ISTANBUL

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said Wednesday he expects “upcoming” announcements on advancing President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan in Gaza.

Speaking after meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Waltz hailed last month’s UN Security Council resolution on the Gaza plan as “probably the most positive resolution we’ve seen for Israel, for stability in the region.”

“We now have that authorization. I think we will see announcements upcoming in terms of the Board of Peace, led by President Trump. The key components of that are a technocratic authority of Palestinians to get the water, the gas, the sewage, to get those basic services going again in Gaza. Of course, a funding mechanism for the owners to pay for it, and then the international stabilization force,” he said in statements cited by a statement from Herzog’s office.

Herzog, for his part, voiced hope that the process “will not take too long, because in the Middle East, if you wait for too long, then the vacuum fills in… Iran is trying to regroup, and its proxies are trying to regroup, and we have to show momentum to implement (the) resolution.”

The US Mission to the UN said Waltz and Herzog discussed “the need to maintain maximum pressure against Iran, which continues attempting to destabilize the region.”

They agreed “on the need to move quickly with the implementation of President Trump’s Comprehensive Plan to End the War in Gaza to ensure Hamas is demilitarized and plays no role in the future of Gaza,” it added in a statement.

“Waltz thanked President Herzog for his close cooperation with the United States and both pledged to work together to combat antisemitism and anti-Israel bias at the United Nations,” the mission said.

The ceasefire agreement took effect in Gaza on Oct. 10 under Trump’s plan, halting two years of Israeli attacks that have killed more than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured nearly 171,000 others since October 2023.

Phase one of the deal includes the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The plan also envisages the rebuilding of Gaza and the establishment of a new governing mechanism without Hamas.