Roughly a dozen Palestinians received official invitations on Tuesday to serve on the technocratic committee slated to manage Gaza’s daily affairs in place of Hamas, an Arab diplomat and a Palestinian official told The Times of Israel.
The letters were signed by the Board of Peace’s designated high representative, Nikolay Mladenov, two of the technocrats who received the letters said.
A Bulgarian diplomat, Mladenov previously served as the UN special envoy to the Middle East and will be tasked with directly overseeing the technocratic committee on behalf of the Board of Peace. He held meetings last week with senior officials in Israel and the Palestinian Authority in preparation for the transition to phase two of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for the Gaza Strip, which could be announced as early as Wednesday, the Arab diplomat said.
Inked in October, phase one saw the start of a fragile ceasefire along with a hostage-prisoner swap. Phase two is supposed to see the disarmament of Hamas, the completion of Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, the reconstruction of the Strip and the establishment of the various transitional bodies tasked with running the enclave before it is handed off to a reformed PA.
One of those bodies is the Board of Peace, a panel of world leaders headed by Trump that will oversee the Palestinian technocratic committee, formally called the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCACG). Washington had aimed to unveil the Board of Peace last month, but that announcement has been delayed as foreign policy priorities have shifted between Gaza, Venezuela and Iran.
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The US has also struggled to recruit international support for the plan, with the Arab diplomat citing heavy skepticism that Hamas will agree to disarm or that Israel will agree to further withdraw from the Strip and allow for its reconstruction.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with former UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov, who is slated to serve as a Board of Peace envoy to Gaza, in his Jerusalem office on January 8, 2026. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
While the Trump administration had hoped to announce this week the world leaders joining Trump on the Board of Peace, those plans are up in the air, said a senior Arab diplomat.
The US informed interlocutors last month that it secured commitments from Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany to have their leaders join Trump on the Board of Peace, four officials familiar with the matter revealed at the time.
Washington still aims to hold the first meeting of the Board of Peace on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, next week, the Arab diplomat said on Tuesday.
With the invitations sent out to the members of the Palestinian technocratic committee, the public unveiling of the panel could come as soon as Wednesday in Cairo, where several Palestinian factions are already gathered for talks on phase two.
Palestinian Authority Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh meets with Board of Peace High Representative Nickolay Mladenov in Ramallah on January 9, 2026. (Hussein al-Sheikh/X)
Those factions include Hamas, whose team headed by senior leader Khalil al-Hayya arrived in Cairo on Tuesday, according to a statement from the terror group.
Hamas announced earlier this week that it had instructed its agencies to prepare to rescind power to the US-backed technocratic committee.
Notably absent in Cairo were officials from the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority, which had hoped to play a more prominent role in the formation of the technocratic committee.
However, Mladenov met with PA Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh last week in Ramallah, days after the latter traveled to Cairo along with PA intel chief Majed Faraj for talks with top Egyptian officials involved in the formation of the technocratic committee.
Today marks a pivotal moment for Gaza.
The newly formed Technocratic Government of Gaza officially received its letters of appointment, signed by the Board of Peace, with a formal public announcement expected in the coming hours. This is not a symbolic step. It is the beginning… pic.twitter.com/6z2IRW3wf8
— Samer Sinijlawiسامر السنجلاوي (@SSinijlawi) January 13, 2026
The technocratic committee will be headed by Ali Shaath, who previously served as the PA’s deputy transportation minister, the Arab diplomat and Palestinian official said. Shaath is from Gaza but currently based in the West Bank.
Gaza Chamber of Commerce chairman Ayad Abu Ramadan was also among those who received a letter from Mladenov on Tuesday. He said he has been asked to serve as the technocratic committee’s commissioner for Economy, Trade and Industry.
Abu Ramadan said he is “eager to start working to alleviate the suffering of the people in Gaza.”
Despite The Times of Israel being an Israeli news outlet, Abu Ramadan agreed to speak on the record, a stark contrast from the policy of Gaza’s current Hamas rulers.
He said his apartment in Gaza City is one of the few that has not been completely destroyed in the war and that his building is surrounded by tents, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are living.
“The people in Gaza are suffering immensely. They are living in inhumane conditions in a big jail,” he continued. “We’re looking forward to ending all of this, to starting recovery and reconstruction and to holding the world to its commitment to peace.”
Ayed Abu Ramadan, head of the Gaza Chamber of Commerce. (Courtesy)
“Now, it’s President Trump’s turn to execute his plan, which we’re ready for and thrilled that it’s finally starting,” Abu Ramadan said before stressing that the “proper environment is needed for reconstruction and recovery” to move ahead.
An Arab diplomat said that the US is working to coax Israel to agree to a series of steps that will give an initial boost the technocratic committee’s legitimacy, including the reopening of the Rafah Border Crossing.
Israel has pushed back on allowing Palestinians to return to the enclave, arguing that Hamas must first return the body of the last Israeli hostage, Israel Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili.
People inspect the site where at least four Palestinians died following the collapse of walls onto tents sheltering displaced people in Gaza City amid rainfall and strong winds, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
The Trump administration told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the latter’s visit to the US late last month that it is committed to both bringing back Gvili and disarming Hamas, but is not prepared to condition the commencement of phase two of its peace plan on either, a US official and two sources familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel last week.
Jerusalem has pushed back on proceeding with phase two before Hamas returns Gvili and hands over its weapons.
The US has been in talks with mediators Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, which have assured Washington that Hamas will agree to a gradual disarmament plan that would begin with the terror group giving up its heavy weaponry and the launch of a “buy-back” program for lighter weapons, according to the US official and two Arab diplomats, who said the goal is to begin implementing the program in the coming weeks.
It was not clear whether this framework will be sufficient for Israel. Hamas officials have publicly asserted that the organization will only agree to give up its weapons in a negotiated process that results in the establishment of a Palestinian state.
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