Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al-Ansari told the Qatar News Agency (QNA) that Doha hopes that the announcement by US President's Middle East envoy Steve Wittkopf of the start of the second phase of the agreement will contribute to "stabilizing the truce and addressing the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the sector."
Al-Ansari added that Qatar, based on its role as a mediator and in coordination with its partners, will continue to exert its diplomatic efforts aimed at reducing escalation and sparing civilians the consequences of conflicts.
He reaffirmed Qatar’s position of support for the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights, stressing the need for all parties to fully implement the agreement, including ensuring the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza without restrictions or conditions, and immediately commencing the reconstruction of the sector to alleviate the suffering of civilians.
Al-Ansari also stressed the importance of the international community fulfilling its responsibilities to support efforts aimed at consolidating the ceasefire, thereby enhancing the chances of achieving stability and sustainable peace in the region.
In a related context, Ali Shaath, head of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, said on Wednesday that the committee’s priority is to secure housing and decent living conditions for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in parallel with the start of infrastructure rehabilitation and then reconstruction.
This came in a radio interview with the Palestinian radio station "Basma," which broadcasts from the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
Shaath added that the work will begin with the infrastructure after securing suitable shelter, a decent living, food, water, health services, and places that preserve his dignity.
He pointed out that the approach is to "provide prefabricated buildings equipped with health services and to house Gazans - in stages - in specific shelters on maps according to known studies and areas."
He added that "early sheltering coincides with the removal of rubble by recycling it within a period not exceeding 3 years, whether by transporting it to the sea or reusing it by crushers in construction and infrastructure."
Shaath pointed out that "the reconstruction plan was developed by the World Bank, the Palestinian Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation and the Ministry of Public Works and consists of 3 phases."
He explained that "the first phase is emergency relief and lasts for six months, the second is recovery and includes the rehabilitation of water wells and the construction and maintenance of desalination plants, and takes between two and two and a half years, and the third is reconstruction and development simultaneously."
He stated that the committee was formed "by a decision of the Security Council and its members were chosen with Arab and Palestinian consensus, and it will work in coordination with the Palestinian Authority in reconstruction."
He added that the committee's powers "begin with about 50 percent of the sector, which is outside the yellow line (areas not under the control of the Israeli army), and expand with the expand with the expansion of the gradual Israeli withdrawal in the second phase of the ceasefire agreement to the east of the sector's borders."
Shaath stated that the committee's funding is "Arab and international, and is held in a special reconstruction fund at the World Bank and under its supervision." He added that armed groups in the Gaza Strip are "outside the committee's mandate and fall under the responsibilities of the UN-supervised international stabilization force."
He stressed that "the committee has no relation to political or military matters, including the possibility of violating the ceasefire agreement, which is the responsibility of the Peace Council."
Regarding the possibility of some kind of contact with Israel in the future, Shaath replied: "Wherever the citizen needs, communication will take place with all parties."
Shaath held several positions, including former Deputy Minister of Planning in Palestine, drawing on his extensive experience in planning, development, infrastructure, and government work.
Earlier on Wednesday, a Palestinian source told Anadolu that arrangements were being made for members of the Palestinian technocrat committee to administer Gaza to travel from the Gaza Strip to Egypt to hold their first meeting on Thursday or Friday.
This committee is one of the items in US President Donald Trump’s plan to manage the Gaza Strip, after a genocidal war waged against it by Israel with the support of Washington on October 8, 2023, which lasted for two years.
The source, who asked not to be identified, added that the committee members will begin their duties, each in their respective field, after all members have been officially notified of its formation.
According to the source and Palestinian media, the committee includes academic, professional and community figures, who were chosen based on their specialized expertise, to manage the most urgent vital issues, in response to the scale of the humanitarian disaster in Gaza.
During the war of annihilation, Israel destroyed 90% of Gaza's infrastructure, with the UN estimating the cost of reconstruction at approximately $70 billion. It also killed more than 71,000 Palestinians and injured over 171,000, most of them children and women. On October 10, 2025, the first phase of a ceasefire agreement went into effect, but Israel violates it daily, resulting in the deaths of 447 Palestinians and injuries to 1,246 as of Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Health.
