Palestinians living in tent cities among the rubble in Jabalia left by Israel’s war, in the northern Gaza Strip [Getty]
Mediators of the fragile ceasefire in Gaza are expected to meet in the US on Friday to discuss phase two of the agreement, amid ongoing Israeli violations in the territory.
The United States is set to host talks in Miami aimed at advancing the next phase of the “peace plan”, with reports on Thursday saying Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will meet senior officials from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey in Miami.Â
Under the second stage of the US-brokered ceasefire, which came into effect on 10 October, Israel must withdraw all its forces from Gaza, with a transitional authority governing the Palestinian territory instead of Hamas, and an international security deployed in the enclave.
Hamas and all other militant groups must also disarm – a provision which mediators expect to be among the most challenging.
The post-war management of Gaza will be overseen by the “Board of Peace”, which is to be led by Trump himself.
Officials familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel that Washington says six countries have committed to joining the board, including Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany.
The US is aiming for several more world leaders to join the board, including Saudi Arabia and Turkey. However, Israel has refused Turkish participation in the peacekeeping mission in Gaza.
Progress has been slow moving into the second stage, after the first phase saw Hamas return all but one captive to Israel, which in turn released thousands of Palestinian detainees.
The Palestinian group says it is still looking for the body of the last captive, who was among 49 alive and deceased captives still in the enclave before the ceasefire.
Trump said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would likely visit him at the close of the year.
The US president said Netanyahu would “probably come to see me in Florida”, where the US president will be staying over the Christmas holidays at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
“He would like to see me. We haven’t set it up formally, but he’d like to see me,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about a report by the Axios news site that Netanyahu was expected to visit on 29 December.
Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, where more than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, most of them civilians.
Hundreds were killed after the ceasefire came into effect.
The US slapped new sanctions on the ICC on Thursday over its warrants for Israeli officials. Neither the US nor Israel are members of the court.
In its latest attacks, the Israeli army carried out airstrikes and artillery shelling in the Strip early Friday, targeting areas it continues to occupy.
Reports said Israel struck eastern areas of Gaza City in the north of the enclave.
The army also hit the eastern parts of Khan Younis in the south with air raids and shelling. West of Khan Younis, the Israeli navy opened fire on several fishing boats.
Gaza’s government says Israel has carried out more than 730 violations of the ceasefire, killing close to 400 people since.
Aid groups also say the amount of humanitarian relief entering the territory is still far from what was agreed in the ceasefire deal, saying Israel is still obstructing humanitarian operations as vital border crossings remained closed.
