CAIRO – A US-backed plan to end the war in Gaza was moving into its second phase, Washington’s top negotiator said Wednesday, as Palestinian factions agreed on the make-up of a post-war governing committee.
President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff wrote on X that phase two of the US leader’s 20-point plan would shift the Palestinian territory “from ceasefire to demilitarization, technocratic governance and reconstruction”.
Phase one, launched in October, involved a ceasefire, a hostage-prisoner exchange, partial Israeli withdrawal and a surge of humanitarian aid.
Under the second phase, Gaza would be run by a 15-member Palestinian technocratic committee supervised by a so-called “Board of Peace,” to be chaired by Trump himself.
Egypt said all the members of the committee had been agreed upon by all Palestinian factions, which swiftly offered their support.
Ali Shaath, former Palestinian deputy minister in the Palestinian Authority, was named to lead the body, according to a joint statement by mediators Egypt, Turkey and Qatar.
The PA — which is dominated by Fatah, Hamas’s rival — governs parts of the occupied West Bank not under Israeli control.
The mediators did not disclose the remaining names.
Speaking at a press conference in Cairo, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said he hoped the committee would soon be deployed to Gaza to “manage daily life and essential services”.
Palestinian factions, including Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad, said they would support the committee and would help create “the appropriate environment” for it to begin its work.
The Ramallah-based Palestinian presidency also announced its support, with a source from the office telling AFP the statement “reflects the position of the Fatah movement because President (Mahmud) Abbas is also the head of Fatah.”
