Trump to announce creation of Gaza peace council next week

WASHINGTON, Jan. 08 (YPA) – US President Donald Trump plans to announce the creation of a “Peace Council” in Gaza next week, as part of the implementation of the second phase of the peace agreement between “Israel” and Hamas.

This was reported by Israel’s Channel 12 and the US site Axios, citing two US officials and two sources familiar with the details, as part of American efforts to push forward the second phase of the Trump plan.

On Wednesday, Hamas resumed searching for the body of the last Israeli in Gaza after a roughly two-week pause, as field developments intersected with new intelligence information transmitted via intermediaries.

A Hamas official told AFP that “a team from the Al-Qassam Brigades, accompanied by the International Committee of the Red Cross and an Egyptian technical team, resumed Wednesday the search for the body of the last Israeli captive in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City.”

Another Hamas official told AFP that the searches “were halted over the past two weeks due to bad weather and heavy rains, which prevented Egyptian excavators and heavy equipment from entering the area.”

Channel 12 reported that “Israel” recently provided new intelligence, described as “critical,” to Palestinian factions in Gaza via Egyptian intermediaries, regarding the location of the body.

According to the channel, this information was transmitted following the return of Israel’s Coordinator for Prisoners and Missing Persons, Gal Hirsch, from Cairo about two weeks ago. The searches carried out today were based on this intelligence.

The channel  added that the decision to resume searches today was due not only to new information but also to improved weather, which allowed access to areas that had been flooded in previous days.

@E.Y.M