US launches Gaza plan's second phase, forms Palestinian committee

Highlights:

• Panel of Palestinian technocrats named to lead post-war Gaza
• Rivals Fatah and Hamas endorse the committee, sources say

The United States said on Wednesday 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 airstrikes that have killed hundreds in Gaza, the failure to retrieve the remains of one last Israeli hostage, 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 Palestinian militant group 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 Turkey.

Board of peace

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.

A US official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity said invitations were sent out on Wednesday to potential Board of Peace members personally selected by Trump.

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.

Demilitarization challenge

Witkoff said that phase two of Trump's plan also will begin "the full demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza, primarily the disarmament of all unauthorized 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.

Washington would work to bridge the differences between the two sides, the US official briefing reporters said, adding that the Israelis "remain skeptical that Hamas will disarm and that the Palestinian people want peace."

"The goal here is to create the alternative to Hamas that wants that peace, figure out how to empower them," the official said, referring to the new committee of Palestinian technocrats as a new "government" for Gaza.

"And obviously, now that we have this government, we will be engaging in conversations: with Hamas on the next phase, which is demilitarization; with Israel, on what amnesty program can be given to Hamas if they do this."

In the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority welcomed Trump's effort to move ahead with the Gaza phased plan, in a statement posted on X by Palestinian Vice President Hussein Al-Sheikh, and voiced support for the committee.

Sheikh said institutions in Gaza should be linked to those run by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, "upholding the principle of one system, one law and one legitimate weapon."

Hamas leaders and other Palestinian factions are in Cairo for talks on the second phase, the group said, where members of the technocratic Palestinian committee were expected to meet with Mladenov.

Egyptian sources said talks with Hamas will now focus on the group's disarmament.

Further Israeli withdrawals within Gaza are tied to disarmament, though Hamas has said it will give up its weapons only once there is a Palestinian state.

Hamas and its rival Fatah group, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, have both endorsed the list of technocratic committee members, Egyptian and Palestinian sources said.

It will also include the head of the Gaza Chamber of Commerce, Ayed Abu Ramadan, and Omar Shamali, who has worked for the Palestine Telecommunications Company, Paltel, Palestinian sources said.

The sources said the list would also include Sami Nasman, a retired senior Palestinian Authority security officer and a longtime critic of Hamas. Nasman, a member of Abbas's Fatah movement, is originally from Gaza but has since 2007 been living in the West Bank.

Israeli officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.