Trump says Board of Peace will unveil $5 billion in Gaza reconstruction pledges

DONALD TRUMP SAID members of his so-called Board of Peace have pledged $5 billion (€4.2 billion) towards rebuilding war-ravaged Gaza and will commit thousands of personnel to international stabilisation and police forces for the territory.

The pledges will be formally announced when board members gather in Washington on Thursday for their first meeting, the US president said.

“The Board of Peace will prove to be the most consequential International Body in History, and it is my honour to serve as its Chairman,” he wrote in a social media post announcing the pledges.

He did not detail which member nations were making the pledges for reconstruction or would contribute personnel to the stabilisation force.

Advertisement

Indonesia’s military said today that up to 8,000 of its troops are expected to be ready by the end of June for a potential deployment to Gaza as part of a humanitarian and peace mission. It is the first firm commitment Trump has received.

Rebuilding the Palestinian territory will be a daunting task. The United Nations, the World Bank and the European Union estimate that reconstruction will cost $70 billion (€59 billion).

The ceasefire deal calls for an armed international stabilisation force to keep security and ensure the disarming of the militant Hamas group, a key demand of Israel. Few countries have expressed interest in taking part in the proposed force.

Ireland was issued an invitation to join at the cost of $1 billion, which was refused by Tánaiste Simon Harris.

The US-brokered 10 October ceasefire deal attempted to halt a more than two-year war between Israel and Hamas. While the heaviest fighting has subsided, Israeli forces have carried out repeated air strikes and frequently fire on Palestinians near military-held zones.

It is not clear how many of the more than 20 members of the Board of Peace will attend the first meeting. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who held White House talks with Trump last week, is not expected to be there.

Related Reads

A ceasefire in name only: Israel's relentless targeting of Palestinians has not stopped

The new board was first seen as a mechanism focused on ending the Israeli war on Gaza, but it has taken shape with his ambition for a broader mandate of resolving global crises and appears to be the latest US effort to sidestep the United Nations as Trump aims to reset the post-Second World War international order.

Many of America’s top allies in Europe and elsewhere have declined to join what they suspect may be an attempt to rival the UN Security Council.

Trump also confirmed that Thursday’s meeting will take place at the US Institute of Peace, which the State Department announced in December it was renaming as the Donald J Trump US Institute of Peace.

The building is the subject of litigation brought by former employees and executives of the non-profit think tank after the Republican administration seized the facility last year and fired almost all its staff.