by Dario Salvi

The Israeli activist, a key figure in the peace process, talks to AsiaNews about the creation of a Palestinian committee to administer the Strip. Hamas and the Palestinian National Authority are ready to go along. The disastrous humanitarian situation is one of the many unresolved issues. Uncertainties surround the international peacekeeping force, while “different agendas and parties [are] pulling in different directions”. The situation in Iran is not a source of concern.

 

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) – It took far too many months to reach Phase 2 of US President Donald Trump's peace plan, while deaths continue to mount in Gaza and many issues remain unresolved, including the international peacekeeping force.

Still, “we have to be” optimistic, said Gershon Baskin, an Israeli political activist, leading expert on the conflict, and an active participant in the ongoing talks between Israel, the United States, and Hamas to establish peace in Gaza.

He spoke to AsiaNews after the United States announced the start of the formation of a 15-member National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), convinced that Hamas and the Palestinian Authority will cooperate in the process of rebuilding the Strip, which has been devastated by a bloody war for more than two years and is the scene of a disastrous humanitarian situation. The technocratic committee will be supervised by a 12-member Board of Peace, chaired by Trump himself, who will be announced shortly.

The NCAG will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the enclave, from sanitation and health services to utilities and education, chaired by Ali Shaath, a former deputy minister of the Palestinian National Authority.

Gershon Baskin, an Israeli political activist, founder of the Israel-Palestine Creative Regional Initiative (IPCRI), and former columnist for the Jerusalem Post, is among the leading experts on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He is among those who have worked in recent months to secure the agreement signed by Israel and Hamas.

A former mediator and key figure in the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, held by Hamas for nearly five and a half years, and part of the Israeli-Palestinian delegation received by Pope Francis in October 2024, he has closely followed the negotiations, working to open and maintain active channels of communication, especially with the United States and the Palestinians, in the face of an Israeli leadership long devoted to war.

Below is the Gershon Baskin’s full interview with AsiaNews:

As an expert mediator and an active party to this negotiation, what is your general opinion regarding the implementation of the 20-point peace plan for Gaza?

The main criticism is that it's taken three months until now to get to the point where phase two is beginning. This should have been done a lot quicker because what's happened is a vacuum [has] opened up, which Hamas has been able to fill, which is detrimental to the whole situation. But there was no way of avoiding it because everyone was being pulled in different directions by the different parties involved in the conflict. The Americans had decided that the first stage needs to be the appointment to the Palestinian government in Gaza.

Who are the other players involved?

There were so many different agendas and parties pulling in different directions, whether they be Arab countries, Egypt and Jordan, the Emirates and the Saudis and the Qataris (who have close ties to Hamas). Even the Turks got involved and, of course, the Palestinian Authority. So it took a long time before they could reach an agreement on a list of names and before all those names were vetted by the Americans and by the Israelis, apparently. And that's why that just happened now, three months into the process. That's the main criticism.

Are there other issues?

Another main criticism is that there have been many, many, many daily violations of the ceasefire agreement by Israel. There have been a few by Hamas, but much more by Israel. And over 400 Palestinians have been killed in the last three months since the war officially ended.

The darkest and bloodiest phases of the conflict seem to be over, but do the daily deaths and attacks remain a problem?

Right. Overall, the war ended. I mean, we don't see any kind of military activities taking place by Israel or by Hamas that were like what was happening three months ago, but still more than 400 Palestinians have been killed. Israel has also, together with the United States, apparently systematically removed the ability of the international organisations to provide aid. And they're in the process of, I think, preventing all the international organisations. And it seems that the Americans and the Israelis are working on a new system of having the aid provided by the private sector. And there's a big change in the operations in Gaza. Because the international NGOs are not being registered by Israel because they refuse to have their personnel vetted by the Israelis. They're willing to have personnel vetted by the Americans, but not by the Israelis.

What is the situation from a humanitarian perspective?

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is a disaster, mainly because of the weather. It's been really harsh weather conditions in the last weeks: 800,000 to 900,000 people are living in tents. And those tents have been blown away. And people are living in pools of water. The conditions are terrible. There's also a lot of tents, a lot of caravans, medical aid and things like that, that have been gathered by the international organisations that are simply not allowed to get into Gaza.

The current issue is the appointment of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), which will operate under the supervision of a Board of Peace, which Trump is expected to announce in coming days and chair. What are the challenges of this new phase?

Yeah. The steps are also difficult. Trump announced that the peace board has been formed. He didn't tell us who. The executive committee has been formed. We don't know all the participants. They hired Nikolai Mladenov, a Bulgarian UN diplomat [. . .] to be the coordinator of the executive committee. […] Mladenov can do a good job but they really need a Palestinian. We’ve been pushing for it.

Do you have someone in mind?

The best person to do it is my partner Samer Sinijlawi (pictured with Baskin).

There's been a lot of talk about the peacekeeping force in Gaza. Has there been any progress on its definition and the countries that will be part of it?

We still don't know who is going to be in the international stabilisation force and when they're going to be deployed. When the force is ready to be deployed, the Americans will have an argument with the Israelis because the force will only be deployed once Israel is pushed back further towards the Israeli border. In other words, the yellow line will not be a permanent line. The Israelis will have to begin a process of full withdrawal from Gaza. That's also part of the process.

[Meanwhile, there is] No news, yet. But we should hear soon. It's a very major point. The Americans told me they have a plan for disarming Hamas. They expect it will take six months to do. They're probably going to be meeting directly with Hamas again to talk about it. This is what I think will happen.

Since you played an active role in mediation, can you tell us what Hamas's position is with respect to the National Committee? Will there be cooperation?

They agreed to it. They agreed to the list of names; they put out official announcements supporting it and that they will work with the new committee. For the time being, [we can trust them], but we need to see what happens with actions in the ground.

Still on the subject of relations, how do you judge the position of the technocratic committee towards the Palestinian Authority?

There's no direct connection between the Palestinian Authority and the new committee. There are a couple of people in the new committee who were former employees of the Palestinian Authority at the time of Arafat. The head of the committee, Ali Shad, was the deputy minister in the past. But there's no direct appointment from the Palestinian Authority to the committee. And the Palestinian Authority also blessed it.

Steve Witkoff stated that Trump's 20-point plan for Gaza is moving from a ceasefire to demilitarisation and reconstruction. But Hamas's weapons remain an unresolved issue.

This is gonna be difficult! I think if the Americans don't engage with Hamas directly, Hamas will make problems. They want to be part of the process. They don't want to be put on above their heads. They want to be a part of deciding how the process will be done. But apparently the Hamas leadership outside basically agreed to it in the past and they continue to agree to it.

Could what is happening in Iran have consequences for the peace plan for Gaza?

I don't think it has a great impact on what's happening in Gaza. It might have an impact on Hamas, we don't know. But I don't think it has great consequences for Gaza. The problems with Gaza are completely separate.

Baskin, can we be optimistic about the future? 

Yes, we have to be!

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• palestine
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