July 8 (Reuters) - Donald Trump’s Board of Peace is planning a pilot humanitarian zone for Gazans as a way to kickstart the U.S. president's stalled peace plan, regardless of whether a deal is reached with Hamas on the peace plan's second phase, a board official said.
The official didn't specify the location, but said the Trump-appointed board had identified secure areas that could host tens of thousands of Gazans, where goods and services could be scaled up to meet the humanitarian needs of those
willing to move there.
Gaza remains in ruins from two years of full-scale war triggered by the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.
After a ceasefire deal was struck, Trump set out a plan for Gaza that provided for a surge in humanitarian aid, administration by a group of Palestinian technocrats, Hamas laying down its arms and Israeli forces withdrawing.
But the plan has stalled and the group of technocrats — known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) — has remained outside Gaza.
Israel has still been conducting military strikes on the territory, where a population of more than 2 million faces hunger, disease and displacement. It has said it will expand its area of control in Gaza to 70% of the enclave.
An aid programme run by the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was shut down following the ceasefire after facing criticism from the U.N. and others over the deaths of Palestinians trying to reach its distribution points.
VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION, VETTING
The board official said the pilot zone plan would allow the NCAG to exercise its authority, and a newly recruited and trained police force to act as a law enforcement arm along with an International Stabilization Force (ISF) made up of multinational peacekeeping forces.
Three Hamas officials contacted by Reuters had no immediate comment on the plan. Israeli authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Recent talks over the implementation of the second phase of Trump's Gaza plan between Hamas leaders, mediators Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and Board of Peace Gaza envoy Nickolay Mladenov, have yet to reach an agreement, sources close to the talks said.
The Board of Peace official said the pilot humanitarian zone wasn't preconditioned on an agreement with Hamas, though any such deal would help the plan move faster and further.
Participation in the humanitarian pilot would be voluntary, he said, with vetting conducted by the NCAG supported by the ISF, and would take land ownership rights into consideration. He didn't elaborate on the vetting mechanism.
Humanitarians say aid should be allocated according to needs and without discrimination.
The Board of Peace official added that funds would be raised specifically for the pilot project but declined to give a timeframe, saying only that the intention was to move fast.
On Monday Hamas said it had dissolved its de facto government in Gaza and signaled it was ready to hand over to NCAG, as it presses Israel to honor other parts of the stalled peace plan.
The Board of Peace said in a statement it had noted Hamas' move. But it added that "ultimately, our assessment will be guided by actions, not promises, to meet the critical needs of the people of Gaza". Israel described Hamas' move as a "stunt".
(Reporting by Maggie Michael and Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
