US promises 'demilitarization,' though Hamas hasn't agreed

US launches Gaza plan’s 2nd phase as Palestinian technocratic government unveiled

Last hostage’s mom says move jeopardizes efforts to return her son, as Witkoff warns Hamas on matter, Netanyahu says ‘declarative’ move to stage 2 won’t harm repatriation efforts

US special envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday announced the launch of phase two of President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the war in Gaza, including the establishment of a new technocratic Palestinian administration for the Strip.

Witkoff said in a statement that this new phase will consist of “moving from ceasefire to demilitarization, technocratic governance and reconstruction.”

“Phase two establishes a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in Gaza — the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) — and begins the full demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza, primarily the disarmament of all unauthorized personnel,” Witkoff said.

“The US expects Hamas to comply fully with its obligations, including the immediate return of the final deceased hostage. Failure to do so will bring serious consequences,” the US envoy added.

“Importantly, phase one delivered historic humanitarian aid, maintained the ceasefire, returned all living hostages and the remains of 27 of the 28 deceased hostages,” Witkoff said, thanking fellow mediators Egypt, Turkey and Qatar “for their indispensable mediation efforts that made all progress to date possible.”

Israel pushed back on transitioning to phase two before Hamas had given up its weapons and returned the body of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili. Top US officials told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his Mar-a-Lago meetings last month that Washington is committed to those two goals, but doesn’t want to condition the commencement of phase two on either, a US official and two sources familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel last week.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Gvili’s parents after the announcement, telling them that Gvili’s return “is at the top of Israel’s priorities, and that the declarative move to establish a committee of technocrats [to manage Gaza] will not affect in any way the efforts to bring Ran back for burial in Israel.”

Netanyahu also said that Israel is insisting that information on Gvili’s whereabouts provided by the mediators “be immediately translated into effective actions on the ground.

“Hamas is required to comply with the terms of the agreement and make a 100 percent effort to return all fallen hostages, until the very last one — Ran Gvili, a hero of Israel,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

Gvili’s mother, Talik, said in a statement that the declaration will not impact her campaign for her son but emphasized her opposition to the implementation of phase two until he is returned.

“Moving to phase two at this moment, while the efforts to return Ran have yet to be exhausted, is a loss of the most significant leverage and may be a sentence of eternal disappearance for Ran. Until Ran is returned, the State of Israel will not be able to close its most bloody wound and will not be able to begin the rehabilitation and healing that it so desperately needs. Phase two must not be implemented as long as Ran has not returned home,” she said.

Notably, Witkoff’s announcement does not include the unveiling of the Board of Peace, which is supposed to be made up of world leaders who will oversee the NCAG.

The US had initially planned to reveal the Board of Peace’s members last month, but has struggled to rally international support around its plan amid heavy skepticism that Hamas will agree to disarm or that Israel will agree to further withdraw from the Strip and allow for its reconstruction.

Nonetheless, the US is still aiming to hold the first meeting of the Board of Peace on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos next week.

While Witkoff’s statement spoke of demilitarization, no agreement has been reached yet on how that will be executed.

The US has been in talks with Mideast mediators Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, which have assured Washington that Hamas will agree to a gradual disarmament plan that would begin with the terror group giving up its heavy weaponry and the launch of a “buy-back” program for lighter weapons, according to the US official and two Arab diplomats, who said the goal is to begin implementing the program in the coming weeks.

It is not clear whether this framework will be sufficient for Israel, and Hamas officials have publicly asserted that the organization will only agree to give up its weapons in a negotiated process that results in the establishment of a Palestinian state. For its part, the US has claimed that Hamas agreed to disarm during a meeting between top officials from each side hours before phase one of the ceasefire was inked in October.

That deal has barely held in the nearly three months since, with mutual allegations of violations and over 400 Palestinians killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.

While aid has increased significantly during this period, humanitarian groups say Israeli restrictions have hampered their efforts to serve the people of Gaza, where hundreds of thousands are displaced in often flimsy tents at the peak of winter.

Arab world, Palestinian factions welcome new committee

Mediating states Egypt, Qatar and Turkey issued a joint statement welcoming the formation of the technocratic committee, and confirmed that the committee will be headed by former Palestinian Authority deputy transportation minister Ali Shaath.

“This step… will contribute to stability and improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip,” the mediators said, expressing their hope that it will also pave the way for further implementation of the Trump plan’s second phase.

“The mediators stress the need for all parties to commit to the full implementation of the agreement in order to achieve a sustainable peace and create the appropriate conditions for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip in a manner that meets the aspirations of the brotherly Palestinian people for security, stability, and a dignified life,” the statement added.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty announced that “a consensus has been reached on the members” of the committee to govern Gaza.

The PA had hoped that it would control the panel and that one of its ministers would serve as its chairman. But that demand was vetoed by Israel, which has blocked efforts to allow the PA to gain a foothold in Gaza.

“We hope that following this agreement, the committee will be announced soon… and will then be deployed to the Gaza Strip to manage daily life and essential services,” he said, indicating that all Palestinian factions back the members of the new committee.

Abdelatty stressed that despite the formation of the new technocratic body tasked with managing Gaza for an interim period, Egypt will not allow for the enclave to be separated politically from the West Bank, stressing the importance of a two-state solution.

The Egyptian foreign minister expressed his hope that an announcement would soon be made revealing the 15 members.

Some of the members of the technocratic committee are located in Gaza, while others are outside the Strip. The Haaretz daily reported that the panel will initially be based in Cairo, though this would likely require Israel to reopen the Rafah Crossing.

It’s still unclear when the committee will be able to begin operating.

The members of the new panel have not yet been formally announced, but they have received official letters from the Board of Peace High Representative Nickolay Mladenov to serve on the transitional committee.

The PA’s President Mahmoud Abbas expressed his support for the new technocratic committee on Wednesday.

The statement from Abbas’s office welcoming the new panel lauded Trump’s efforts to stabilize Gaza, in an apparent effort to maintain working ties with Washington in the hope that this will allow for the PA to gradually restore its role in the Strip.

Abbas’s office stressed the importance of not separating Gaza from the West Bank and urged countries to take actions to prevent the further tightening of Israel’s grip on the latter territory.

The US State Department welcomed the PA’s support in a statement.

The majority of Palestinian factions also offered their support for the technocratic committee.

In a statement, Palestinian factions, including terror groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, said they had agreed “to support the mediators’ efforts in forming the Palestinian National Transitional Committee to administer the Gaza Strip, while providing the appropriate environment” for it to begin its work.

The statement also vowed to “continue to work for national unity,” called for an independent Palestinian state, and urged mediators to pressure Israel to withdraw from Gaza. There was no mention of Hamas’s weapons, which the terror group must surrender to international forces under Trump’s plan.

The statement came after a Hamas delegation met with representatives of other Palestinian factions in Cairo in the afternoon to discuss the transition to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal, according to Egyptian outlet al-Qahera, which is considered close to Egyptian intelligence.

Other outlets reported that the meeting did not include representatives of the PA and its dominant faction, Fatah.