The White House says the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is moving into its second phase, which includes the demilitarization of Gaza, a key point in President Trump’s peace plan.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
President Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, says the second phase of the ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas is beginning. He said Wednesday that Phase 2 will establish a new Palestinian administration in Gaza and begin the full demilitarization and rebuilding of the territory. We’re joined now by NPR’s Aya Batrawy in Dubai to discuss what comes next. All right, so second phase. What does that actually mean?
AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: OK. Yeah. Well, it was really important for the White House to make this announcement now because the ceasefire is fragile. You know, in the first three months since Trump pushed this through, there have been more than 450 Palestinians killed, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Some were killed in Israeli airstrikes, but many are being shot almost daily by Israeli troops who still occupy more than half of the Gaza Strip. So while the ceasefire was stuck in its initial phase with no progress, we saw Hamas reasserting itself in that sliver of territory they still hold and Israeli troops fortifying their hold of the territory that they hold in Gaza. And all of this is happening while people in Gaza are suffering without reconstruction or progress through another harsh winter. And that is why this next phase to the ceasefire is so important to its success, and the demilitarization of Gaza is at the heart of that second phase. But, you know, none of this is going to change overnight.
MARTÍNEZ: Got it. Now, what you mentioned – demilitarization – what does the plan say about that?
BATRAWY: All right. Well, the wording of Trump’s peace plan is vague on that. And so negotiations are key, but negotiations for that have not begun yet. But we did hear from senior White House officials yesterday, who said there’s a general concept of what they call terror infrastructure in Gaza being destroyed. And they say heavy weaponry, like rockets, would be put into a place where they’re not being used to defend against Israel or to attack Israel.
Now, the Israeli government wants all weapons out of the hands of any Palestinian militant groups and no tunnels to remain intact. Now, Hamas says it is open to negotiating weapons being stored until a new Palestinian government is in power, but they want Israel’s troops withdrawing in tandem, in coordination with them laying down their arms. But the White House and Israel say that withdrawal of Israeli troops to the buffer zones of Gaza are only going to happen after demilitarization. So still a lot of complex moving parts and very uncertain what’ll happen next.
MARTÍNEZ: And who exactly would be actually overseeing disarmament and governing Gaza in this coming phase?
BATRAWY: OK. So the disarmament part, A, is likely going to be Egypt. They’re a mediator between Israel and Hamas. They border the Gaza Strip in Israel, and, you know, they would want to be part of a broader international force deployed to Gaza to do this with militant groups agreeing to storing their weapons, not by force. But you need this International Stabilization Force to be assembled and deployed to Gaza, and that has not happened yet.
Now, on this new Palestinian committee being formed, that is what will govern Gaza. It does not include Hamas. These are Palestinian factions that are meeting right now in Cairo, including Hamas, to finalize the names of these technocrats. It will be about 12 to 15 people in charge of running Gaza’s civilian affairs. Think education, health, policing, things like that. And this committee is going to be led by a man named Ali Shaath. He’s a former deputy minister in the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Now, overseeing that committee is going to be President Trump, who will oversee something called the Board of Peace. Leaders from around the world have been asked to join this board, and they are expected to hold their first meeting next week at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
But look, there’s still one hostage body left that was taken in that Hamas attack – October 7, 2023 – that hasn’t been found in Gaza. And Israel’s been very unwilling to open Gaza’s border with Egypt for more aid to enter through there or for people to leave and return until that body is handed back. But the real threat looming over this entire ceasefire are the protests happening in Iran and the possibility of U.S. and Israeli attacks there, which could start another war and take attention away from these next crucial steps.
MARTÍNEZ: That’s NPR’s Aya Batrawy. Thanks a lot.
BATRAWY: Thank you.
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