A man sits outside tent shelters near damaged buildings at the Maghazi camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip. AFP
“The Board of Peace has unlimited potential,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform, adding that members also “have committed thousands of personnel to the International Stabilization Force and Local Police to maintain Security and Peace for Gazans.”
After an initial meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, the board is due to meet on Thursday, 19 February, in Washington. Countries have been asked to pay $1 billion for permanent membership, and the $5 billion in pledges by member states will be formally announced at that meeting.
Although originally intended to oversee Gaza’s rebuilding, the board’s charter does not appear to limit its mandate to the Palestinian territory alone, a scope that has triggered the ire of Washington’s Western allies, including France and the UK.
Trump has said the organization will work “in conjunction” with the United Nations, which endorsed its plan for Gaza but not the expanded role that Trump is seeking. “The Board of Peace will prove to be the most consequential International Body in History,” he said.
Under the second phase of the US-brokered ceasefire that halted Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, Israeli forces are expected to gradually withdraw from the territory, with an international stabilization force deployed to ensure security. A Palestinian technocratic committee has also been established to take over governance in the battered Gaza Strip.
The US and Israel have demanded that Hamas move forward with disarmament under Trump’s plan for postwar Gaza. “Very importantly, Hamas must uphold its commitment to Full and Immediate Demilitarization,” Trump said.
Hamas has rejected attempts to criminalize resistance against Israel’s occupation, although it has indicated it could consider handing over its weapons to a future Palestinian governing authority. More recently, it proposed a five- to ten-year truce as progress on the agreement’s second phase stalled, with Israel carrying out near-daily strikes on Gaza and imposing even tighter restrictions on humanitarian aid entering the strip.
On Sunday, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 12 Palestinians in southern and northern Gaza, as attacks continued despite the ongoing ceasefire. Since it took effect on 10 October, Israeli ceasefire violations have killed at least 591 Palestinians and wounded 1,598 others.
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