US announces start of second phase of Gaza ceasefire

Original article by Julian Borger and Lorenzo Tondo in Jerusalem

The US has announced the start of the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire, including the creation of a committee of Palestinian technocrats who are supposed to take over the day-to-day running of the territory for a transition period.

The announcement was made on social media by Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, but it lacked any detail or names of potential members of the proposed “national committee for the administration of Gaza”. The committee is not expected to begin work until mandated by a “peace board” chaired by Trump, which has yet to be created.

Witkoff said the second phase would begin the “full demilitarisation and reconstruction of Gaza, primarily the disarmament of all unauthorised personnel”.

The first phase of the ceasefire plan began on 10 October, with the exchange of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and its allies for Palestinian detainees held by Israel. Israeli forces withdrew to a yellow truce line that left them in control of most of the territory.

The Israeli bombardment of Gaza diminished but has not ceased. About 450 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire began. No agreement has been reached on disarming Hamas.

Two groups representing Israeli former hostages and their families had urged the US not to declare the start of the second phase of the ceasefire until the remains of the last hostage yet to be accounted for, Ran Gvili, had been returned by Hamas. Hamas has said it has so far been unable to find Gvili’s body.

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

Though Witkoff did not provide any details of the proposed Palestinian interim committee, the Egyptian foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, announced a few hours earlier that an agreement had been reached on all of its 15 members.

Abdelatty said the committee would be “deployed to the Gaza Strip to manage daily life and essential services”.

The members are expected to be technocrats rather than politicians, but some are believed to have affiliation with the Fatah party, which is dominant in the Palestinian Authority. Two candidates touted as potential heads are Ali Shaath, a former deputy minister of planning in the Palestinian Authority, and Majed Abu Ramadan, the PA health minister.

According to diplomats in the region, the work of the Palestinian transitional committee will be overseen by Nickolay Mladenov, a veteran Bulgarian and UN diplomat who has been touring the region holding talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials. Mladenov served as the UN envoy for the Middle East peace process from early 2015 until the end of 2020 and is widely respected across the region.

Mladenov in turn would report to Trump’s peace board, which is expected to comprise a group of world leaders. US officials said its membership would be announced in the next few days.

Discussions in Cairo on the second phase are said to have also focused on the further withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the reopening of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza and the entry of aid stockpiled on the Egyptian side of the border – as well as a general increase in the flow of goods and aid entering Gaza.