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US announces launch of phase two of Trump’s peace plan to end the Gaza conflict
According to Witkoff, Phase two will establish a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in Gaza and begin the full demilitarisation.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday announced the launch of phase two of Trump's 20-Point Plan to End the Gaza Conflict. He said that the plan involved moving from ceasefire to demilitarisation, technocratic governance, and reconstruction.
According to Witkoff, Phase two will establish a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in Gaza, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), and begin the full demilitarisation.
In an X post, he said that the US administration is expecting Hamas to comply fully with its obligations, “including the immediate return of the final deceased hostage,” the post read.
Talking about phase one of the plan, Witkoff said that it delivered historic humanitarian aid, maintained the ceasefire, returned all living hostages and the remains of twenty-seven of the twenty-eight deceased hostages.
He also wrote that the US is grateful to Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar for their mediation efforts that made all progress in the peace deal possible.
This announcement marks a major step towards a new government in Gaza and a ceasefire. However, the ceasefire still faces many challenges, including the deployment of an international security force to supervise the deal and the difficult process of disarming Hamas.
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 will be tasked with providing public services to the more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, Associated Press reported.
