Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the second phase of his country's ceasefire agreement with Hamas will begin "very shortly."

Netanyahu made the comment Sunday during a news conference with visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, according to the Associated Press.

He said that Israel and Hamas are “very shortly expected to move into the second phase of the ceasefire,” after Hamas returns the remains of the last hostage held in Gaza, captured during the roughly two-year-long war between Israel and the Palestinian-backed group that rules Gaza.   

Netanyahu noted that the second phase, which is the disarming of Hamas and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, could begin as soon as the end of the month.

Hamas has yet to hand over the remains of 24-year-old police officer Ran Gvili, who was killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

The second stage of the ceasefire also includes deploying an international force to secure Gaza and forming a temporary Palestinian government to run day-to-day affairs under the supervision of an international board led by President Trump.

On Sunday, a senior Hamas official told AP that they are ready to discuss “freezing or storing or laying down” their weapons as part of the ceasefire.

“As I mentioned to the chancellor, there’s a third phase, and that is to deradicalize Gaza, something that also people believed was impossible. But it was done in Germany, it was done in Japan, it was done in the Gulf States. It can be done in Gaza, too, but of course Hamas has to be dismantled,” Netanyahu said.

Hamas' return of Gvili’s remains and Israel’s return of 15 bodies of Palestinians in exchange would complete the first phase of Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan.

The Palestinian group said it has not been able to reach all the remains because they are buried under rubble from Israel’s war in Gaza. Israel has accused Hamas of stalling and threatened to resume military operations or withhold humanitarian aid if not all remains are returned.

A group of families of Israeli hostages said in a statement that “we cannot advance to the next phase before Ran Gvili returns home.”

Merz said that Germany is assisting with the implementation of the ceasefire's second phase by sending officers and diplomats to a U.S.-led civilian and military coordination center in southern Israel and humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The chancellor also said Germany still sees a two-state solution as the best possible option, but that “the German federal government remains of the opinion that recognition of a Palestinian state can only come at the end of such a process, not at the beginning.”