TNA Staff
The New Arab / January 14, 2026
Hamas has agreed to cede power to the committee, which will be charged with carrying out instructions from an international body shaped by Israel and the US.
The Trump administration is on the cusp of unveiling the Palestinian committee expected to administer Gaza, a step that could lead to a historic transfer of power in the shattered territory.
Eighteen Palestinian officials have received invitations to join the committee that will replace Hamas, which could be officially announced as soon as Wednesday, Palestinian sources have told The New Arab’s Arabic edition, Al-Araby al-Jadeed.
Ali Shaath, a former deputy planning minister in the Palestinian Authority, has been chosen to head the committee, while retired intelligence official Mohammed Nisman is expected to take charge of security.
The committee is expected hold its first meeting in Cairo on Thursday, the sources said.
The announcement is hoped to inject new momentum into a fragile ceasefire process that threatens to be overshadowed by the growing chaos in Iran.
Hamas has pledged to step down following the formation of the committee, ceding power after almost two decades of ruling the strip.
A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Tuesday for talks ahead of the announcement of the committee.
The move on its own is unlikely to be enough to progress the ceasefire, with Israel refusing to enter the second phase until Hamas surrenders its weapons and leaves the enclave.
The White House has delayed plans to form the ‘Board of Peace‘ helmed by world leaders, which was expected to be unveiled this week, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
It is instead set to announce the composition of the executive committee, a process that has been dominated by Israeli figures with close ties to the Mossad and Benjamin Netanyahu.
Whether the US and Arab mediators are able to build on the 10 October truce has remained clouded in uncertainty, with both sides refusing to move from their red lines and Israel continuing to attack Gaza on a near-daily basis.
Hamas has ruled out disarmament until Israel allows the establishment of a Palestinian state, while Israel refuses to withdraw from Gaza until it is fully demilitarised.
Israel remains in control of more than half of the territory and is supposed to gradually withdraw during the second phase of the ceasefire.
Israeli officials shape Gaza’s future
Israeli figures close to the prime minister and intelligence agencies are playing an outsized role in shaping the Gaza executive committee, the key decision-making body in the new system being imposed by the Trump administration, according to the FT.
They include General Roman Gofman, Netanyahu’s chief military advisor, and Michael Eisenberg, a US-Israeli investor who has advised the prime minister on the Gaza ceasefire since October.
The officials also include US-Israeli policymaker Aryeh Lightstone, the former right-hand man of hardline pro-Israel former US ambassador to Tel Aviv David Friedman, and Liran Tancman, an Israeli cybersecurity entrepreneur with close ties to the Mossad.
All four were in talks with the Israeli prime minister last week alongside Nickolay Mladenov, the Bulgarian former UN Middle East envoy who will head the committee, sources told the British newspaper.
Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and unofficial advisor, and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff are expected to be on the committee.
The four men were involved in establishing the notorious Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the Israel- and US-backed aid organisation accused of facilitating war crimes by international monitors.
Its food distribution centres became scenes of almost daily shootings by Israeli troops and US military contractors, which local health officials said killed 2,615 Palestinians and wounded more than 19,000 others in less than five months.
The executive committee will be responsible for making key decisions over Gaza’s future, including its reconstruction, security, and political transition.
The Palestinian-led committee on the ground will not have independent decision-making powers.
Instead, it will be tasked with delivering services and carrying out directives made by the executive committee.
