July 8 - Donald Trump’s Board of Peace is planning a pilot humanitarian zone for Gazans as a way to kickstart the U.S. president's stalled peace plan, regardless of whether a deal is reached with Hamas on the peace plan's second phase, a board official said.

The official didn't specify the location, but said the Trump-appointed board had identified secure areas that could host tens of thousands of Gazans, where goods and services could be scaled up to meet the humanitarian needs of those willing to move there.

Gaza remains in ruins from two years of full-scale war triggered by the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.

After a ceasefire deal was struck, Trump set out a plan for Gaza that provided for a surge in humanitarian aid, administration by a group of Palestinian technocrats, Hamas laying down its arms and Israeli forces withdrawing.

But the plan has stalled and the group of technocrats — known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) — has remained outside Gaza.

Israel has still been conducting military strikes on the territory, where a population of more than 2 million faces hunger, disease and displacement. It has said it will expand its area of control in Gaza to 70% of the enclave.

An aid programme run by the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was shut down following the ceasefire after facing criticism from the U.N. and others over the deaths of Palestinians trying to reach its distribution points.

VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION, VETTING

The board official said the pilot zone plan would allow the NCAG to exercise its authority, and a newly recruited and trained police force to act as a law enforcement arm along with an International Stabilization Force (ISF) made up of multinational peacekeeping forces.

Three Hamas officials contacted by Reuters had no immediate comment on the plan. Israeli authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Recent ta...