Israel and Hamas are entering into talks around the implementation of the next phase of President Donald Trump’s peace deal, a senior US adviser told reporters, as the tenuous pact moves forward despite some hiccups.
This phase includes demilitarizing Hamas, a goal that officials acknowledge will be difficult. “Obviously, getting that done is a very, very, very hard beat, and right now we’re in the process of defining how to get there in a way where everyone feels safe,” another senior US adviser said.
The White House has made clear that rebuilding money won’t flow to areas controlled by Hamas, and the second adviser said they’ve already begun looking at how to rebuild in “Hamas-free” zones. Meanwhile, Israel is still hoping for bodies of more hostages to be returned; two coffins arrived in the country on Wednesday, after Israel threatened to delay the delivery of humanitarian aid to pressure Hamas.
The White House acknowledged that locating some of the bodies in the war-torn region is proving difficult. “We’re probably going to put together some sort of program where we’re going to ask people if they can help us to locate bodies, and we’re going to pay rewards for that type of good behavior … Nobody is getting left behind,” one of the advisers said.