The United States Special Envoy to “the Middle East” Steve Witkoff announced in a post on X on Wednesday, January 14, the launch of phase two of the 20-point plan brought forward by US President Donald Trump to end the Israeli genocidal aggression on Gaza.

Witkoff clarified that the next phase will see the establishment of what he called the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in Gaza that is supposed to run daily affairs in the war-torn enclave.

Meanwhile, rebuilding the severely-devastated territory, and the disarmament of all Palestinian resistance groups, which the US envoy described as “unauthorized personnel”, constitute the other two major aspects of the upcoming phase.

Ali Shaath appointed as the head of NCAG

Witkoff’s announcement came after all Palestinian factions, including Hamas, endorsed the formation of a 15-member transitional committee to administer the Gaza strip, during a Wednesday meeting in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

The committee will be led by Ali Shaath, a civil engineer and a former minister of planning in the Palestinian Authority (PA), who originates from Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis, but he is currently based in the occupied West Bank.

It will also be overseen by United Nations envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, who will guide the so-called “Board of Peace” under Trump’s supervision.

The rest of the NCAG members are:

• Omar Shamal – former director of telecommunications in Gaza, who will oversee the communications portfolio.
• Abdul Karim Ashour – head of the Agricultural Relief Association and a civil society activist, who will take charge of agriculture.
• Ayed Yaghi – director of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, who will be responsible for health.
• Ayed Abu Ramadan – head of Gaza’s Chamber of Commerce, who will run Industry and Economy.
• Rami Helles – former mufti for the Palestinian presidential guards, who will handle endowments and religious affairs.
• Osama Hassan Al-Saadawi – a former minister of state for entrepreneurship and empowerment in the PA, who will oversee housing and public works.
• Samira Helles – a public administration expert on institutional rebuilding, who will assume the responsibility of energy and transportation.
• Jabr al-Daour – president of Gaza-based University of Palestine, who will manage education.
• Bashir Al-Rayes – a financial and engineering consultant, who will deal with finance.
• Ali Barhoum – an engineer and consultant at Rafah municipality, who will superintend water and municipalities.
• Hanaa Tarzi – a lawyer and civil society leader, who will look after social affairs and women’s affairs.
• Adnan Abu Warda – a judge in the PA’s Supreme Constitutional Court, who will oversee the Judiciary.
• Husni al-Mughni – the head of the Supreme Authority for Tribal Affairs, who will handle tribal-related issues.
• Sami Nasman – a retired senior security officer in the PA, who will take control of security.

Trump expresses his support for NCAG, warns Hamas to disarm “immediately”

The US president expressed his satisfaction with the formed committee, in a post he wrote on Thursday, January 16, on his Truth Social platform.

“I can say with certainty that it is the Greatest and Most Prestigious Board ever assembled at any time, any place,” Trump stated.

In another post that he shared shortly later, Trump warned Hamas to demilitarize “immediately”.

“With the support of Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar, we will secure a COMPREHENSIVE Demilitarization Agreement with Hamas, including the surrender of ALL weapons, and the dismantling of EVERY tunnel. Hamas must IMMEDIATELY honor its commitments, including the return of the final body to Israel, and proceed without delay to full Demilitarization,” he noted.

“As I have said before, they can do this the easy way, or the hard way. The people of Gaza have suffered long enough. The time is NOW,” Trump stressed.

Palestinian president praises the efforts of Trump and mediators, pledges to back the committee

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas thanked the US president and mediators Egypt, Qatar, and Türkiye for their efforts to move forward to phase two of the ceasefire deal.

In addition, Abbas vowed to support the NCAG during the transitional period.

Read more: Trump proposes releasing Marwan Barghouti from Israeli prisons to rule post-war Gaza

Hamas hails the formation of the committee as “a step in the right direction”

Although some members of the NCAG are known for their longstanding criticism of Hamas, which extends back to many years prior to the October 7 attacks, the resistance movement declared its willingness to hand over governance to the committee.

Senior Hamas leader, Bassem Naim, welcomed the formation of the committee on Thursday, considering it “a step in the right direction”.

“This is crucial for consolidating the ceasefire, preventing a return to war, addressing the catastrophic humanitarian crisis and preparing for comprehensive reconstruction.” Naim emphasized.

The committee gained approval of all Palestinian factions, says Dr. Mustafa Barghouti

For his part, the Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, affirmed in an interview with the Jordanian TV channel AlMamlaka, that the committee gained the approval of all Palestinian factions without exception.

Barghouti further affirmed that the chosen members were appointed as independent technocrats, based on their field of expertise, away from any factional affiliations.

A consensual or a controversial committee?

Although the representatives of the Palestinian factions welcomed the formation of the committee, the selection of some members sparked controversy among the Palestinian grassroots for many reasons.

On the one hand, media reports claim that Shaath, Al-Daour, and Al-Mughni are affiliated with the Democratic Reform Block, led by Mohammed Dahlan, a former official in the PA.

Dahlan was expelled from the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah), which leads the PA, over corruption charges and for allegedly plotting to overthrow President Mahmoud Abbas.

Many Palestinians view the sacked politician as one of the former PA’s officials, who established the rules of security coordination with the Israeli authorities.

He has also been blamed for playing a major role in igniting the strife between Hamas and Fatah, which resulted in clashes between members of the two factions in Gaza in 2007.

Read more: US, Israel reject Gaza reconstruction plan adopted at Arab Summit in Cairo

On a larger scale, it is believed that Dahlan has been a point person and a key advisor to the rulers of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, and therefore was purportedly involved in orchestrating chaos, civil wars, and coup d’etats in different parts of West Asia and Africa.

On the other hand, Sami Nasman and Rami Helles are perceived as hardline rivals and critics of Hamas, which in turn reflects a potential prejudice that would harm the unity, and widen the political rift within Palestinians.

In 2015, Nasman was reportedly sentenced in absentia by the Hamas-led government in Gaza to 15 years in prison, over allegations of inciting chaos and planning the assassination of the movement’s leaders.

The appointment of Rami Helles has also raised concern among many Palestinians, especially after he attacked resistance groups implicitly, in a statement celebrating his nomination published on his Facebook page.

Helles was slammed for referring to Palestinian resistance groups, above all Hamas, as “extremist and deviated”, and for promoting co-existence with illegal Israeli colonists under the cover of “interfaith tolerance”.

Speculations suggest that Nasman would launch a fierce campaign on resistance groups and their supporters in the Gaza strip as part of the US-dictated demilitarization plan, on the pretext of maintaining security.

According to analysts, Helles’s role would not be less serious, as he would provide a religiously-oriented ideological framework to Nasman’s campaign under the banner of “eliminating extremist groups”.

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