US mediator Jared Kushner and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks Monday on the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire, as Washington intensified its efforts to ensure the fragile truce endures.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, said Israel would enforce the ceasefire in Gaza as well as one in Lebanon with an "iron fist".

The truce in Gaza, in effect for a month now, has largely halted the war that erupted after Hamas's surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

During the ongoing first stage, a series of prisoner and hostage exchanges took place over recent weeks.

Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump who helped broker the ceasefire, met Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday as part of US efforts to stabilise the truce and lay the groundwork for its next phase.

The two discussed some of the most sensitive aspects of phase two, Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian told journalists.

"Together the two discussed phase one, which we are currently still in, to bring our remaining hostages, and the future of phase two of this plan, which includes the disarming of Hamas, demilitarising Gaza and ensuring Hamas will have no role in the future of Gaza ever again," Bedrosian........

© Al Monitor