Israel objects to US announcement on Gaza executive committee

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Israel on Saturday objected to the White House’s announced line-up for a Gaza executive committee, saying the move was not coordinated.

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In an unusually pointed statement, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the announced composition of the “Gaza Executive Board,” which operates under the newly established “Board of Peace,” “was not coordinated with Israel and runs counter to its policy.”

Mr Netanyahu instructed Foreign Minister Gideon Saar to raise the matter with his US counterpart, Marco Rubio, the statement said.

Mr Netanyahu’s objections appeared to focus in particular on the inclusion of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and senior Qatari diplomat Ali Thawadi on the committee.

Turkey and Qatar have both sharply criticized Israel’s war in Gaza against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Technically, the “Gaza Executive Board,” along with another executive committee, is subordinate to the “Board of Peace,” which is to be made up of leading political figures from around the world and led by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The executive bodies, however, are expected to be more directly involved in overseeing Gaza’s post-war administration.

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The “Board of Peace” forms part of the second phase of Mr Trump’s Gaza peace plan, which envisages a permanent end to the war and the disarmament of Hamas – a condition the group rejects.

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The international body is intended to oversee a new interim administration for the largely devastated coastal enclave, to be run by Palestinian technocrats.

Mr Trump said on Friday that several world leaders had been invited to participate in the “Board of Peace,” including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

(dpa/NAN)