{"id":697224,"date":"2026-01-15T08:10:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T08:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/697224\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T08:10:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T08:10:14","slug":"gaza-plan-phase-two-us-to-discuss-hamas-disarmament-israeli-withdrawal-israel-palestine-conflict-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/697224\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaza plan phase two: US to discuss Hamas disarmament, Israeli withdrawal | Israel-Palestine conflict News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hamas leaders and representatives of other Palestinian factions in Gaza are in the Egyptian capital Cairo for talks on the second phase of the United States-led Gaza ceasefire deal<\/a>, amid a teetering ceasefire that Israel has repeatedly violated<\/a> as its genocidal war continues.<\/p>\n

Deep uncertainty remains over the next steps involving the disarmament of Palestinian armed groups in the Strip, rebuilding and daily governance.<\/p>\n

An adviser to the head of Hamas\u2019s political bureau told Al Jazeera on Thursday that discussions in Cairo are focusing on reopening the Rafah crossings, ensuring the entry of aid currently stockpiled on the Egyptian side of the border and securing an Israeli withdrawal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Taher al-Nunu said Hamas \u201cmust work with mediators and the international community to achieve calm and a return to normalcy in Gaza\u201d and praised the \u201cgreat efforts\u201d being made to implement what was agreed upon.<\/p>\n

Al-Nunu also accused Israel of attempting to derail the ceasefire and said Hamas was \u201cworking with mediators to open the crossings, allow aid in and secure the withdrawal of occupation forces from the Gaza Strip.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, known as Kan, reported that Israeli officials consider the so-called yellow line \u2013 a buffer zone in eastern Gaza \u2013 as a strategic area that will remain under Israeli control.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s current military occupation of Gaza is more than 50 percent of the besieged enclave.<\/p>\n

The leaders of Palestinian armed groups were also scheduled to meet Bulgarian diplomat and politician Nickolay Mladenov, who will likely head the US-proposed Board of Peace. US President Donald Trump is expected to announce the names of about 15 world leaders who will become members of the transitional body in the coming days.<\/p>\n

Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh welcomed efforts to move \u200cahead with the Gaza plan and argued that institutions in Gaza should be linked to those run by the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank, \u201cupholding the principle of one system, one law and one legitimate weapon\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a joint statement, the other mediators of the ceasefire deal \u2013 Egypt, Turkiye and Qatar \u2013 called the announcement an \u201cimportant development aimed at consolidating stability and improving the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip\u201d.<\/p>\n

They welcomed the establishment of the Palestinian technocratic committee set to administer the Gaza Strip and said it would be led by Ali Shaath, a former deputy minister in the PA.<\/p>\n

The technocratic committee will be tasked with providing public services to the more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, but it faces towering challenges and unanswered questions, including about its operations and financing.<\/p>\n

The United Nations has estimated that reconstruction will cost more than $50bn. The process is expected to take years, and little money has been pledged so far.<\/p>\n

US announces Gaza plan\u2019s second phase<\/p>\n

The US on Wednesday said it was launching the second phase of its plan to \u200dend the Gaza war.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s special envoy Steve Witkoff said it \u201cestablishes a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in Gaza\u201d and \u200bmarks the beginning of \u201cthe full demilitarisation and reconstruction of Gaza, primarily the disarmament of all unauthorised personnel\u201d.<\/p>\n

The first phase has been shaken by issues including Israeli air attacks<\/a>\u00a0that have killed hundreds in Gaza, the failure to retrieve the remains of one last Israeli captive, and Israeli delays in reopening Gaza\u2019s border crossing<\/a> with Egypt.<\/p>\n

In phase two, the US and other mediators will need to tackle the disarmament of Hamas \u2013 which has refused to give up its arms while Israel occupies the territory \u2013 and the deployment of an international peacekeeping force.<\/p>\n

Witkoff said \u201cthe goal here is to create the alternative to Hamas that wants that peace, figure out how to empower them,\u201d in a reference to the new committee of \u200cPalestinian technocrats as a new \u201cgovernment\u201d for Gaza.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd obviously, now that we have this government, we will be engaging in conversations: With Hamas on the next phase, which is demilitarisation; with Israel, on what amnesty program can be given to Hamas if they do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was no mention from Witkoff in the initial statement about Israeli withdrawal or allowing critical humanitarian aid and critical supplies into Gaza, which faces both daily Israeli attacks and extreme weather<\/a>, with deaths from both.<\/p>\n

Al Jazeera\u2019s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Gaza City, said the Gaza deal has so far brought no change on the ground. \u201cWe\u2019re still hearing the sound of drones [hovering above] and there have been a couple of explosions in the early morning hours, as demolitions take place across Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Witkoff claimed the first phase of the deal delivered \u201chistoric humanitarian aid\u201d to the besieged enclave, Khoudary said there was \u201cnot a single day when 600 trucks of humanitarian aid enter the Gaza Strip\u201d, in reference to the minimum quantity set by the US-brokered agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see people losing their tents after every storm and most of Gaza\u2019s population is currently homeless,\u201d she said. Most Palestinians in Gaza remain fully dependent on humanitarian aid, which Israel has further curtailed by suspending permits for more than three dozen aid organisations<\/a> on January 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is limited humanitarian aid, what is coming in right now is not enough and definitely not historic,\u201d Khoudary added.<\/p>\n

\u2018The deal is rigged\u2019<\/p>\n

Witkoff also stressed that the US expects Hamas to fulfil its obligation to return the body of the last deceased Israeli captive, Ran Gvili. \u201cFailure to do so will bring serious consequences,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly said he would not begin talks on the second phase of the ceasefire until Gvili is returned. Netanyahu on Wednesday said he had spoken with Gvili\u2019s parents and assured them the \u201cmove to establish a technocratic committee will not affect the efforts to return Ran\u201d.<\/p>\n

Al Jazeera\u2019s Senior Analyst Marwan Bishara said that \u201cwhile there is a ceasefire, the Israelis insist on the body of one and last captive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe deal is rigged, much of the so-called peace process or ceasefire sponsored by the US since 1991 has been rigged because the US is Israel\u2019s ally,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hamas leaders and representatives of other Palestinian factions in Gaza are in the Egyptian capital Cairo for talks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":697225,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[2194,7424,839,12,1814,49,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-697224","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-gaza","9":"tag-israel-palestine-conflict","10":"tag-middle-east","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-palestine","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-us","15":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115898104073499572","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=697224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/697225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=697224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=697224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=697224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}