Gaza City [Gaza], December 22: Progress is being made in implementing the Gaza peace plan put forward by US President Donald Trump, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said.
"The first phase has yielded progress, including expanded humanitarian assistance, the return of hostage bodies, partial force withdrawals, and a reduction in hostilities," Witkoff wrote on X, a day after exploratory talks with representatives of Egypt, Qatar and Turkiye.
"Further consultations will continue in the coming weeks to advance the implementation of phase two," he added.
The second phase of the Gaza peace plan includes the reconstruction of the devastated territory. Israel insists that the body of the last remaining hostage, still held in Gaza since the Hamas-led attack in 2023, must first be returned - one of the conditions set out in the plan's initial phase.
The plan also calls for the disarmament of Hamas, which has said it will not give up its weapons. Witkoff said the talks also focused on measures to facilitate trade in the region and develop infrastructure.
"In this context, we expressed our support for the near-term establishment and operationalization of the Board of Peace as a transitional administration for the civilian, security, and reconstruction tracks of the reconstruction," he said. The creation of the Board of Peace is one of 20 points in the Gaza peace plan unveiled by Trump in late September.
Under the proposal, Gaza would be temporarily administered by a committee of non-partisan technocrats, overseen by a new transitional body known as the Board of Peace, which Trump says he intends to chair.
Although an official ceasefire has been in place in the Gaza Strip for more than two months, life in the devastated coastal strip remains far from normal, and it is unclear when it might get better.
People are tired, says Mahmud Abd Al Hadi, 46.
"My children ask me when we will return home, when life will return to normal. And I have no answers," said the father of four who had to flee repeatedly with his family during the two-year war.
To this day, their daily lives are marked by the struggle to obtain supplies and the fear of a new outbreak of fighting between the Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
After the October 10 ceasefire agreement following two years of war, US President Donald Trump spoke of "peace in the Middle East." But since then around 400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority. As in Lebanon, Israel continues to attack the coastal strip but says it is hitting terrorist targets.
According to the latest figures from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 80% of the buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged. Many people who have lost their homes continue to live in tent camps, exposed to winter weather.
The second phase of Trump's 20-point plan, which is now pending, provides for the disarmament of Hamas and the establishment of an international stabilization force (ISF).
According to a survey by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Opinion Research in Ramallah, around 70% of Palestinians reject the disarmament of Hamas envisaged in the Trump plan. Rejection is particularly high in the West Bank, at 80%, while in the war-torn Gaza Strip it stands at 55%.
It is unclear how the next phase will be implemented or whether a long-term stabilization in the region is possible.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit the United States for a week starting on December 29, during which talks with Trump on how to proceed are also planned.
The plan, backed by a UN resolution, also calls for a further withdrawal of Israeli troops from the coastal strip.
Palestinian political scientist Ghassan Chatib believes that the transition to the second phase "is between very difficult and impossible."
Neither Israel nor Hamas has any real interest in fulfilling the conditions. It is in Israel's interest to retain control over half of the Gaza Strip and not to withdraw its troops any further, he says.
And he thinks Hamas believes that keeping control over half of Gaza "is better than the option they will get in the second phase of the agreement."
Source: Qatar Tribune
