Gaza governance committee holds first meet

The Palestinian committee set to govern post-war Gaza held its first meeting in Cairo on Friday, Egyptian state-linked channel Al Qahera News reported.

Formed on Wednesday as the second phase of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire deal came into effect, the committee is made up of 15 technocrats charged with administering the Palestinian territory after the Hamas-Israel war.

On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said he was backing the newly appointed “Palestinian Technocratic Government” in Gaza where Washington has announced ⁠the launch of a second phase in a ceasefire that went into effect in October but remains fragile.

“I am backing a newly appointed Palestinian Technocratic Government, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, supported by the Board’s High Representative, to govern Gaza during its transition,” Trump said on social media.

Israel and Hamas signed off in October on Trump’s plan, which says the Palestinian technocratic body will be overseen by an international so-called “Board of Peace” that is meant to supervise Gaza’s governance for a transitional period.

In another post, Trump said the “Board of Peace,” of which Trump himself is the chair, was formed and its members would be announced shortly.

Israel and Hamas have accused each other of ceasefire violations in Gaza where since the start of the truce in October over 440 Palestinians, including more than 100 children, and three Israeli soldiers have been reported killed.

Meanwhile, Israel’s military said it had struck the Gaza Strip the previous day in response to a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire there.

The announcement of Thursday’s attacks came after exchanges of fire in the south of the Palestinian territory.

As the second phase of the fragile US-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas began, each side accused the other of failing to abide by the agreement that took effect on Oct.10.

Both the Gaza civil defence agency and Hamas reported on Thursday that strikes on the territory killed at least seven people.

The family of a Hamas commander announced his death in a strike on a house in Deir Al Balah in the centre of the territory.

On Friday, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said the group believed Israel had committed a “new violation” of the ceasefire by carrying out strikes in Gaza.

Agencies