The Gaza ceasefire agreement entered a new phase on Friday with the first meeting in Cairo of a technocrat committee tasked with administering the enclave, following its formation by Palestinian consensus, a welcome from Washington, and the absence of an official Israeli objection after earlier reservations.
The inaugural meeting came hours after Israel killed eight Palestinians, prompting Hamas to accuse it of “sabotaging the agreement,” leaving analysts expressing cautious optimism about the ceasefire’s trajectory in light of these developments and the continued Israeli strikes.
They stressed the need for a decisive US position to complete the requirements of the second phase, which began with the formation of the Gaza administration committee and faces major obstacles, including the entry of aid, an Israeli withdrawal, and the disarmament of Hamas.
Egyptian satellite channel Al-Qahera News reported on Friday that the first meeting of the Palestinian National Committee for the Administration of Gaza had begun in the Egyptian capital, with Palestinian Ali Shaath in the chair.
In his first media appearance, Shaath said the committee had officially started its work from Cairo and consists of 15 professional Palestinian national figures. He said the committee had received financial support and had been allocated a two-year budget, which is the duration of its mandate.
He called for the establishment of a World Bank fund for the reconstruction and relief of Gaza, noting that influential countries in the region had promised substantial, tangible financial support.
Shaath said the relief plan is based on the Egyptian plan approved by the Arab League in March 2025, which spans five years and is estimated to cost about $53 billion, and has been welcomed by the European Union.
He added that the first step adopted by the Gaza administration committee was to supply 200,000 prefabricated housing units to the territory.
Hamas said on Friday it was ready to hand over control of Gaza to a technocratic administration.
In a statement, it warned that “massacres” committed by the Israeli army in Gaza, including the killing of nine Palestinians, among them a woman and a child, in air strikes and gunfire targeting displaced people’s tents, underscored Israel’s continued policy of undermining the ceasefire agreement and obstructing declared efforts to entrench calm in the enclave.
Hamas described the attacks as a “dangerous escalation” that coincided with mediators announcing the formation of a technocratic government and the entry into the second phase of the agreement, as stated on Wednesday, as well as US President Donald Trump’s announcement on Thursday of the establishment of a Board of Peace.
It called on mediators and guarantor countries to shoulder their responsibilities by pressuring Israel to halt its violations and comply with what was agreed.
On Thursday, Trump announced the creation of a Gaza-focused Board of Peace, saying the parties had officially entered the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
The Gaza government media office said in a statement the same day that Israel had committed 1,244 violations of the ceasefire during its first phase, resulting in the killing, injury, or arrest of 1,760 Palestinians since the deal took effect.
Rakha Ahmed Hassan, a member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs and a former assistant foreign minister, said the launch of the committee’s work was extremely important and effectively removed one of Israel’s pretexts regarding the presence of Hamas, particularly since the committee is technocratic and enjoys consensus.
He said that while this undermines those pretexts and marks the end of Hamas’s political authority, developments must be handled cautiously and completed with the deployment of stabilization forces and a Palestinian police presence, provided no new Israeli obstacles emerge.
Palestinian political analyst Ayman al-Raqab also voiced cautious optimism, telling Asharq Al-Awsat that the committee faces major challenges, notably administering a territory that has been completely devastated, as well as Israeli complications related to the weapons of the resistance and opposition to full reconstruction and withdrawal.
Mediator efforts are continuing. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty received a phone call from US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff regarding next steps and procedures following the transition to the second phase of Trump’s plan.
According to an Egyptian foreign ministry statement on Friday, the call emphasized the need to move forward with implementing the second phase’s obligations, including the start of work by the Palestinian technocrats committee following its formation, the deployment of an international stabilization force to monitor the ceasefire, the achievement of an Israeli withdrawal from the Strip and the launch of early recovery and reconstruction.
Hassan said Egypt’s role remains crucial and focused on completing the agreement without Israeli obstruction, particularly as the Rafah crossing was not opened during the first phase, and delays persist in deploying stabilization forces to oversee border crossings.
He stressed that Washington would seek to complete the agreement to preserve its credibility.
Al-Raqab said that any progress in the second phase and avoiding a repeat of the first phase’s stagnation hinges on US support for fully implementing the deal, particularly securing an Israeli withdrawal rather than just addressing disarmament.
