The Trump administration said Wednesday that the second phase of President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza has begun, a step aimed at establishing a “technocratic” Palestinian administration and launching the demilitarization and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

“Today, on behalf of President Trump, we are announcing the launch of Phase Two of the President’s 20-Point Plan to End the Gaza Conflict, moving from ceasefire to demilitarization, technocratic governance, and reconstruction,” Special Envoy Steve Witkoff announced. 

President Trump is expected to address the press at 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday to unveil the leadership of Gaza’s new technocratic governing body, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG). The group of unelected experts and professionals will oversee the transitional period as armed groups are dismantled and reconstruction begins.

Witkoff said the United States expects Hamas to “comply fully with its obligations,” including the return of the body of Ran Gvili, the final Israeli hostage held in Gaza.

“Failure to do so will bring serious consequences,” Witkoff said.

The Palestinian Authority publicly welcomed the launch of the second phase, signaling rare alignment with the Trump administration. 

In a statement, Palestinian Authority President Hussein Al Sheikh said the Palestinian Presidency “welcomes the efforts undertaken by President Donald Trump to complete the implementation of his peace plan,” and announced its support for the NCAG as well as the “Board of Peace.”

The new Gaza governing body will be supported by a Trump-led Board of Peace with former United Nations envoy Nickolay Mladenov as the representative on the ground, Axios reported. 

Al Sheikh said the Palestinian Authority worked in close coordination with Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and Mladenov to move into the second phase. 

“The Presidency expresses its deep appreciation and gratitude for the decisive leadership demonstrated by President Donald Trump, whose direct engagement and determination have contributed to creating a new opportunity for peace, stability, and good governance in Gaza,” Al Sheikh said.

At the same time, Al Sheikh added that he believes it’s important to link the Palestinian Authority institutions in the West Bank to the new governing structure in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly opposed the Palestinian Authority having oversight in Gaza, citing its long practice of rewarding terrorists for killing Israelis.

Phase One of the plan, implemented in October, established a ceasefire, secured the return of all living hostages and most of the deceased, and delivered a surge of humanitarian aid. 

More than 20 countries signaled support for the ceasefire at President Trump’s Peace Summit in Egypt, including Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar, whose roles Witkoff described as having “indispensable mediation efforts that made all progress to date possible.”

Iranians are condemning the political Left for its silence as thousands are killed by Iran’s brutal Islamist regime.

“The hypocrisy is shocking,” famed Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad declared. “I have to say: The silence of Left and liberal in America, in Europe, is not an accidental silence; it is an ideological silence, because they believe that our suffering, the suffering of the Iranian women, Iranian men, thousands of people being killed or injured, it’s not like the thing that they can talk about it because it will expose their hypocrisy, and it will expose how they sympathize with our killers, with Islamist terrorists.”

“I’m going to tell you how: when I launched a campaign against compulsory veiling, compulsory hijab, the same Left and liberal, they kept quiet because they told us that hijab is a sign of resistance in America,” she continued. “And now, a bunch of Hamas Islamist terrorists, when they are fighting against the Israeli government, the same narrative: they say this is a sign of resistance. So when they see that us Iranians are fighting against the same Islamist terrorists, the great sponsor of Hamas, they say ‘Free Palestine.’ But they don’t know that when we Iranians say ‘Free Palestine,’ we mean free Palestine from Islamist terrorists like the Hamas group and the Iranian regime.”

🇺🇸🇮🇷 Ativista iraniana-americana, Masih Alinejad:

O silêncio da esquerda e dos liberais na América e na Europa não é um silêncio acidental. É um silêncio ideológico. pic.twitter.com/blSf0dVCMO

— Tradutor de Direita (@TradutordoBR) January 14, 2026

An Iranian dissident was even more blunt as he posted on X, “As an Iranian, I am carving these days into my memory. To the Jewish community and Republicans who stand with us: we see you.  But to the actors, the Left, the communists, the Democrats, and the ‘human rights’ hypocrites who chose silence, or worse, covered for the Islamic Republic while they slaughtered 12,000+ of my people: You helped this regime survive. As long as I have breath in my lungs, I will rub this filth in your faces. Your hypocrisy is written in our blood. #IranMassacre.”

As an Iranian, I am carving these days into my memory. To the Jewish community and Republicans who stand with us: we see you.

But to the actors, the Left, the communists, the Democrats, and the "human rights" hypocrites who chose silence, or worse, covered for the Islamic…

— بامداد اعتماد (@BamdadEtemad) January 13, 2026

An Iranian woman offered a lengthy response to the Iranian regime’s brutality earlier this week, saying in part, “They keep asking the same question. Why are lefties, why are the loudest pro-Gaza voices completely silent when it comes to Iran? Well, the answer is simple, because the truth exposes the lie. Because acknowledging Iran would shatter the ideological fantasy that they built. Let’s be clear, Islamic Republic of Iran is not a victim of Western imperialism. It is a theocratic authoritarian regime that survives by exporting violence, funding Islamists, and crushing its own people.”

“This is why lefties are silent,” she continued. “Because Hamas fits their narrative, but Iranian people don’t. Because Islamist violence against Israelis can be reframed as a resistance. But Islamist violence against Iranians exposes the truth. Right now, as you’re watching this, Iran, a country of more than 92 million people, is being erased in real time. Near total blackout for more than 24 hours. No internet, no call services, no connectivity whatsoever. And yet silence. No emergency protests on Western campuses, no hashtags, no solidarity statements, no megaphones, no tears. Because Iranian suffering does not fit their agenda. Because leftist movements today are not driven by human rights. They are driven by selective outrage and ideological loyalty. They will scream about censorship unless it’s done by an Islamist regime. They will condemn the state violence unless it’s wrapped in religious language. They will chant Free Palestine, but they never say Free Iran because that will require admitting something unforgivable: that political Islam is not liberation, it is domination.”

“And here’s the part that they do not want to hear,” she asserted. “You cannot claim moral superiority while excusing a regime that kills and murders women for refusing hijab, executes protesters, cuts off the whole nation of 92 million people from the internet, and uses foreign proxies as a distraction from its internal collapse. You cannot pretend to care about Palestinians while ignoring Iranians being shot, tortured, and murdered by the Islamic Republic in Iran. That is not solidarity. That is ideological blindness. Iranian people are not silent. They are being silenced. And the silence from the Western Left? Well, that’s a choice. A choice to protect an ideology, a choice to excuse Islamism, a choice to look away when millions of people are suffering. Because their suffering, Iranian people’s suffering, complicates a slogan. History will remember this moment. It will remember who spoke for universal freedom. and who decided that some lives matter less than preserving a narrative. Long live Iran.”

An Iranian tells you why the anti-brain Free Palestine mob is not calling to Free Iran.

SPOILER ALERT: Because the truth exposes their lies.

🎥TT Aida pic.twitter.com/oB8OfkKhjG

— dahlia kurtz ✡︎ דליה קורץ (@DahliaKurtz) January 11, 2026