Report: Trump expected to announce phase 2 of Gaza plan by month’s end

US President Donald Trump is expected to announce the transition to the second phase of his peace plan for Gaza in the next couple of weeks, Channel 12 reports, citing senior American officials who share details on the plan’s progress.

Officials tell the Hebrew network that Trump’s announcement could precede the Christmas holiday, shortly after which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet with the president in the US.

The officials say that the US and mediators are currently holding talks with Hamas over an agreement that would lead the terror group to give up its governing power in Gaza and begin the process of disarmament, core issues of the second phase that have remained unresolved since the ceasefire came into effect in October.

Under the agreement, Hamas would first relinquish heavy weapons such as missiles and rockets, and later, in a longer process, give up lighter weapons, according to the report. Hamas’s acceptance of the agreement would be a precondition for implementing the second phase of the plan – including the IDF’s withdrawal beyond the current Yellow Line — the report adds.

A senior American official tells Channel 12 that “in the coming weeks, we will reach the moment of truth. Hamas will have to decide whether to give up its rule and begin disarming in exchange for an IDF withdrawal, or refuse and face the consequences.”

The second phase of the plan — which neither Israel nor Hamas has signed onto yet — also envisions a Board of Peace headed by Trump overseeing the management of Gaza, along with the establishment of an International Stabilization Force that will secure the Strip.

The American officials say that Trump will head the board along with roughly 10 leaders from Arab and Western states. Under them, there would be an international committee led by former British prime minister Tony Blair, along with Trump’s envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, as well as other senior figures from around the world.

Under that body would be the proposed committee of Palestinian technocrats, which would include roughly 12 to 15 Palestinians from business and management fields, who are not affiliated with either Hamas or Fatah.

Some of those Palestinians are currently in Gaza, while others would arrive from abroad to serve on the committee, according to the report. The US is said to be in the final stages of coordinating the list of candidates with Israel, the PA, and Arab states to ensure consensus.