Israel is pressing the United States to exclude Turkey and Qatar from the international committee tasked with overseeing Gaza's reconstruction, and to prevent both countries from deploying troops under a proposed international peacekeeping force.
The White House on Friday named Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Qatari diplomat Ali al-Thawadi to the Gaza Executive Board, an 11-member panel responsible for supervising the work of a new Palestinian committee expected to administer the territory.
Both Turkey and Qatar have indicated their willingness to contribute to the proposed International Stabilisation Force, which Washington says would oversee security in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed his foreign minister to raise objections with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio over their inclusion.
"There will be no Turkish or Qatari soldiers in the Gaza Strip," Netanyahu told the Knesset on Monday.
"In the Gaza Strip, we are on the eve of phase two of the Trump plan. Phase two means one simple thing: Hamas will be disarmed, and Gaza will be demilitarised," he said.
The Trump administration announced last week the creation of a 15-member Palestinian committee to replace Hamas in Gaza, alongside an executive board led by Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov.
The structure will operate under the US president’s so-called "Board of Peace" and forms a central pillar of a 20-point plan aimed at ending the war.
The executive board also includes Israeli-linked businessmen Yakir Gabay and Marc Rowan, former UK prime minister Tony Blair, Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem al-Hashimy, and White House advisers Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
The administration also appointed US General Jasper Jeffers to lead the international force, which has struggled to gain backing among Arab and Muslim states amid concerns it would be used to forcibly disarm Hamas.
Since the announcement, Netanyahu has repeatedly complained that the White House did not coordinate the move with him, while far-right ministers in his government have demanded steps toward annexing and resettling Gaza.
Obstructing the process
Israeli authorities have responded by blocking Palestinian officials from entering Gaza and keeping the Rafah border crossing closed, according to Israeli media reports on Tuesday.
The Palestinian committee was due to assume administrative control of Gaza this week, but has been prevented from entering the territory, Palestinian sources told Haaretz.
The committee, led by veteran Palestinian civil servant Ali Shaath, continues to meet in Cairo and is holding talks with the United States and other mediators in an effort to gain access to Gaza by the end of the month, the paper reported.
The executive board was formed under the second phase of the ceasefire framework announced by Washington last week.
Under that phase, Israeli forces are expected to withdraw from Gaza once Hamas hands over power to the committee and relinquishes its weapons.
Hamas welcomed the developments, saying it was prepared to begin discussions on a transition of authority and the storage of its weapons.
Israel, however, has largely failed to implement its commitments under the first phase of the ceasefire, continuing military operations and restricting aid deliveries.
More than 460 Palestinians have been killed and 1,287 wounded in near-daily Israeli attacks during the three-month ceasefire period.
Since the start of the war on 7 October 2023, Israeli forces have killed at least 71,550 people and destroyed much of Gaza.