Cairo/Tel Aviv, Jan 15, (dpa/GNA) – Gaza’s new transitional government of Palestinian experts met for the first time in Cairo on Thursday under US-Egyptian auspices, the pro-government Egyptian media outlet Al-Qahera News reported.
The technocrats were to discuss the next steps following the start of the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan with former UN Middle East envoy Nikolay Mladenov, sources close to the negotiations said.
However, there was initially no official confirmation of this.
According to Israeli sources, Mladenov, who is Bulgarian, is expected to become chairman of the international “peace council” for the Gaza Strip, which has been largely destroyed in two years of war. This council is to oversee the transitional government.
The meeting is the first in a series of preparatory meetings, according to available information. Topics to be discussed include the future administration of the Gaza Strip and the reconstruction of the coastal area.
Technocrats are members of government who take up their posts primarily on the basis of their professional qualifications and experience, rather than their party political affiliation.
Such governments are often used in transitional or crisis phases to organize administration and public services professionally.
The disarmament of the Palestinian militant Islamic Hamas in the Gaza Strip is part of the second phase announced by the US.
Hamas has agreed to the establishment of a government of non-political experts with no ties to it.
GNA