Israel accepts US plan for Palestinian committee to govern Gaza – report

Trump administration moving forward with plans to place the Gaza Strip under the governance of a Palestinian technocratic committee, with Israel reportedly approving a list of candidates for the body.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel has signed on to the Trump administration’s plan to form a committee of Palestinian technocrats to temporarily govern the Gaza Strip once Hamas has been removed from power, according to a report published over the weekend.

The Trump White House has for months sought to overcome lingering complications preventing the implementation of the second phase of its 20-point Gaza peace plan, including the creation of a technocratic Palestinian committee to administer the coastal enclave during an interim period following the end of Hamas rule.

While Israel has long opposed any involvement by either Hamas-backed officials or the Palestinian Authority in the post-war governance of the Gaza Strip, according to a report by the Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed newspaper, the United States and Israel have agreed on a list of candidates for the committee.

On Sunday, an Egyptian delegation headed by Majed Faraj, chief of Egypt’s General Intelligence agency, met with senior Palestinian Authority leaders, including PA deputy chairman Hussein al-Sheikh, in Cairo.

During the meeting, which was intended to promote implementation of stage two of the Gaza plan, the Egyptian delegation presented the Palestinian Authority team with the list of candidates vetted and approved by Jerusalem and Washington, the report said.

A senior Palestinian official was cited by the report as saying that US and Israeli interference in the selection of committee members would doom the project to failure.

“Any committee that is established and operates without Palestinian national legitimacy will not succeed,” the official said.

The Egyptian and Palestinian Authority delegations also discussed the possible reopening of the Rafah crossing in both directions, amid reports Israel is considering approving the move, despite the failure of Hamas to secure the return of the remains of the last slain Israeli hostage held in Gaza, Ran Gvili.

The Palestinian team reiterated its position that control over the Rafah border area should mirror the system put in place following Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, under which the Gaza side of the crossing was administered by Palestinian Authority security personnel with European observers present.