Egypt to present Gaza technocratic committee names to Palestinian Authority

Egyptian officials are expected to present the Palestinian leadership with a list of proposed names for a technocratic committee that would administer the Gaza Strip in the next phase of the ceasefire deal, including oversight of the Rafah crossing, a well-informed Palestinian official told The New Arab's sister outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

The official said the proposal would be discussed during talks in Cairo, where Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh and the head of the Palestinian General Intelligence Service, Maj. Gen. Majed Faraj, arrived on Sunday afternoon for meetings related to Gaza and preparations for the second phase of the truce, which is expected to begin in the coming days.

The visit follows al-Sheikh’s trip to Qatar on 15 December and a separate visit to Saudi Arabia later the same month, both of which focused on Gaza and the role of the Palestinian Authority in the enclave.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the Palestinian official said that "as expected, Egyptian officials will present the proposed committee names to the Palestinian leadership, and the latter will give its opinion on them".

"Any committee that runs the Gaza Strip without Palestinian national legitimacy will not succeed, and this is what the Palestinian leadership has made clear to all Arab and American parties," he added.

According to the official, a second key issue in the Cairo talks concerns the reopening of the Rafah crossing.

"It was agreed that the crossing would be opened in both directions with a Palestinian and European presence, in accordance with the 2005 agreement that was in force before the war on the Gaza Strip, provided that Palestinian security personnel wear civilian clothing," he said.

The official added that broader discussions would also address security arrangements in Gaza.

"There are many other points, all centred on the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority’s readiness to deploy a security force to maintain order, especially given that Egypt trained hundreds of Palestinian security personnel from various agencies over the past year, and stipulated that any security officer must have completed their studies and training in Egypt," he said.

A second source, who also requested anonymity, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the United States and Israel had already approved the proposed names for the administrative committee.

The source said Washington and Tel Aviv had asked Qatar and Egypt to follow up with the Palestinian leadership on issues related to the committee’s affiliation with the Palestinian Authority government, its mandate, how it would operate, the limits of its presence, and how the Palestinian security force would be subordinated to it.

The proposed arrangements come amid ongoing regional and international efforts to shape governance and security structures in Gaza as part of post-war planning tied to the ceasefire agreement.