Netanyahu to meet Trump at Mar-a-Lago on December 29

Visiting US envoy says announcements ‘upcoming’ on phase 2 of Gaza plan, Hamas ‘has to go’

Source says Washington to unveil key Gaza Board of Peace at month’s end’; Gaza authorities report 3 killed in Jabalia, including 16-year-old; IDF says it shot terror operative

US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said Wednesday he expects “upcoming” announcements on the advancement of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan in Gaza, stressing that Washington will not allow Hamas to rebuild under the framework and that the Palestinian terror group “has to go.”

Also Wednesday, an informed source told The Times of Israel that an announcement on the formation of an oversight committee for the post-war Gaza Strip would come at the end of the month. On December 4, a US official told The Times of Israel that the US was looking to announce a transition to phase two of its Gaza peace plan in around two weeks.

That coincides with a meeting to be held between Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu’s office on Wednesday confirmed reports that the premier’s meeting with Trump will take place at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on December 29, and that his trip will take place from December 28 to January 1.

Waltz made his remarks as he met with President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem during the envoy’s visit this week to advance the plan from its initial establishment of a ceasefire in the Gaza war, to a broader second phase dealing with post-war Gaza and regional peace efforts.

In a readout from Herzog’s office, Waltz hailed the UN Security Council resolution backing the US Gaza plan in November as “probably the most positive resolution we’ve seen for Israel, for stability in the region,” saying “it was [not just] a lot of rhetoric, it puts a clear plan in place.”

The second phase, according to the 20-point plan proposed by Trump, would see a multinational force take control of Gaza, alongside a technocratic Palestinian committee, as the IDF withdraws and Hamas disarms.

Waltz said he expects announcements to be made soon on components of the second phase of the plan, including the Board of Peace and the committee of Palestinian technocrats that is being established to oversee the management of Gaza, and the international force that would patrol the Strip.

“We now have that authorization. I think we will see announcements upcoming in terms of the Board of Peace, led by President Trump. The key components of that are a technocratic authority of Palestinians to get the water, the gas, the sewage, to get those basic services going again in Gaza. Of course, a funding mechanism for the owners to pay for it, and then the international stabilization force,” he said.

“What has been clear, and I want to be clear, is Hamas has to go,” the envoy continued, reaffirming a key Israeli demand.

“President Trump has been clear, that’s going to happen the easy way or the hard way, but there will not be any more Hamas,” Waltz said, adding: “What we’re determined to avoid, is what I call the definition of insanity: somehow Hamas is allowed to survive, they rebuild, the international community pours billions into reconstruction, Hamas attacks again, and Israel has no choice but to respond, and here we are in this cycle of insanity.”

Hamas has thrown cold water on the prospect of laying down its weapons without a pathway to Palestinian statehood. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, meanwhile, staunchly opposes establishing a Palestinian state and has demanded Hamas’s disarmament.

Hosting Waltz at the President’s Residence, Herzog cautioned: “We hope that the process will not take too long, because in the Middle East, if you wait for too long, then the vacuum fills in… Iran is trying to regroup, and its proxies are trying to regroup, and we have to show momentum to implement [the] resolution.”

Earlier, a senior European official briefed on the issue told The Times of Israel that Washington plans to formally announce the establishment of the Board of Peace at the end of December.

Officials working to advance the plan’s second phase, in coordination with the US, Israel, and other mediating countries, were initially given a specific mid-December date by the Americans for the Board of Peace announcement, according to the official.

“That date has since disappeared,” the official said, adding that Washington has now indicated “it might not be so soon.”

Since then, the expected timeframe has shifted to the end of December, during Netanyahu’s visit to the US, where he will meet with  Trump on advancing the plan, the official added.

Once the Board of Peace, which is to be headed by Trump, is announced, the body will announce an intermediate “executive committee,” which will then nominate the committee of Palestinian technocrats that will oversee the day-to-day management of the Strip, according to the official.

The official’s comments were made shortly before Waltz made his remarks on the expected progress of the peace plan.

Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that the initial ceasefire phase of the Gaza plan is “almost” complete and that efforts are underway to move to phase two ahead of his meeting with Trump, while noting that Israel still awaits the return of the final deceased hostage in Gaza, police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, Hamas was to secure the return of all the hostages, dead or alive, who were abducted to Gaza on October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian terror group led a devastating invasion of southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, triggering the war. All of the 251 hostages abducted during the attack, except for Gvili, have been returned.

Gaza is now roughly split between Israel and Hamas, which have both expressed skepticism regarding a move to phase two, as have other countries.

The ceasefire has largely held despite sporadic, deadly clashes along the so-called Yellow Line that separates Israeli and Hamas-held territory.

Violence continued on Wednesday with Israel Defense Forces saying it killed a Palestinian terror operative who crossed the Gaza ceasefire line in the Strip’s north.

According to the IDF, two operatives were identified crossing the Yellow Line and approaching troops of the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade, who are stationed near Jabalia. The IDF said that the troops “eliminated one of the terrorists to remove the threat.”

Palestinian media reported earlier that three people were killed by Israeli fire in Jabalia: a man, a woman, and a 16-year-old.

The minor was identified in Palestinian media as Zaher Shamia. Some outlets reported he was run over by a tank after being shot, which bisected his body.

A first responder cited by Al Jazeera said the three people were killed close to the Gaza ceasefire line, which runs through Jabalia. Medical sources cited by the Turkish state news agency Anadolu say the three were killed on the Hamas-controlled side of the Yellow Line.