What to know about Gaza working groups and their mandate? 

Two joint working groups have been formed after United States envoy Jared Kushner and the Board of Peace officials held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an effort to push President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan.

The first committee is tasked with disarmament and demilitarisation of Gaza, while the second working group will focus on humanitarian efforts, including sanitation, clean water and health issues.

Reconstruction in Gaza, which has been devastated by Israel’s ongoing genocide, won’t be allowed until the demilitarisation of the territory is complete, Kushner told US media.

The panels aim to bypass ongoing deadlocks and advance Phase Two of Trump’s 15-point Gaza peace plan, which was rejected by Netanyahu, who wants the disarmament of Hamas before the Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave.

The Board of Peace head Nickolay Mladenov, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US Ambassador Mike Huckabee also attended the meeting with Netanyahu. From the Israeli side, Shin Bet Director David Zini and military intelligence chief Shlomi Binder were represented, according to the Israeli media.

So what are the two working groups, and will they be able to achieve peace in Gaza?

Disarmament and security

The first working group is entirely focused on security and the complete demilitarisation of Gaza. Its mandate is that all weapons, both light and heavy, must be collected and permanently decommissioned, alongside the dismantling of the enclave’s tunnel network.

Kushner estimated that “starting to take some of the weapons out” and filling the tunnels could happen “in the next 60 to 90 days”, he told Fox News.

Crucially, the weapons surrendered by Palestinian factions will not be transferred to the new Palestinian technocratic government, officially known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG). Instead, the arms will be handed directly to an American-led International Stabilization Force (ISF), with the responsibility for their destruction placed strictly under US General Jasper Jeffers, according to Israeli media outlets.

Wesam Afifa, a political analyst and writer, told Al Jazeera that handing weapons directly to the UA military while under Israeli occupation will trigger “severe sensitivity within Hamas and the rest of the factions”.

Afifa explained that this mechanism “will look like a disarmament process under direct American military supervision, and not part of a balanced Palestinian and international political settlement”.

Gaza-based political analyst Eyad al-Qarra agreed, noting that shifting weapons control to US General Jeffers instead of the Palestinian NCAG was “a matter that was not present in the agreement”.

Sanitation and ambiguity

The second joint working group is tasked with addressing basic humanitarian needs, sanitation, clean water, and public health issues for the people of Gaza, following severe warnings of potential disease outbreaks. The mandate also includes assessing how these environmental and health issues impact Israel.

Afifa noted that the Israeli motive here is “not purely humanitarian”, but 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, warning that 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 frozen

Both the US and Israel have explicitly linked the work of these two committees, declaring 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, which 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 and that 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, noting that any serious implementation requires a new security environment, a clear disengagement mechanism, and at least a partial Israeli withdrawal.

Regional warnings

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, warning 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. Trump on July 30 also tied the disarmament phases to Israel’s gradual withdrawal from Gaza as part of his 15-point plan.

A strategic trap

Political analysts warn that structuring the peace plan through these specific working groups is a calculated manoeuvre to bypass Palestinian governance.

Al-Qarra told Al Jazeera that Netanyahu is implementing a “yes, but” policy to strategically empty the agreement of its substance, noting that the unilateral formation of these panels “completely ignored the role of mediators”, actively sidelining Qatar, Turkiye, and Egypt.

Afifa described the current dynamic as a clear attempt to “re-engineer Trump’s plan” through “selective implementation”.

He argued that Netanyahu is only choosing the clauses he can pass politically before the upcoming Israeli elections, while postponing major issues like the military withdrawal and comprehensive reconstruction.

“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 in Israeli affairs, told Al Jazeera that establishing these panels indicates Israel aims to rebuild authorities in Gaza to ensure its hegemony.

“This reminds us of the concept of military rule and civil administration that belongs to the Israeli occupation,” Bisharat said, adding that Israel aims at “emptying and pre-withdrawing powers from any body that will be inside the Gaza Strip”.