Türkiye “has played a very integral role in getting to this ceasefire,” a U.S. official said Wednesday as U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for the Gaza Strip transitions into the second phase.
"And President Trump is very grateful to that," said the official, who was one of two who briefed reporters about Gaza on condition of anonymity.
"(Turkish) President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan, and Foreign Minister Hakan [Fidan] and Ibrahim Kalin, the intelligence director, they've all been very intimately involved, and they've done an incredible job really working with us, and we think it's very important to have them involved," the official added.
The official added that the Trump administration wants to see "Turkey and Israel start to rebuild their relationship. And that's something that we believe can happen."
The comments come after Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff announced Wednesday that the president's ceasefire plan is moving to phase two, which he said would shift the focus to demilitarization, technocratic governance and reconstruction.
“Phase Two establishes a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in Gaza, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), and begins the full demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza, primarily the disarmament of all unauthorized personnel,” Witkoff said in a statement on U.S. social media platform X.
He said the U.S. expects Hamas to fully comply with its obligations under the agreement, including “the immediate return of the final deceased hostage.”
“Failure to do so will bring serious consequences,” he added.
One of the officials said the start of phase two represents "really a big deal, because we have a really good plan for the redevelopment of Gaza," which he said could be "game changing" for the Palestinian territory.
