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US President Donald Trump will preside over the first meeting of his Board of Peace on Thursday, with unresolved questions on the future of Gaza hanging over an event expected to include representatives from more than 45 nations.
The disarmament of Hamas terrorists, the size of the reconstruction fund, and the flow of humanitarian aid to the war-battered populace of Gaza are among the major questions likely to test the effectiveness of the board in the weeks and months ahead.
Trump is to address the group at the Donald J Trump US Institute of Peace – a building in Washington, the president recently renamed for himself – and announce that participating nations have raised $5 billion for the reconstruction fund.
The money is expected to be a down payment on a fund that will likely need many more billions. Included in the $5 billion is an expected $1.2 billion from each of Washington’s Gulf Arab allies, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, a US official told Reuters.
Trump’s Board of Peace has been controversial. It includes Israel but not Palestinian representatives, and Trump’s suggestion that the Board could eventually address challenges beyond Gaza has stirred anxiety that it could undermine the UN’s role as the main platform for global diplomacy and conflict resolution.
Senior US officials said Trump will also announce that several nations are planning to send thousands of troops to participate in an International Stabilization Force that will help keep the peace in Gaza.
Disarming Hamas terrorists in order for the peacekeepers to begin their mission remains a major sticking point, and the force is not expected to deploy for weeks or months.
Hamas, fearful of Israeli reprisals, has been reluctant to hand over weaponry as part of Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan that brought about a ceasefire last October in the two-year Israel-Hamas War.
“We are under no illusions on the challenges regarding demilitarization, but we have been encouraged by what the mediators have reported back,” a senior administration official said.
Several UN Security Council members will not attend BoP meeting
Delegations from 47 countries plus the European Union are expected to attend the event, US officials said. The list includes Israel and a wide array of countries from Albania to Vietnam.
It does not, however, include permanent United Nations Security Council members like France, Britain, Russia, and China.
Speakers at the event are expected to include Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, former British prime minister Tony Blair, who is expected to have a senior role on the board, US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, and High Representative for Gaza Nickolay Mladenov, among other attendees.
A member of the peace board, who declined to be named, said the Gaza plan faces formidable obstacles. Establishing security in the enclave is a precondition for progress in other areas, but the police force is neither ready nor fully trained, said the official.
The official added that a key unresolved question is who would negotiate with Hamas. The peace board’s representatives could do so with countries that have influence over Hamas – notably Qatar and Turkey – but Israel is deeply skeptical of both.
Another major issue is the flow of aid, which the official described as “disastrous” and in urgent need of scaling up. Even if aid surges in, it remains unclear who will distribute it, the official said.
JPMorgan in talks to bank for Trump’s Board of Peace, FT says
JPMorgan is in talks to provide banking services to the Board of Peace, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the discussions.
The bank has discussed providing services such as facilitating payments to and from the board, the report added.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The White House and JPMorgan did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Kosovo, Kazakhstan, to join Gaza International Stabilization Force
Meanwhile, Kosovo and Kazakhstan joined the list of countries participating in the ISF under Trump’s vision for a “new order” in the Gaza Strip, according to information obtained by Israeli sources on Wednesday.
ISF aims to facilitate the demilitarization of Hamas and maintain the ceasefire between Israel and the terror group, and includes countries such as Indonesia, Morocco, Greece, and Albania, the latter three having joined earlier this week.
Ariella Roitman contributed to this report.
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