While proceeding with fulfilling the relevant legal and constitutional procedures to join Trump’s newly created board, Egypt has made it clear that its primary mission should fall within the framework of the second phase of Trump’s 20-point plan to end the conflict in Gaza, and in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803.
Several key European countries have expressed reservations over the mandate of the Board of Peace, and how it went beyond the goals set in the council’s resolution. They therefore declined joining Trump’s newly created organisation. The US president tried to calm those fears by stating in his speech during the launch ceremony in Davos, Switzerland last week that the Board of Peace will closely coordinate its activities with the UN and the mandate stated in Resolution 2803.
For its part the Egyptian viewpoint is that joining the Board of Peace is important for maintaining Trump’s engagement in the Middle East peace process at a time when he is preoccupied with several other volatile international conflicts, topped with the war between Russia and Ukraine, as well as his own ambitions to restructure his relationship with historic allies in Europe and his rivalry with China.
While inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a suspected war criminal known for his open appetite for endless wars to a board that declares “peace” as its target was indeed ironic, Egypt – along with seven other Arab and Muslim countries that supported Trump’s plan – feels that this new platform should not be left to Israel’s false claims and propaganda, and that they have to be present to continue pushing for true peace in the region.
What matters to the Palestinians, Egypt and the Arab and Muslim countries backing Trump’s plan is action on the ground. Along with its executive committee, the new Board of Peace will contribute positively to carrying out Trump’s plan in its entirety, starting with commitments that Israel has failed to live up to during the first phase of the deal.
This includes ensuring the consolidation of the ceasefire, Israel’s full withdrawal from Gaza, the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian and relief assistance, the deployment of the International Stabilisation Force, the empowerment of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza to carry out its duties, and the launch of early recovery projects across Gaza in preparation for reconstruction.
After Israel announced on Monday the recovery of the body of the last deceased Israeli detainee who was held by Hamas in Gaza, ending this issue in its entirety, Israel certainly has no excuses to further delay the immediate re-opening of the Rafah crossing point between Egypt and Gaza in both directions or to delay further withdrawals from the occupied Gaza Strip.
Pressure from Trump and his envoys to the region, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, will no doubt be required to force Israel to carry out those withdrawals, and to end its threat to make the current “yellow line”, which gives 40 per cent of Gaza to the Palestinians and keeps the rest under Israeli occupation, permanent, representing “Israel’s new border”, as the Israeli army’s chief of staff recently stated.
Hardly minutes after the recovery of the deceased Israeli detainee, Netanyahu started to set the scene for more delays in carrying out Israeli obligations stated in the Trump plan. He said on Monday that the second stage of the ceasefire deal will not be about lifting the tremendous suffering of the people of Gaza or immediate reconstruction to save the lives of Palestinian children dying in tattered tents amid rain and cold wind, but only the disarmament of Hamas.
Even US officials, who act in tandem with their Israeli counterparts, admit that the goal of disarming Hamas will take time to achieve, and depend on progress on the ground in terms of enabling the newly created “technocratic” Palestinian government to run the Strip and launch construction plans. Yet, to insist that Hamas should disarm first before fulfilling Israel’s obligations would be another Israeli tactic to avoid pulling its troops out of Gaza, maintain the occupation and push for the displacement of Gaza’s people. A master of procrastination, Netanyahu will also most probably use the excuse of a possible early Israeli election to further delay carrying out Israel’s obligations stated in Trump’s plan.
Palestinians, as well as Arab and Muslim sponsors of the US plan, also have key reservations about proposals promoted by Trump’s son-in-law, Kushner, that reconstruction in Gaza should start in the areas that remain under Israel’s occupation, namely Rafah, and not in those where more than two million Palestinians are currently crammed under inhumane conditions.
Hopefully, when the new Palestinian technocratic government starts working on the ground it will have enough support from the Board of Peace and its executive committee to start reconstruction all over Gaza. Backed by practically the whole world, Egypt had already presented a detailed plan for reconstruction all over Gaza nearly a year ago, and it is conceived in a way that prioritises ending the suffering of the Palestinian people and improving their intolerable living conditions.
The Board of Peace, which will include the leaders of several influential countries, can also play a significant role in finding a lasting solution to the conflict between Palestine and Israel, fulfilling the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and statehood, thereby paving the way to security and stability for all states and peoples of the region.
This ambitious plan for lasting peace, security and stability in the region will certainly remain illusive if Israel’s current fanatical government goes on promoting the displacement of the Palestinian people under various contexts, topped with making their lives so miserable and unbearable that they have no option other than leaving their homeland. That goal could not be achieved after one of the bloodiest wars in modern history, leaving nearly 72,000 Palestinians killed.
Hopefully Trump’s new Board of Peace will consider President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi’s warning, issued in a recent speech marking the 15th anniversary of the 25 January 2011 Revolution and the 75th Police Day, that the consequences of such an Israeli displacement scenario would be catastrophic. Al-Sisi minced no words while warning that “the displacement of nearly 2.5 million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, and the resulting liquidation of the Palestinian cause, will lead to the migration of hundreds of thousands towards Europe and Western countries. This shall trigger severe security, economic, and social repercussions that no one has the capacity to endure.” If such a scenario takes place, then the world will have to prepare for new, endless wars, leaving no room for any boards of peace.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 29 January, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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