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Ali Shaath Appointed Head of Gaza Administration Committee: What Do We Know About Him?

Palestinian Ali Shaath, the leading candidate for the chairmanship of the Gaza Administration Committee (photo released by his family). 
Palestinian Ali Shaath, the leading candidate for the chairmanship of the Gaza Administration Committee (photo released by his family). 
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Ali Shaath Appointed Head of Gaza Administration Committee: What Do We Know About Him?

Palestinian Ali Shaath, the leading candidate for the chairmanship of the Gaza Administration Committee (photo released by his family). 
Palestinian Ali Shaath, the leading candidate for the chairmanship of the Gaza Administration Committee (photo released by his family). 

Mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and Türkiye announced on Wednesday the formation of a Palestinian technocratic committee to administer the Gaza Strip, headed by Ali Shaath. The move follows changes to the committee’s membership and broader political maneuvering that point to an imminent transfer of governance from Hamas.

Earlier on Wednesday, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff announced the launch of “Phase Two of President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan to end the conflict in Gaza,” saying it marks a shift “from a ceasefire to disarmament, technocratic governance, and reconstruction.”

The plan calls for the establishment of a technocratic body to oversee governmental and civilian affairs in Gaza as an alternative to Hamas rule.

While several well-known figures had previously been mentioned as potential leaders, Gaza residents and observers were surprised by the emergence of new names. Among those reported by Asharq Al-Awsat on Tuesday evening was Ali Shaath, who has since emerged as the leading candidate to chair the committee.

Who Is Ali Shaath?

Ali Shaath was born in 1958 in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, into a prominent Palestinian family and large clan with a long record of national and political engagement. Many members of his family are affiliated with Fatah.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Ain Shams University in Cairo in 1982, a master’s degree in 1986, and a PhD in civil engineering from Queen’s University in the United Kingdom in 1989, specializing in infrastructure planning and urban development.

Shaath has held several senior posts within the Palestinian Authority and is widely regarded as a technical expert rather than a political figure. Early in the Authority’s formation, he served as deputy to then–Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Nabil Shaath, helping draft strategic development plans for a future Palestinian state.

He later served as undersecretary at the Ministry of Transport, overseeing major infrastructure and road projects. He went on to lead the Palestinian Industrial Estates and Free Zones Authority, chair the Palestinian Housing Council, head the Palestinian Ports Authority, and advise the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction (PECDAR). Most recently, despite retirement, he served as an adviser to the Ministry of Housing and Public Works.

Politically, Shaath participated in final-status negotiation committees in 2005 and contributed as a technical expert on border and maritime access issues. His background in economic development and postwar reconstruction appears to have positioned him to lead the technocratic committee.

Sources close to the Shaath family told Asharq Al-Awsat that he has lived in the West Bank for years, including before the Gaza war, and has consistently avoided factional politics, focusing instead on technical and professional roles.

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Arab World

Residents Flee Beirut's Southern Suburbs after Israeli Evacuation Warning

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut (Reuters)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut (Reuters)
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Residents Flee Beirut's Southern Suburbs after Israeli Evacuation Warning

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut (Reuters)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut (Reuters)

Residents of Beirut's southern suburbs fled en masse on Thursday afternoon after an evacuation warning from the Israeli army covering an area home to hundreds of thousands of people, AFP journalists reported.

Residents fired into the air shortly after the Israeli warning to urge locals to leave as quickly as possible.

Massive traffic jams formed on the outskirts of the southern suburbs, which has a strong Hezbollah presence, leaving people unable to evacuate quickly.

Arab World

Iraqi Kataeb Hezbollah Say Commander Killed in Strike in Southern Iraq

Members of the Iraqi armed group Kataeb Hezbollah attend the funeral of their members, who were killed in an airstrike that targeted a Hashd al‑Shaabi headquarters near the western al‑Qaim district on the Syrian border, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Baghdad, Iraq, March 2, 2026. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Suda
Members of the Iraqi armed group Kataeb Hezbollah attend the funeral of their members, who were killed in an airstrike that targeted a Hashd al‑Shaabi headquarters near the western al‑Qaim district on the Syrian border, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Baghdad, Iraq, March 2, 2026. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Suda
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Iraqi Kataeb Hezbollah Say Commander Killed in Strike in Southern Iraq

Members of the Iraqi armed group Kataeb Hezbollah attend the funeral of their members, who were killed in an airstrike that targeted a Hashd al‑Shaabi headquarters near the western al‑Qaim district on the Syrian border, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Baghdad, Iraq, March 2, 2026. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Suda
Members of the Iraqi armed group Kataeb Hezbollah attend the funeral of their members, who were killed in an airstrike that targeted a Hashd al‑Shaabi headquarters near the western al‑Qaim district on the Syrian border, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Baghdad, Iraq, March 2, 2026. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Suda

The Iran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah in Iraq said on Thursday that one of its leaders was killed in a strike on southern Iraq a day earlier.

The Secretary-General of the group, Al-Hajj Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi, mourned in a statement “the great leader, brother, Ali Hassan al-Furayji," who carried out "his duties... for more than two decades."

Two sources from the armed faction told Agence France-Presse on Wednesday that a strike targeted a car near the Jurf al-Nasr base, where the faction is deployed in southern Iraq, resulting in the death of two members.

The death toll rose to three after the death of the leader was confirmed.

One of the sources described the attack as a "Zionist-American strike."

The Jurf al-Nasr base, also known as Jurf al-Sakhar, in southern Iraq, was the first Iraqi target of strikes attributed to Israel and the United States, which later extended to other areas.

Arab World

Iraq Says it is Directly Affected by the War: ‘We are Under Attack from Both Sides’

Smoke and flames rise near Erbil International Airport in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region following explosions caused by intensive interception operations carried out by air defense systems (dpa)
Smoke and flames rise near Erbil International Airport in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region following explosions caused by intensive interception operations carried out by air defense systems (dpa)
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Iraq Says it is Directly Affected by the War: ‘We are Under Attack from Both Sides’

Smoke and flames rise near Erbil International Airport in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region following explosions caused by intensive interception operations carried out by air defense systems (dpa)
Smoke and flames rise near Erbil International Airport in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region following explosions caused by intensive interception operations carried out by air defense systems (dpa)

Military escalation across Iraq continues following the outbreak of the Israeli-US war on Iran, as the country is now facing a series of reciprocal attacks by multiple actors on its territory, along with mounting economic damage caused by disruptions to its oil exports.

“Iraq has become one of the countries directly affected by the ongoing conflict,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said, noting that the country was “being subjected to attacks from both sides of the conflict.”

Iraqi military and security bases, as well as positions belonging to factions affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), have been targeted by Israeli and US airstrikes. At the same time, Iran and pro-Iranian factions have targeted American interests and military bases in the Kurdistan Region and other parts of the country.

Hussein made the remarks during a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during which the two discussed rapidly evolving military developments in the region and their political and economic repercussions, according to a statement from the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.

Hussein ruled out an immediate ceasefire, saying the widening scope of the confrontation and the intensification of attacks have become daily features of the conflict.

He also warned that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and ongoing military operations “have disrupted maritime navigation in the region.”

“Iraq is facing increasing difficulties in exporting its oil,” he underlined, a situation shared by several countries in the region and one that could have serious consequences for global energy markets.

He cautioned that the war will lead to a crisis in the energy market and rising prices, which will negatively affect the economies of the region and the world.

New Attacks

Iran and allied factions targeted Erbil International Airport and the nearby Harir Air Base with dozens of rockets and drones on Wednesday. Groups calling themselves the “Islamic Resistance factions” announced that they had carried out more than 28 attacks against US and local targets inside Iraq.

Meanwhile, Camp Victoria, near Baghdad International Airport, was also targeted by rocket attacks launched by armed factions, though Iraqi security forces said they thwarted the strikes.

Kurdistan

On Wednesday, an Iranian Kurdish fighter was reportedly killed in a missile strike targeting a headquarters of the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, according to a source within the party cited by AFP.

The autonomous Kurdistan Region hosts camps operated by Iranian Kurdish opposition groups.

A party spokesperson, Khalil Kani Sanani, accused “the Iranian regime” of launching three missiles at a camp housing the families of party members, killing one camp guard and wounding three others. The camp lies east of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region.

On Tuesday, a camp housing Iranian Kurdish fighters and their families in Kurdistan was struck by a drone attack that left one person injured, according to Mohammad Nazif Qader, a member of the opposition Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI).

Iran classifies these Kurdish parties as “terrorist organizations” and accuses them of serving “Western or Israeli interests.”