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Agence France-Presse

US ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz and European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas were both visiting Jordan on Sunday to discuss humanitarian aid for Gaza.
Their visits came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he expected the second phase of the US-sponsored ceasefire plan for the Palestinian territory to begin soon.
Waltz said on social media that he was in the Jordanian capital Amman to discuss speeding up the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza and “to see the vital work Jordanian and UN partners are doing”.
“We’re ready to move forward with the rebuilding of Gaza … So we’re here to knock down those bureaucratic barriers and get things moving,” he added.

Kallas was also in Jordan on Sunday, where she held talks with King Abdullah on the Gaza ceasefire and regional developments, the royal palace said in a statement.
Abdullah notably reiterated “the need to adhere to the terms of the agreement to end the war on Gaza and ensure the flow of relief aid”, the palace said.
Kallas and the king discussed “the need to achieve comprehensive calm in the region and preserve the sovereignty of states,” it added.
The Gaza truce, in effect since October 10, has halted the war that began after Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The plan’s initial steps saw Israeli troops withdraw to positions behind a so-called “Yellow Line” in Gaza, though still in control of more than half the territory.
The second stage of the Gaza ceasefire plan concerns disarming Hamas, establishing a transitional authority and deploying an international stabilisation force.

Speaking after meeting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said: “We very shortly expect to move into the second phase, which is more difficult”.
A final goal of the agreement is the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza in phases if certain conditions are met.
“We have a second phase, no less daunting, and that is to achieve the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarisation of Gaza,” Netanyahu said.
Qatar and Egypt, which helped secure the long-elusive truce, called Saturday for the next steps to be taken including the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
Hamas said on the same day it was ready to hand over its weapons in Gaza to a Palestinian authority on the condition that the Israeli army’s occupation ends.
Netanyahu also said he would meet US President Donald Trump later in December to discuss “opportunities for peace” in the region.
The meeting is expected to take place in Washington after the premier’s office said Trump invited Netanyahu to the White House during a phone call last Monday.
In the original Hamas-led attack in 2023, the militants killed around 1,200 people and took more than 250 others hostage. Almost all the hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed at least 70,360 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government.
Despite the truce, more than 360 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to local health authorities, as well as three Israeli soldiers.
Additional reporting by Associated Press


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Israel-Gaza war

Destruction left by the Israeli air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip. Photo: AP

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Armed Palestinian Hamas militants follow a digger which has been supplied by Egypt to search for bodies of killed Israeli hostages in Gaza City on November 2. Photo: AFP

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US ambassador to the United Nations Michael Waltz voting in favour of the resolution. Photo: Reuters

US and Israeli soldiers at a US-led centre in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel overseeing the implementation of Trump’s Gaza peace plan. Photo: Reuters

Hamas militants in Gaza City. Photo: AP

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A Palestinian man uses blocks from destroyed buildings to rebuild a shelter in the Al-Shatee refugee camp on November 8. Photo: AFP

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Destroyed buildings are pictured near Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip. Photo: AFP

 Destroyed buildings as seen from an Israeli military outpost within the borders of the ‘yellow line’ in the Shujaiya neighbourhood in the eastern part of Gaza City in the Gaza Strip earlier this month. Photo: Reuters

A Hamas militant stands guard near the designated ceasefire line earlier this month. Photo: Reuters

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World

Middle East

Diplomatic visits to Jordan came as Israeli PM Netanyahu says the second phase of the US-sponsored ceasefire could begin soon


Diplomatic visits to Jordan came as Israeli PM Netanyahu says the second phase of the US-sponsored ceasefire could begin soon.
