US President Donald Trump is expected to push ahead with his phased plan for the future of Gaza on Wednesday, announcing the administration that will govern the war-torn Palestinian territory, four Palestinian sources said.
In October, Israel and Hamas signed Trump’s 20-point plan, according to which Gaza should be governed in a transitional period by a technocratic Palestinian Authority under the supervision of an international “Peace Committee”. There should be no representative of Hamas in that body.
The 14-member Palestinian body will be headed by Ali Shaath, a former deputy minister in the Western-backed Palestinian Authority who was previously in charge of developing industrial zones, Palestinian sources said.
The other members, chosen by Nickolay Mladenov, a former UN envoy for the Middle East and the person expected to represent the Peace Committee on the ground, come from the private sector and nongovernmental organizations, according to a list of names obtained by Reuters.
The first phase of Trump’s plan, which included a ceasefire and a deal to release hostages, has been rocked by a number of problems, including Israeli airstrikes in Gaza that have killed hundreds of people, Hamas’s refusal to disarm, the fact that the remains of the last Israeli hostage have not yet been returned, and Israeli delays in reopening the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.
Although both sides accuse each other of violating the agreement, Trump says he wants to move on to the second phase, which would involve the establishment of a peace committee and the deployment of a peacekeeping force, the mandate of which has yet to be agreed.
Leaders of Hamas and other Palestinian factions are in Cairo for talks on the second phase of the plan, the group said. Egyptian sources say talks with Hamas will now focus on its disarmament.
Hamas has so far refused to lay down its arms, stating that it will do so only after the establishment of a Palestinian state. Further Israeli withdrawal within Gaza is related precisely to the issue of disarmament.
Members of the technocratic Palestinian Committee were due to meet with Mladenov in Cairo on Wednesday. Both Hamas and the rival Fatah movement, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, have agreed to the list of members, Egyptian and Palestinian sources said.
Among the members will be the president of the Gaza Chamber of Commerce, Ayed Abu Ramadan, as well as Omar Shamali, who worked for the Palestinian telecommunications group PALTEL, Palestinian sources said.
Israeli officials have not yet responded to a request for comment.
(Vijesti.ba)
