Civil Engineer, Ali Shaath, to Head Gaza Technocratic Committee – Who is He?
NEWS
Shaath has held various senior roles within the Palestinian Authority government, including Deputy Minister of Planning and International Cooperation.
As the Gaza ceasefire agreement enters its second phase this week, Dr. Ali Abdel Hamid Shaath, a 67-year-old Palestinian from the Gaza Strip but based in the occupied West Bank, has been touted to head a technocratic committee to administer the enclave.
Born in the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis, Shaath reportedly hails from a prominent family and clan with a record of political engagement, with many of its members affiliated with the Fatah party.
He holds a PhD in Civil Engineering with a specialization in infrastructure and urban development from Queen’s University Belfast in the UK, as well as earlier degrees from Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt.
With a long career in Palestinian public service, Shaath served in various senior roles within the Palestinian Authority government. This includes Deputy Minister of Planning and International Cooperation as well as the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, overseeing vital infrastructure and road network projects.
He also assumed the role of chairperson of the Palestinian Industrial Estates Authority, playing a role in managing and developing industrial zones. Additionally, he held the position of chairperson of the Palestinian Housing Council and the Palestinian Ports Authority, overseeing the development of the housing and port sectors.
Focus on Aid, Housing
Shaath also reportedly played a role in the final status negotiations committees in 2005, focusing on border and maritime access issues, with his expertise focused on economic development and reconstruction.
He is expected to chair a body of 15 technocrats tasked with governing the besieged enclave.
According to media reports, Shaath told a West Bank radio station that his first focus in Gaza would be on providing urgent humanitarian relief for the population, including housing for the displaced.
“If I bring bulldozers and push the rubble into the sea, and make new islands, new land, I can win new land for Gaza and at the same time clear the rubble. This won’t take more than three years,” Shaath is quoted as saying, in a Reuters report.
‘Board of Peace’
The technocratic committee will operate under the supervision of the “Board of Peace”, expected to be chaired by US President Donald Trump.
Committee members will reportedly travel from the enclave to Cairo to hold their first meeting on Thursday or Friday, according to the Anadolu news agency, citing a Palestinian source.
US envoy Steve Witkoff announced on Wednesday, on behalf of Trump, the launch of the second phase of the US president’s 20-point plan to end Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. The new phase moves from a ceasefire toward disarmament, the formation of a technocratic administration, and reconstruction.
Witkoff said the second phase is based on establishing a transitional Palestinian technocratic administration in Gaza under the name “The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.”
The first phase of the US-brokered ceasefire took effect in October last year. Israel has, however, committed 1,244 violations of the agreement since then, resulting in the killing of 449 Palestinians and the injury of 1,246 more, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office in a statement on Thursday.
The total death toll since October 2023 has risen to 71,441 killed and 171,326 injured.
(PC, AJA)