US confirms start of Gaza ceasefire Phase Two

Despite that warning, no clear plan has been set out on how the terror group will be convinced to give up its weapons. Israel has said it will not withdraw further from the Strip until there is full demilitarisation.

Witkoff’s statement went on: "Importantly, Phase One delivered historic humanitarian aid, maintained the ceasefire, returned all living hostages and the remains of twenty-seven of the twenty-eight deceased hostages.”

He also thanked several countries for their “indispensable mediation efforts”, specifically naming Egypt, Qatar and Turkey.

Phase Two will see the establishment of a new technocratic governing committee to take over control of Gaza from Hamas.

The panel, which will be made up of Palestinian officials affiliated with neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority, will manage the day-to-day administration of the Strip, overseen by an intermediate executive council, which will itself report to the Board of Peace - a committee of world leaders chaired by Trump himself.

Earlier this week, Hamas’ political leadership confirmed it had ordered its agencies in Gaza to prepare to cede power to the new government when it is created.

But there have long been reports of a split between the group’s political leadership, based in Qatar, and the military leadership in Gaza, with the latter said to be far less willing to compromise.

It has not yet been confirmed by the armed wing whether its leader, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, has agreed to give up governmental power in the Strip.

Jerusalem, meanwhile, has long insisted that the ceasefire could not be advanced until Hamas had committed to full disarmament and returned all the hostages.

Multiple Hamas leaders have ruled out completely laying down the group’s weapons, while the body of Ran Gvili, which should have been returned within 72 hours of the ceasefire agreement in October, remains in the Strip, with Gazan officials claiming it is lost under the rubble.

Following Witkoff’s announcement, Prime Minister Netanyahu told Gvili’s parents that his return “is at the top of Israel’s priorities, and that the declarative move to establish a committee of technocrats [to manage Gaza] will not affect in any way the efforts to bring Ran back for burial in Israel”.

"Hamas is required to comply with the terms of the agreement and make a 100 per cent effort to return all fallen hostages, until the very last one – Ran Gvili, a hero of Israel,” he added.

US officials reportedly told The Times of Israel last week that Trump told Netanyahu at their recent Mar-a-Lago meeting that Washington “is committed to both bringing back the final deceased hostage from Gaza and disarming Hamas”.

However, Trump reportedly also emphasised that the US “is not prepared to condition the commencement of Phase Two of its peace plan on either”.

The same source told the paper that negotiations between the US, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey have yielded a “gradual disarmament plan”, starting with the decommissioning of heavy weaponry, followed by a “buy-back” scheme for light arms.