Egypt announces hosting of mediators' meeting to discuss the second phase of the Gaza agreement

Egypt announced on Friday that Cairo will soon host a meeting of mediators to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip. The Egyptian Information Authority quoted a well-informed Egyptian source as saying that the meeting would include mediators from Egypt, the United States, Qatar, and Turkey, to reaffirm all parties’ commitment to implementing the agreement’s provisions. The source added that the agreement includes the entry of the National Committee and the deployment of the International Stabilization Force, as well as the start of the early recovery and reconstruction phase in the Gaza Strip. He noted that Hamas and Palestinian factions had responded positively to the mediators’ proposals to preserve Gaza and its people and to carry out the reconstruction process. He confirmed that Hamas and Palestinian factions had agreed to the “roadmap” for implementing the second phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, and clarified that the agreement stipulates that the National Committee would oversee the process of counting and storing weapons, to be implemented gradually and sequentially. He pointed out that the agreement links the start of the weapons-counting process to the entry of the National Committee and the deployment of the International Stabilization Force in the Gaza Strip. U.S. President Donald Trump had announced yesterday that the Gaza Peace Council had reached what he described as a “historic agreement” to disarm Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza. Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform that this agreement represents a crucial step toward ensuring that Gaza is finally under the control of a new Palestinian government working in close cooperation with the Peace Council to assist the Palestinian people.