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The committee set up to manage the US-controlled Palestinian territory of Gaza met for the first time in Cairo on Friday, with its leader pledging to work quickly to improve the situation there.
Ali Shaat, a Gaza engineer and former Palestinian Authority official, expects the reconstruction and recovery period to take about three years. First, he plans to focus on immediate needs, including shelter.
“The Palestinian people have been looking forward to this committee, its establishment and its efforts to save them,” Shaat said in an interview with Egypt’s state-owned Al-Qaira News after the meeting.
US President Donald Trump has backed the group’s bid to rule Gaza after two years of war between Israel and Hamas. After a ceasefire was signed on October 10, Israeli troops withdrew from parts of Gaza and are now behind the so-called Yellow Line, thousands of displaced Palestinians have returned to their homes and strikes are being called almost daily.
“I support the newly appointed Palestinian Technocratic Committee, the National Committee for Gaza Governance, supported by the Board’s High Representative, to govern Gaza during the transition,” Trump said in a social media post Thursday.
The committee is overseen by the Trump-led “Peace Board,” whose members have yet to be named and will handle day-to-day affairs in Gaza.
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said on social media Wednesday that the ceasefire is entering a phase focused on demilitarizing Gaza, establishing a technocratic government and rebuilding. However, Witkoff did not provide any details about the new Transitional Palestinian Authority that will govern Gaza.
Israel and Hamas accuse each other of ceasefire violations in Gaza. More than 440 Palestinians, including more than 100 children, and three Israeli soldiers are said to have been killed since the truce began in October.
The cease-fire agreement was tested last time by the failure to recover the bodies of Israeli hostages, Israel’s reopening of Gaza’s border with Egypt, and Hamas’ claims that it had not yet disarmed.
Following the second cease-fire process, Washington and its negotiating partners are expected to face challenges to Hamas disarmament, additional Israeli withdrawals associated with the disarmament, and the deployment of an international peacekeeping force.
A 14-year-old boy was killed by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank
Friends and relatives in the West Bank gathered Friday to mourn the death of a 14-year-old Palestinian boy who was killed by Israeli soldiers.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health, which confirmed their death, said that in 2026 according to the European calendar, Mohammed Nasan was the first child killed by the army.
Residents said Israeli soldiers fired stun grenades and tear gas in an unprovoked attack. The Israeli army said in a statement that the raid came after Palestinians threw stones at Israelis and set tires on fire.
“There was shooting at civilians and farmers, and the most dangerous shooting happened in an attack on the village when people were coming out of the mosque. The streets were crowded with old people, children, women and elders, and they started shooting incessantly,” said Amin Abu Alia, head of al-Mughair village council.
The death was the latest violence in the attack on al-Mughayir, east of Ramallah, which has become a flashpoint in the West Bank. Most of the community’s agricultural land is under Israeli military control.
Earlier this year, settlers and Israeli military bulldozers destroyed olive trees in the area, claiming they were searching for Palestinian militants. The children’s park in Al-Mughair was also destroyed.
In the year By 2025, 240 Palestinians – including 55 children – will be killed by Israeli soldiers or West Bank settlers, while Palestinians will kill 17 Israelis – including a child – in the region, according to the United Nations.
Meanwhile, two children were killed in Gaza on Friday: a seven-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy. They were killed in Beit Lahia, near the Yellow Line, and their bodies were taken to Al Shifa Hospital, the hospital said.
No further details were immediately available.