A delegation of US officials held “constructive and positive” talks with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a meeting on Saturday to discuss advancing to the second phase of Washington's plan for ending the war in Gaza, US special envoy Steve Witkoff has said.
The US last week said the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire is now under way. However, Israel continues to bomb Gaza and Hamas has yet to return the remains of one hostage.
On Thursday, the US unveiled plans for a New Gaza which include residential towers, a beach resort and data centres, at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, in Switzerland. The project is part of a shaky ceasefire plan brokered by US President Donald Trump.
Mr Witkoff said the talks with Mr Netanyahu, which also included US senior advisers Jared Kushner and Aryeh Lightstone and White House adviser Josh Gruenbaum, were “constructive and positive, with both sides aligned on next steps and the importance of continued co-operation on all matters critical to the region”.
Discussions touched on “what are the next steps we can take to work on the demilitarisation of the Gaza Strip,” an American official told The National at a briefing with reporters on Saturday.
“We’ve been working very closely with Prime Minister Netanyahu and his team, obviously since the hostage deal, to recover the bodies,” the official said. “We’re working very closely to recover that last body together, so we have very close co-ordination.”
Mr Netanyahu's office confirmed that the Israeli Prime Minister had met with Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire, without elaborating, but Israeli media reports indicate criticism voiced at the two envoys after the meeting.
However, the US official described it as a “productive partnership” and said they were “working very closely together to try and determine what the right next steps are, so that we can keep the ceasefire and turn it into a long and enduring peace in Gaza”.
The second phase of Mr Trump's peace plan establishes a “transitional, technocratic Palestinian administration” – the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza – and begins the full demilitarisation and reconstruction of the enclave.
The trickiest point is expected to be the disarmament of Hamas, steps to ensure Israel's full withdrawal from Gaza and the deradicalisation of the enclave, which has been under Hamas rule since 2007. The US-brokered truce agreement stipulates that Hamas leaders would be offered amnesty and safe passage out of Gaza into exile.
Mr Netanyahu has voiced criticism of Mr Trump's Board of Peace despite agreeing to join.
The head of a transitional Palestinian committee backed by the US to temporarily administer Gaza, Ali Shaath, said on Thursday that the Rafah border crossing – effectively the sole route in or out of Gaza for nearly all of the more than two million people who live there – would open next week.
But over Sunday night, Mr Netanyahu's office issued a statement saying that as part of Mr Trump's 20-point plan, Israel agreed to a limited opening of the Rafah crossing with Egypt for human passage only, under full Israeli supervision.
The office said that the opening of the crossing from Egypt depended on a "100 per cent effort by Hamas" to locate and return all of the deceased abductees.
The body of only one of the dead hostages, armed forces member Ran Gvili, has not been handed over, because of what Hamas described as difficulties caused by the Israeli bombardment of the enclave.
The office said the armed forces are conducting a "focused operation" to use all intelligence information obtained to find and return Mr Gvili's remains. On completion of the operation, Israel will open the Rafah crossing, the office said.
Thomas Helm contributed to this report from Jerusalem.
