A new US-appointedPalestinian Technocratic Government has been described by analysts as lacking political authority and functioning primarily as a tool for relief efforts and daily affairs, raising questions about the body’s future.

Dubbed The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, or NCAG, the 15-person committee was announced as part of Phase Two of the ceasefire plan tolead post-war Gaza.

It will be headed by Ali Shaath, a civil engineer from Gaza who previously served in ministerial roles in the Palestinian Authority (PA), with members meeting in Cairo shortly after US President Donald Trump’sannouncement to discuss next steps.

The NCAG is expected to operate under the supervision of the “Board of Peace” chaired by Trump. The White House announced the Board’s members on Friday, revealing a three-tier power structure of billionaires close to Israel at the top and including ex-British prime ministerTony Blair.

Bulgarian diplomatNickolay Mladenov was named director-general of the Board’s executive committee, both overseeing the NCAG and, critically, tasked with implementing the US-designed plan to disarm Hamas.

Palestinian researcher Jihad Harb explains that the committee’s powers are limited to civilian affairs.

“The committee’s ability to maintain security will be limited because the controlling party in Gaza is Hamas,” Harb toldThe New Arab.

“Shaath’s mandate is restricted to civil, economic, and relief-related issues concerning the delivery of aid and addressing infrastructure problems, and perhaps reconstruction,” he added.

Harb emphasised that the committee has no political powers to represent Palestinians in Gaza or to establish international relations. He also notes that it is outside the framework of the PA, despite it being the body that grants all official documents to Gaza’s residents and manages education, health, relief, and other sectors there to varying degrees.

“There are major risks to forming this committee as it does not show a political horizon for Palestinians in general,” says Harb.

“It is as if there is a political structure unrelated to the West Bank, but must be accepted by the PA,” Harb explains. “Any reforms are subject to the approval of Israel and the United States, but as we know, nothing the PA does will ever satisfy Israel.”

Israel has repeatedly violated the Gaza ceasefire agreement’s 20-point plan, which took effect on 10 October 2025, killing nearly500 Palestinians and wounding 1,200 more, according to the Gaza government’s media office.

Phase Two requires Israel, which currently occupiesmore than half of the territory, to withdraw from Gaza’s southern and eastern border areas and large parts of the north, a step which Israel’sChannel 12 reported will not be implemented unless Hamas is completely disarmed within two months.

Harb warns that Palestine may transition to“international trusteeship” instead of self-determination if they continue to be divided and unable to prove their capacity to agree on a unified political program.

This trusteeship, he adds, will start in Gaza and extend to the West Bank. “Israel is the biggest obstacle to the committee’s success in handling humanitarian crisis and reconstruction efforts if it refuses to fulfil its obligations,” says Harb.

Hamas, too, he says, represents another challenge, the first related todisarmament and the second to Hamas’s entrenched authoritarian institutional structures in Gaza.

“How will the committee handle 40,000-50,000 Hamas civil servants?” asks Harb. “Will the government bodies formed by Hamas recognise the committee’s decisions?”

On 11 January, Hamas leaders had announced their intention to dissolve the existing Gaza government once the new technocratic committee takes over.

Political analyst Ahed Ferwana says he is less concerned about the technocratic committee, but sceptical of the Board of Peace, which includes members who are not acceptable to Palestinian political representatives or the public.

“There are political risks to forming this committee,” Ferwana tellsTNA. There are also “risks to the Palestinian national project, to Palestinian unity, and to the dream of establishing a Palestinian state”.

He believes the committee constitutes a model for international trusteeship that may extend to the rest of the Palestinian territories and indicates Gaza’s separation from the West Bank.

“Clearly Israel plans to transform this temporary administration into a permanent local administration and to transfer that experience to the West Bank,” says Ferwana, warning that this will end aspirations for a Palestinian state.

“Financially and politically, the committee is controlled by the Board of Peace, which is led by Trump and includes members who will not deviate from achieving Israel’s goals,” Ferwana adds.

He expects the committee to succeed in some of its relief-related tasks unless Israel obstructs it, adding that Hamas’s control over Gaza for the past 18 years using its own governance system will be difficult to dismantle.

“Hamas recently enhanced its presence to show that it alone can help the committee and maintain security,” says Ferwana. “But the Board wants to disarm the group. The dilemma is: Will Hamas maintain security, or will it be disarmed?”

Hamas will not surrender easily, and Netanyahu is preparing for another election year, Ferwana adds, noting that calm in Gaza will not serve him.

Israeli affairs expert Ahmed Fayad says Israel approved the committee to heed Trump’s demands, knowing full well that it will have no impact on the course of events on the ground in Gaza.

“Israel achieved its basic condition that the committee should have no affiliation with the PA or Hamas, and that the work of the committee will be conditioned on returning the remains of the Israeli soldier, dismantling Hamas’s weapons, and disarming Gaza entirely,” Fayad tellsTNA.

He believes Israel will allow the committee to work within a limited mandate but will prevent any transition to the reconstruction phase or stabilising the humanitarian situation. “They will not allow life to return to the pre-war state because it conflicts with their strategic goals,” adds Fayad.

“This committee’s work is contingent on achieving Israel’s declared objective of making it impossible for Hamas to pose a future threat to Israel,” says Fayad, noting that they also have undeclared conditions such as changing school curricula, controlling the anti-Israel rhetoric in mosques, and restructuring how Gazans live their lives.

Despite being part of the ceasefire plan, Israel will not allow reconstruction, with a lack of building materials, fuel, infrastructure repair, plus severely damaged electricity, water, and sewage networks, continuing to disrupt the daily life of residents, says Fayad.

“It will deal with the committee the way it deals with the UN and foreign humanitarian institutions currently operating in Gaza,” he adds.

Fayad rules out an imminent Israeli withdrawal from the yellow line or a reduction in the intensity of military, security, and intelligence efforts in Gaza, including bombings and assassinations.

“Israel will resort to more violence after two months if the disarmament of Hamas fails,” he said.

“Israel will comply with Trump’s requirements and some UN pressures, without compromising its strategic goals, which is why it approved the work of the committee. They will ensure that Gaza loses any ability to rearm, manufacture, or pose a future threat,” the analyst concluded.

This article is published in collaboration withEgab.

• Gaza War
• Israel
• Hamas
• Palestinian Authority
• Donald Trump
• United States