While several bodies have been announced to manage Gaza’s reconstruction, their respective roles and coordination remain undefined, Americans for Global Peace President and mediator during the Israel-Hamas hostage deal talks, Dr. Bishara Bahbah, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.
“It is not clear what the various structures are or how they are supposed to function as we enter Phase II,” Bahbah said. “Everything is still in relative flux.”
This comes as negotiations and implementation of Phase II of the US-backed Gaza peace plan advance, and ambiguity clouds the post-war governance of the Gaza Strip.
At the top of the emerging structure is the newly established Board of Peace, composed of representatives from nearly 30 countries.
Underneath the Board of Peace is the Gaza Executive Board, headed by former UN diplomat Nickolai Mladenov and including senior officials from Qatar, Egypt, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and other regional stakeholders.
At the local level, a national committee made up of Palestinians from Gaza has been formed to advise on governance and humanitarian needs.
“After I raised concerns that there was no Palestinian representation on the executive board overseeing Gaza, I was told additional members would be added,” Bahbah said. “But as of now, who does what is still unclear.”
Bahbah said he is in continued contact with members of the Gaza National Committee, describing them as “eager and motivated,” yet limited by a lack of clarity and resources.
“They’re talking about visions, about what they want Gaza to look like, but nothing concrete has been set in stone,” he went on.
Hamas demilitarization remains contested
Hamas has privately signaled a willingness to negotiate its disarmament, a key pillar of Phase II, but with conditions, according to Bahbah.
“In principle, Hamas understands that demilitarization has to happen for Gaza to move forward,” he said, emphasizing that despite some US officials’ claims, there has been no direct communication between the US and Hamas over the demilitarization proposal.
“The Americans are preparing a document and sharing it with Israel, but not communicating it to Hamas,” he said.
“That doesn’t make sense. Hamas is a party to this.”
He also criticized the notion, endorsed by Israel, some Arab states, and even some US officials, that reconstruction should be fully conditioned on full disarmament by Hamas.
“Demilitarization will take months,” Bahbah said. “You cannot say there will be no reconstruction until every weapon is surrendered.”
He warned that this approach effectively gives Israel veto power over Gaza’s recovery.
“What if Hamas hands over heavy weapons but retains some personal arms? Does that mean no reconstruction until the last bullet is gone?” he asked. “That’s holding Gaza hostage over a bullet.”
According to Bahbah, Hamas’s main concern in disarmament talks is not ideological but security-related.
“They’re asking a legitimate question,” he said. “If we [Hamas] give up our weapons, what guarantees do we have that Israel won’t enter Gaza and start killing our fighters or leaders?”
Hamas, he said, is seeking such guarantees primarily from the United States, which it sees as the only actor capable of restraining Israel.
As part of ongoing discussions, several confidence-building measures are being explored, including amnesty provisions, weapons buyback programs, and the possible integration of retrained Hamas fighters into a future Palestinian security force.
“All of these elements make it much easier for Hamas to say yes to a demilitarization plan,” Bahbah said.
Reconstruction faces logistical, political hurdles
While some Israeli officials claimed on Thursday that too much aid is entering Gaza, Bahbah rejected those assertions.
“There may be food on shelves, but it’s not in people’s kitchens,” he said.
As a board member of the Gaza Soup Kitchen, Bahbah said the organization feeds between 50,000 and 60,000 people daily, and could feed double that if resources were available.
“There is hunger,” he said. “People don’t have the means to buy what’s available.”
On the matter of funding, Bahbah noted that, despite elaborate reconstruction plans, most recently presented at the Davos Economic Forum, there is currently no funding to support them.
“The United States has not committed a single penny to reconstruction,” he said. “Washington is expecting Arab countries to bankroll it.”
But Arab states have their own conditions. The UAE has stated that there will be no reconstruction without Hamas’s full disarmament, while Saudi Arabia is demanding a clear path toward the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“Arab countries are saying, ‘Why should we invest billions if Israel might destroy it again?’” Bahbah said.
He added that immediate relief and temporary housing are urgently needed.
“There needs to be aid and housing," he said. "People cannot keep living in makeshift tents that flood the moment it rains."