Khaberni - On Wednesday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Aaty confirmed an agreement was reached on the names of 15 members of the technocrat committee to manage the Gaza Strip under the U.S. President's plan that was agreed last year.
Abdel Aaty said at a press conference in Cairo, "A consensus was reached on the members of the administrative committee.. comprising 15 members."
He added, "We hope that after this consensus, the announcement of this committee will soon be made," which will be followed by the implementation of the rest of the agreement's terms "and the deployment of this committee to the Gaza Strip to manage daily affairs."
A delegation from Hamas headed by its chief negotiator, Khalil al-Haya, met with the Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad on Wednesday noon, to discuss forming a committee of experts to manage the Gaza Strip.
An informed source about the consultations said that the Hamas delegation "started a meeting with the head of intelligence Hassan Rashad and other Egyptian officials on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the file of the independent national competencies committee and its working mechanism and authority for taking over the sector's management."
The source added that the Hamas delegation held consultations with several factions whose leaders arrived in Cairo on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings to discuss the committee’s file in terms of "the names of its members, its chair, and its function."
The source confirmed that Egypt "is making contacts for holding a meeting between the Fatah and Hamas movements regarding the committee's file and Palestinian issues."
According to President Donald Trump's 20-point plan, an independent competencies committee will manage the Gaza Strip, supervised by the "Peace Council" headed by Trump himself.
Another Palestinian source said, "Consensus between Fatah and Hamas and the factions is necessary regarding the names of the committee members. When everyone agrees, President Mahmoud Abbas will issue a presidential decree forming it."
"Two candidates for the committee’s presidency were proposed, they are Ali Shaath (former Deputy Minister of Planning in the Palestinian Authority) and Majed Abu Ramadan (Minister of Health in the Authority), and communication has been made with them in Egypt," noting that "communication with several figures to be members" in the committee.
The source explained that mediators in Egypt and Qatar are coordinating with the U.S. Administration and Nikolai Mladenov, the nominee to head the coordination body between the Peace Council and the committee.
Mladenov had previously served as the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process between 2015 and 2020.
Furthermore, the informed sources mentioned that the Hamas delegation will discuss with the Egyptian officials "Israeli violations and the completion of the first stage of the ceasefire agreement especially pertaining to completing Israeli military withdrawals and opening the Rafah crossing in both directions, and starting the second phase."
