The United States has said it is launching the second phase of its plan to end the Gaza war, even as key elements of the first phase – including a complete ceasefire between Israel and Hamas – remain unfulfilled.
The first phase has been shaken by issues including Israeli air strikes that have killed hundreds in Gaza, the remains of one last Israeli hostage still not having been returned and Israeli delays in reopening Gaza’s border crossing with Egypt.
By pressing on with phase two, the United States and its mediator partners will need to tackle the even more vexing challenges of disarming Hamas, which has refused to give up its arms, and deploying an international peacekeeping force.
Announcing the second phase in a social media post, President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said it ‘establishes a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in Gaza’ and would begin the process of disarmament and reconstruction.
The Palestinian body will have 15 members and will be led by Ali Shaath, a former deputy minister in the Western-backed Palestinian Authority who had been in charge of developing industrial zones, according to a joint statement by mediators Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye.
Israel and Hamas signed off in October on Trump’s plan, which says that the Palestinian technocratic body will be overseen by the international ‘Board of Peace’ that is meant to govern Gaza for a transitional period.
Other members tapped by Nickolay Mladenov, the former UN Middle East envoy who is expected to represent the Board of Peace on the ground, include people from the private sector and NGOs, according to a list of the names obtained by Reuters.
Witkoff did not say how many members the body would include or name them.
Another announcement related to the Board of Peace was also expected to be made at Davos next week, a European diplomat said.
Shaath said in a radio interview that the committee would focus first on providing urgent relief for Gaza, including the provision of housing for displaced Palestinians, many of whom are living in makeshift tent shelters amid the rubble.
“If I bring bulldozers and push the rubble into the sea, and make new islands, new land, I can win new land for Gaza and at the same time clear the rubble. This won’t take more than three years,” Shaath told a West Bank radio station. Rebuilding Gaza’s shattered homes will take at least until 2040, but could drag on for many decades, according to a 2024 UN report.
Witkoff said that phase two of Trump’s plan also will begin ‘the full demilitarisation and reconstruction of Gaza, primarily the disarmament of all unauthorised personnel’.
Hamas, which refuses to lay down its weapons, agreed in October to hand over governance to the technocratic committee. It remains unclear how Hamas, which has regrouped since a fragile ceasefire began in October, will be disarmed as required by the plan.
In the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority welcomed Trump’s effort to move ahead with the Gaza phased plan.
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