Updates: Hamas-Israel ceasefire holds

The White House announced names of the so-called "Board of Peace" that will, under President Donald Trump's plan, supervise the temporary governance of Gaza.

Trump is the chair of the board, according to his plan revealed late last year under which a fragile ceasefire was reached in Gaza.

“To operationalise the Board of Peace’s vision – under the chairmanship of President Donald J. Trump – a founding Executive Board has been formed, composed of leaders with experience across diplomacy, development, infrastructure, and economic strategy,” a statement from the White House said.

According to the statement, the appointed members are:

• Secretary Marco Rubio
• Steve Witkoff
• Jared Kushner
• Tony Blair
• Marc Rowan
• Ajay Banga
• Robert Gabriel

“Each Executive Board member will oversee a defined portfolio critical to Gaza’s stabilisation and long-term success, including, but not limited to, governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding, and capital mobilisation,” the statement added.

Germany is hoping for a seat on the so-called “Board of Peace” for Gaza, according to the country’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul.

Germany is prepared to assume responsibility in this “important institution”, Wadephul said, after talks in Berlin with his Austrian counterpart Beate Meinl-Reisinger, according to Al Jazeera. 

“We expect concrete talks to take place very soon and perhaps also an invitation,” he said.

Wadephul also expressed hopes that the second phase of the Gaza peace process initiated under US mediation will now begin.

“The establishment of this Board of Peace is necessary for this,” he noted.

A group of armed Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinians near the town of Kafr Nima in the occupied West Bank, reported Al Jazeera, citing the Wafa news agency.

The settlers pursued Palestinian families while they were hiking near the town, said the agency. It noted that Israeli forces provided cover to the settlers by firing tear gas at the Palestinians.

The incident adds to a series of settler attacks targeting Palestinians today, including one that injured an elderly man near Hebron.

Israeli soldiers shot dead a 14-year-old Palestinian, who according to the military was, hurling a rock at them in the occupied West Bank, the military and the Palestinian health ministry said.

Official Palestinian news agency Wafa said the teen was killed during an Israeli military raid that led to confrontations.

US President Donald Trump announced the formation of the "Board of Peace," calling it the most prestigious body ever assembled.

Taking to his social media platform, Trump said he is backing "a newly appointed Palestinian Technocratic Government" in Gaza.

"It is my Great Honor to announce that THE BOARD OF PEACE has been formed," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, adding that the members of the body will be announced "shortly."

"I can say with certainty that it is the Greatest and Most Prestigious Board ever assembled at any time, any place," Trump said.

The board's creation comes shortly after the announcement of a 15-member Palestinian technocratic committee, charged with managing the day-to-day governance of post-war Gaza.

The committee will work under the supervision of the board of peace, which Trump is expected to chair.

The plan also calls for the deployment of an International Stabilisation Force to help secure Gaza and train vetted Palestinian police units.

Hamas leaders and representatives of other Palestinian factions in Gaza are in the Egyptian capital Cairo for talks on the second phase of the United States-led Gaza ceasefire deal, amid a teetering ceasefire that Israel has repeatedly violated as its genocidal war continues, reported Al Jazeera.

The Palestinian group on Thursday welcomed the establishment of a 15-member Palestinian technocratic committee that would operate under the overall supervision of a so-called “Board of Peace”, to be chaired by US President Donald Trump.

“The formation of the committee is a step in the right direction,” said Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas leader.

“This is crucial for consolidating the ceasefire, preventing a return to war, addressing the catastrophic humanitarian crisis and preparing for comprehensive reconstruction.”

Deep uncertainty remains over the next steps involving the disarmament of Palestinian armed groups in the Strip, rebuilding and daily governance.

An adviser to the head of Hamas’s political bureau told Al Jazeera that discussions in Cairo are focusing on reopening the Rafah crossings, ensuring the entry of aid currently stockpiled on the Egyptian side of the border and securing an Israeli withdrawal.

Taher al-Nunu said Hamas “must work with mediators and the international community to achieve calm and a return to normalcy in Gaza” and praised the “great efforts” being made to implement what was agreed upon.

Al-Nunu also accused Israel of attempting to derail the ceasefire and said Hamas was “working with mediators to open the crossings, allow aid in and secure the withdrawal of occupation forces from the Gaza Strip”.

However, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, known as Kan, reported that Israeli officials consider the so-called yellow line – a buffer zone in eastern Gaza – as a strategic area that will remain under Israeli control.

Israel’s current military occupation of Gaza is more than 50 percent of the besieged enclave.

Israel has killed at least ten Palestinians across Gaza, just as the United States announced that the two sides had progressed to the second phase of a 20-point ceasefire deal with Hamas to end the conflict, Al Jazeera reported, citing a report from Wafa news agency.

The Israeli military bombed two houses belonging to the al-Hawli and the al-Jarou families in the central town of Deir el-Balah on Thursday evening, with health officials confirming a 16-year-old minor was among those killed, according to the agency.

The Israeli military announced that one of the victims, Muhammad al-Hawli, was a commander in the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas. Al Jazeera confirmed that a “senior figure of the Qassam Brigades” had been killed and that the attack underscored Israel’s message that it would be defining phase two of the ceasefire “on its terms”.

Israel, he said, had set the terms of the next phase of the ceasefire, which will see the establishment of a Palestinian technocratic administration overseen by an international “Board of Peace”, with the option of “escalation” remaining very much “on the table”.

Hamas condemned the targeting of the al-Hawli home as a “despicable crime”, saying that it revealed the “contempt” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the October ceasefire, but did not confirm the death of one of its commanders.

Elsewhere in the war-torn enclave, at least one person was shot dead by Israeli forces near Al-Alam roundabout, west of Rafah city, another person was killed in an Israeli attack on a police post near Al-Nablusi Junction, southwest of Gaza City and two more people were killed in an Israeli air attack on the Al-Khatib family home in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

British foreign minister Yvette Cooper said she welcomed the commitment to move to phase two of the peace plan in Gaza, including the announcement of the Palestinian National Committee for the administration of Gaza.

"It’s critical we build momentum to sustain the ceasefire, address the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza with increased aid, remove the threat from Hamas, and deliver long-term peace for Israelis and Palestinians," she said in a statement.

"All parties must deliver on their commitments under President Trump's 20 Point Peace Plan."

Two Israeli airstrikes killed five people in Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip, local health authorities said, and Palestinian media reported that one of those killed was a senior figure in the armed wing of Hamas.

Palestinian media identified him as Mohammed Al-Holy, describing him as a local Hamas commander in Deir Al-Balah. The resistance group did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

More than 400 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers have been reported killed since a fragile ceasefire took effect in October.