Gaza -- Representatives from Hamas and the Palestinian Authority will meet in the Egyptian capital this week to agree on a final list of candidates for an independent committee that will run Gaza's day-to-day affairs, sources in Cairo directly familiar with the discussions told The National on Sunday.

Egyptian mediators are coordinating consultations among the factions, whose representatives are also in contact with mediators from Turkey and Qatar, the sources said.

They said representatives of the factions held separate one-on-one talks with the Egyptians in Cairo last week.

The sources said Israel objected to four potential candidates for the committee on the grounds that they had ties to Hamas, and also wanted the committee to consist of 12 members, not 15 as previously suggested by the mediators.

Hamas have agreed to Israel's demands regarding the number of committee members, they added.

"Because the Palestinian Authority is the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinians, they are required to issue a law that establishes the committee and approves its members," said one of the sources, quoted by The National (12/1).

"The factions and mediators agreed that the committee should have a three-year mandate clearly stipulated in the relevant law to be issued by the Palestinian Authority," he added.

The sources said President Trump is expected to announce the formation of the Peace Council this weekend. Initially, the council will include the heads of state of Egypt and Qatar as well as representatives from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, they said.

Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov has been identified as the council's chief executive ahead of an expected announcement from President Trump, according to Bloomberg.

The council's headquarters are expected to be in the city of El Arish in the north of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, although there has been no final decision on that, the sources said.

The Mediterranean city, which has an international airport and a commercial port, is located about 40 km from the Rafah crossing.