The ceasefire deal also calls for an armed International Stabilization Force to keep security and ensure the disarming of the militant Hamas group, a key demand of Israel
An international body tasked with governing the Gaza Strip under the next phase of the US-brokered ceasefire is expected to be announced by the end of the year, an Arab official and a Western diplomat said Friday.
According to the ceasefire agreement, the authority known as the Board of Peace and chaired by US President Donald Trump is to oversee Gaza’s reconstruction under a two-year, renewable UN mandate.
It will include about a dozen other Middle Eastern and Western leaders, the Arab official and the Western diplomat told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter.
Also to be announced is a committee of Palestinian technocrats who will run the day-to-day administration of post-war Gaza, they two said. The Western diplomat, who spoke to the AP over the phone from Cairo, said the announcement about this will likely happen when Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet later this month.
The ceasefire deal also calls for an armed International Stabilization Force to keep security and ensure the disarming of the militant Hamas group, a key demand of Israel.
The announcement would be a significant step forward in implementing Trump’s 20-point plan for the territory devastated by Israel’s two-year campaign against Hamas.
The shaky ceasefire, which came into effect on October 10, has been tested by outbursts of violence and accusations by both sides of violations of the truce. The first phase of the ceasefire has neared completion, though Hamas is still to hand over the remains of a last Israel hostage called for under the deal.
The Arab official said that talks are still ongoing over which countries will take part in the international force for Gaza but that he expects deployment will begin in the first quarter of 2026.
A US official gave a similar timeline, saying that boots on the ground could be a reality in early 2026. The official spoke to the AP on the same condition of anonymity. Axios first reported the anticipated announcement on Thursday.
The Arab official said that extensive talks will start immediately with Hamas and Israel on the details of the second phase, which he expects to be tough.
Those talks are expected the tackle the issue of disarming Hamas, a step the militant group has not yet agreed to. The plan also calls for Israeli forces to withdraw from the roughly half of the Gaza Strip that they still control as the international force deploys.
Funding for a rebuilding plan for the Gaza Strip still has not been determined. Some Palestinians have expressed concern over the apparent lack of a Palestinian voice in the body and the lack of a firm promise in the plan that they will eventually gain statehood.
Netanyahu’s government rejects the creation of a Palestinian state, and the US-brokered deal includes only a vague provision that a pathway toward statehood may be possible if certain conditions are met.
