists in human history. The number of journalists killed in this conflict surpasses the death tolls in both World Wars, the Vietnam War, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined, according to the United Nations.