US, its allies weigh conference to rebuild Gaza in fresh ceasefire push

By Kate Sullivan, Dan Williams, Donato Paolo Mancini and Magdalena Del Valle 

The US and its allies are renewing their push to hold a conference on Gaza reconstruction, people familiar with the matter said, as the Trump administration looks to inject fresh momentum into a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas after a string of setbacks. 

Washington has been discussed as a potential venue for the conference that could happen as early as next month, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private conversations. Egypt is among several other locations also being considered, one of the people said.

 

 

That person said the event would probably take place only after officials fill out the Board of Peace that will oversee a transitional government and whose creation was spelled out in the ceasefire that ended the fighting between Israel and Hamas and was signed in October.

 

US envoy Steve Witkoff met officials from Egypt, Turkey and Qatar in Florida over the weekend on implementing the ceasefire. In a social media post, he said “further consultations will continue in the coming weeks to advance the implementation of phase two.”

 

The conference would be part a broader effort to keep President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan, spelled out when the ceasefire was signed, inching forward. That plan was divided into two phases, with the first halting the fighting and securing the release of Israeli hostages seized as part of Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. 

 

The second, more challenging phase would transition into longer-term governance of Gaza with the disarmament of Hamas and the naming of an international force to stabilize the region. The Board of Peace hasn’t been named and an International Stabilization Force has yet to be set up. 

 

“You can’t overstate how hard it’s going to be and how many things have to go right,” said Avi Meyerstein, founder and president of the Alliance for Middle East Peace, a network for Israeli and Palestinian peace building organizations.

 

On the ground, Israel has killed about 350 Palestinians in air strikes and lost three soldiers to ambushes in Gaza since the ceasefire began. Aid deliveries have hit fresh obstacles, having already lagged targets of the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations. 

 

A previous plan to hold the Gaza reconstruction conference in November — announced by Egypt — was later scrapped without explanation. Saudi Arabia’s main daily, Asharq Al-Awsat, reported at the time that other countries wanted — but couldn’t get — assurances that Gaza’s destruction wouldn’t be repeated.

 

The status quo isn’t sustainable and there’s a real sense of urgency on moving into phase two, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Friday.

 

“Board of Peace, Palestinian group, stabilization force — all those things happen, boom, boom, boom, 1-2-3, they have to happen very quickly,” Rubio said. “Not a year from now — this is something we’re aiming at very soon. It’s what we’re focused on right now, like a laser.”

 

The roadblocks lay bare the consequences of Trump’s headline diplomacy approach: in this case, securing a historic detente in the Middle East, but with little more than a vague outline of what comes next. That stands in direct contrast with his predecessor Joe Biden, whose team tended to front-load the most difficult negotiating items and failed to lock in agreement between Israel and Hamas.

 

Trump has said he’ll “probably” meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida, which the Israeli leader has said he’s planning for the end of this month. The White House has yet to confirm a date for that meeting.

 

One chief task of the Board of Peace and a key pillar of Trump’s 20-point blueprint will be organizing the stabilization forces, and the guarantee of long-term security throughout the Palestinian territories. 

 

More than 30 countries have expressed interest in contributing to the ISF, either with personnel or in other ways, like equipment or training, according to a person familiar with the planning.

 

Pakistan is among those pledging contributions to the ISF, without clear plans. Turkey also has expressed interest, but has been opposed by Israel, which gets a final say in who joins the ISF. 

 

“If Netanyahu insists on complete, as they put it, ‘freedom of action,’ you’ll get nobody — literally no one — to send their people forward, regardless of what the mission is,” said Barbara Leaf, the State Department’s top Middle East official during the Biden administration. “They would be worried about troops being killed or wounded, let alone how they’re interacting with Hamas,” she said.

 

US officials have acknowledged the tall orders for phase two: The Board of Peace faces loads of questions, starting with who’s on it. An International Stabilization Force has yet to be set up, with country pledges pending a concrete mission. And perhaps most difficult of the phase-two tasks is disarming Hamas.  

 

The UK has been drafting proposals for how to decommission Hamas weapons, drawing on its past experience in Northern Ireland. The focus will initially be on heavier weapons like rockets and launchers, rather than smaller arms, but officials warn that it’s the most difficult part of the plan to implement and also relies on the ISF and Palestinian governance body being established first.

 

Political agreement among Israel, the US and Arab nations on how the process should work also hasn’t yet been reached, one senior UK official cautioned.