Khaberni - Bashara Bahbah, president of the "Arab Americans for Peace" committee and the mediator close to the American Administration on the Gaza dossier, stated that the second phase of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip would be in January (January) next month, and is expected to be in the first or second week, noting that "the Gaza Strip management committee is ready with names, and most likely the Palestinian Health Minister (Majed Abu Ramadan) will be its chairman."
Bahbah, who is still close to the behind-the-scenes at the White House regarding Gaza, told the Saudi newspaper "Al Sharq Al Awsat" that "Washington supports the presence of Turkish forces within the international stabilizing force as they are most capable of maintaining stability in the sector," indicating that "the expected meeting between American President Donald Trump and the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is decisive regarding the second phase, and the United States will press during it to start next month, and decide Turkey's participation in the stabilizing force."
Task Definition Meeting
Bahbah revealed details of the meeting held last Tuesday in the Qatari capital, Doha, regarding the formation of the "international stabilizing force" in the Gaza Strip, explaining that "one of the meeting's goals was for Washington to primarily determine the countries ready to participate clearly and precisely, and to know the nature of each country's contribution, whether by providing soldiers, training, or technical and artistic support to the international force."
Bahbah clarified that "the second goal of the meeting was to clarify the mechanism of interaction between these forces, and their command line," indicating "a proposal that an American general would lead these international forces."
According to Bahbah, the discussion touched on "the locations where these forces will deploy, whether their presence will be limited to an area outside (the Yellow Line) separating Israeli-controlled areas and (Hamas), or within it, or in the densely populated areas currently, and the parties that will provide the necessary funding for these forces."
Rejection of Israel’s Method
Regarding the details of the potential deployment plan, Bahbah pointed out that there is an ongoing discussion on the topic, but "deployment in the way Israel wants was rejected by the overwhelming majority of representatives of the participating forces," in reference to "a consensus around monitoring, not engagement."
Regarding the nature of the tasks, Bahbah emphasized that the majority of the participating countries do not desire to play a role related to "disarmament," but aim to be intervening forces between the Israeli forces and populated areas, with the goal of protecting civilians, indicating that the purpose behind the presence of these forces is "the gradual withdrawal of Israel from the sector."
Bahbah said: "These forces will not play a role or act on behalf of Israel, especially in the matter of disarmament, especially since leaders in (Hamas) have expressed to me their willingness to negotiate on this matter, but the use of force will not succeed, especially since Israel has failed to disarm the movement by force over two years, and no international party will succeed in doing that by force."
Turkey's central participation... and Trump is pressing for its acceptance
Regarding Turkish participation, Bahbah described Ankara's role as "central," considering that Turkey is the country closest to Hamas, and most capable of understanding them regarding the weapons file, which is difficult for other countries, affirming that "the presence of Turkish forces in the sector is essential, and will lead to better stability, and Washington supports that."
Bahbah expects that American President Trump, during his upcoming meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu in America at the end of this month, will exert pressure on the latter to accept the Turkish forces.
However, Bahbah expected that "Israel will try to set conditions, and perhaps the compromise will be around the nature of the Turkish forces, and that their role be technical, not armed," stressing that "the pressure from the American administration will be the decisive factor."
Commitments of the second phase
Regarding the "Peace Council," Bahbah clarified that Trump talks about the desire of many world leaders to join it, explaining that this joining is "not free," but entails commitments from the member countries, whether through funding, providing security forces, or other commitments.
About the names nominated for its membership, Bahbah said the names he has seen regarding the "Executive Council" include the American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, along with the former American Ambassador Richard Grenell, and the former Bulgarian diplomat, Nikolai Mladenov.
Regarding the management of the Gaza Strip, Bahbah confirmed "the existence of a list containing 42 names nominated for membership in the (Technocrat Committee), agreed upon between (Hamas) and (Fatah) and Egypt, likely to be chaired by the Palestinian Health Minister, Majed Abu Ramadan."
Despite talk of stalling in moving to the second phase, the American mediator Bahbah expects that the "second phase" will be launched in the first or second week of January next, specifically after the Trump-Netanyahu summit which will resolve the outstanding issues, denying knowledge of arrangements for the attendance of the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi at this summit.
The meeting between the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and the American President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Peace Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh last October (The Egyptian Presidency)
Bahbah confirmed that Trump will not allow the agreement to fail "this is guaranteed 100 percent," emphasizing that "the (Hamas) movement is committed to the ceasefire despite the ongoing Israeli breaches," and Bahbah noted that "the movement realizes that Israel is looking for any excuse to continue the eradication operations in Gaza, and therefore it shows greater tolerance to miss the opportunity."
