Gaza is entering the second phase of the ceasefire plan Trump helped broker, envoy Witkoff says

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States said Wednesday that it is moving into the next phase of a Gaza ceasefire plan that involves disarming Hamas, rebuilding the war-ravaged territory and establishing the group of Palestinian experts that will administer daily affairs in Gaza under American supervision.

President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff said in a post on X that the ceasefire deal that the Republican president helped broker was entering its second phase following two years of war between Israel and Hamas, including the establishment of a technocratic government in Gaza.

But Witkoff did not offer any details about who would serve on the new transitional Palestinian administration that would govern Gaza. Trump's White House did not immediately offer any more information, either.

The mediators of the ceasefire deal — Egypt, Turkey and Qatar — welcomed the establishment of the committee and said it would be led by Ali Shaath, a former deputy minister in the Palestinian Authority.

“This is an important development to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza,” they said in a joint statement.

The Gaza native served as a deputy minister for transportation with the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority. Shaath, an engineer, is an expert in economic development and reconstruction, according to his biography on the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute’s website.

Witkoff said that the U.S. expects Hamas to immediately return the final dead hostage as part of its obligations under the deal.

While Wednesday’s announcement indicates a key step forward, a new government in Gaza and ceasefire face a number of huge challenges — including the deployment of an international security force to supervise the deal and the difficult process of disarming Hamas.

Appointees to a technocratic committee are part of a broader plan to end Hamas’ 18-year rule of Gaza. The appointees will run day-to-day affairs in Gaza, under the oversight of a Trump-led “Board of Peace,” whose members have also not yet been named.

The ceasefire reached under Trump’s 20-point plan took effect in October and stopped much of the fighting. Under the first phase of the three-phase deal, Hamas released all but one hostage it was holding in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians who were held by Israel.

The technocratic committee that Witkoff said would be established under the second phase will be tasked with providing public services to the more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, but it faces towering challenges and unanswered questions, including about its operations and financing.

The United Nations has estimated that reconstruction will cost more than $50 billion. The process is expected to take years, and little money has been pledged so far.

There also is the more immediate challenge of figuring out how to take over basic services after nearly two decades of Hamas-led rule in Gaza and repeated rounds of conflict with Israel.

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Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo, Sam Metz in Jerusalem and Toqa Ezzidin in Cairo contributed to this report.