US expected to unveil post-war Gaza leadership, sources say

CAIRO - US President Donald Trump is expected on Jan 14 to push ahead with his phased plan for Gaza's future by announcing the administration that will run the war-ravaged Palestinian territory, four Palestinian sources said.

Israel and Hamas in October signed off on Mr Trump's 20-point plan which says that a technocratic Palestinian body overseen by

an international “Board of Peace”

is meant to govern Gaza for a transitional period. It is not to include Hamas representation.

The 14-member Palestinian body will be headed by Mr Ali Shaath, a former deputy minister in the Western-backed Palestinian Authority who had been in charge of developing industrial zones, the Palestinian sources said.

Other members tapped by Mr 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.

Later on Jan 14, Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV quoted Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty confirming the Palestinian committee had been agreed.

Mr Abdelatty stressed Cairo was against any division of the coastal enclave or separation between Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, both areas Palestinians want for a future state.

A European diplomat said the Palestinian committee was expected to be announced by the Trump administration on Jan 14.

Another announcement related to the “Board of Peace” was also expected to be made at Davos next week.

In the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority (PA) welcomed Mr 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, which he said would run Gaza during the “transitional phase”.

Mr Al-Sheikh said institutions in Gaza should be linked to those run by the PA in the West Bank “upholding the principle of one system, one law, and one legitimate weapon”.

Trump moving to phase two of Gaza plan despite issues

The first phase of Mr Trump's plan, which included a ceasefire and hostage release deal, has been shaken by issues including

Israeli airstrikes in Gaza that have killed hundreds of people

, a refusal by Hamas to disarm, the remains of one last Israeli hostage still not having been returned and Israeli delays in reopening Gaza's Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

Although the two sides accuse each other of breaching the deal, Mr Trump says he wants to move on to the second phase, a progression that would entail the establishment of the Board of Peace and a yet-to-be-agreed deployment of peacekeeping forces.

Hamas leaders and other Palestinian factions are in Cairo for talks on the second phase, the group said.

Egyptian sources said talks with Hamas would now focus on the group’s disarmament.

Hamas has so far not agreed to lay down its weapons, saying it will only give up its weapons once there is a Palestinian state.

Further Israeli withdrawals within Gaza are tied to disarmament.

Members of the technocratic Palestinian committee were expected to meet with Mr Mladenov in Cairo on Jan 14.

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

It will also include the head of the Gaza Chamber of Commerce Ayed Abu Ramadan and Mr Omar Shamali, who has worked for the Palestinian Telecommunication Group PALTEL, the Palestinian sources said.

The sources said the list would also include Mr Sami Nasman, a retired senior PA security officer and a long-time critic of Hamas. Mr 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. REUTERS