'Board of Peace' members commit $7bn to Gaza relief, US pledges further $10bn
Nine of the member nations of Donald Trump's "Board of Peace" have pledged a total of $7bn towards relief efforts in Gaza, the US president announced at the group's inaugural meeting in Washington, DC, on Thursday.
The countries are Kazakhstan; Azerbaijan; the UAE; Morocco; Bahrain; Qatar; Saudi Arabia; Uzbekistan; and Kuwait.
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait are all contributing $1bn each, per statements by their representatives at the meeting. A full breakdown of the figures was not immediately made available.
However Hikmet Hajiyev, the assistant to the president of Azerbaijan, appeared to dispute his country's inclusion among the first slate of donors, writing on X that while "Azerbaijan's participation in investment projects in Gaza through the Peace Summit may be considered," its "participation is not envisaged in the financial project for Gaza in the amount of 7 billion US dollars announced at today's session".
Trump, in his opening remarks, insisted that "many more are contributing to the numbers".
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"This is our first meeting, but every dollar spent is an investment in stability and the hope of new and harmonious... region that's so important, it's so vibrant, it's so incredible."
The US is investing a further $10bn, he added, but it was understood to be for the overall operations for the Board of Peace and not necessarily for Gaza. Middle East Eye has reached out to the White House for clarity.
The United Nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs will also raise $2bn for Gaza, the president said.
The international football body Fifa will be raising $75m for sports-related projects in the enclave, Trump added. He had invited Fifa boss Gianni Infantino to join the Board of Peace after Infantino awarded him the first-ever Fifa Peace Prize last year. Infantino was in attendance on Thursday.
Japan has also committed to host an aid fundraiser, Trump announced, which will be attended by regional nations, including South Korea, the Philippines, and Singapore.
"China is going to be involved, and I think Russia is going to be involved," the president said.
Managing money and risk
The head of the World Bank, Ajay Banga, sits on the executive committee of the Board of Peace and said at the meeting that his institution will "manage that money while it stays with us".
Under the Board of Peace's direction, the funds will then be dispersed for reconstruction and development projects in Gaza, he added.
"The World Bank's role is that of a limited trustee," Banga explained.
"Because of our AAA rating, we have the ability to leverage private bond money to help to create the resources we need... [and] we can de-risk private investing."
The risk, however, remains high given Israel's history of resuming large-scale assaults on Gaza.
But Trump begged to differ, declaring that "the war in Gaza is over. It's over".
However, in Gaza, another two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of Palestinian deaths since the 10 October ceasefire to 611, according to the Gaza health ministry on Thursday. The total death toll in the genocide is over 72,000.
"There are little flames. Little flames. Hamas... I think they're going to give up their weapons, which is what they promised. If they don't... they'll be harshly met, very harshly met."
Trump did, however, "give them credit" for digging up the remains of Israeli captives in Gaza, he told the crowd of assembled world leaders and members of his cabinet at the newly-renamed Donald J Trump Institute for Peace.
Hamas has offered to "bury" its weapons for a long-term truce, but has maintained that full demilitarisation leaves Gaza with no defences against a US-armed Israel.
Israel has thus far refused any kind of mutual security agreement that would provide assurances to Hamas about future attacks.
Hamas itself has no representation on the Board of Peace, even as it continues to hold a stake in negotiations via mediators Egypt and Qatar.
Peacekeeping
When the US sought a UN mandate for the Board of Peace via Security Council Resolution 2803, that also included an International Stabilisation Force (ISF) for Gaza.
While its mandate is to protect civilians and train local forces, it must also assist in disarming all fighting factions in the enclave, which has caused several US allies to shy away from sending troops, in a bid to avoid outbreaks of violent conflict in Gaza.
However, US Major General Jasper Jeffers, who has been appointed to oversee the ISF, revealed at the Board of Peace meeting that Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, and Albania will all contribute troops to the ISF, and that Egypt and Jordan will train those troops.
"For the last few months, we've had a team on the ground of US military experts preparing the infrastructure for the ISF" and working out of the Civil-Military Coordination Centre in Israel, Jeffers said.
"Our plan is for the ISF to be assigned in five different sectors, each sector receiving one ISF brigade. In the short term, we plan to deploy to the Rafah sector first," he announced, without providing an exact timeline.
Indonesia, Jeffers said, will assume deputy command of the ISF.
The Trump administration has previously said that no US troops will be on the ground in Gaza.
Local police force
Ali Shaath, the Palestinian technocrat appointed to lead the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), sat on stage flanked by the US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, to his left, and Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov, the man appointed to oversee the intended demilitarisation of Gaza, to his right.
"We are operating in extremely difficult conditions," Shaath said.
"Large parts of [the] Gaza Strip are severely damaged. Destroyed, actually. Humanitarian needs are acute. Law and order remain fragile. This is not [a] normal operating environment... which is precisely why discipline and prioritisation matter."
Those priorities must include the restoration of security via 5,000 trained professional civilian police; reviving Gaza's economy and creating jobs; ensuring sustained emergency humanitarian relief; and the provision of basic services - including electricity, water, health, education, and access to movement, Shaath said.
To that end, Mladenov announced on Thursday the creation of the Office of the High Representative for Gaza of the Board of Peace, which will oversee and "guide" the NCAG, he said.
Police recruitment in Gaza is already underway, he said, and 2,000 Palestinians have so far applied to join the force, which will be trained in Egypt.
"It is this Palestinian security force, under the authority of the national committee for the transition period, that will allow us to ensure that all factions in Gaza are dismantled and all weapons are put under the control of one civilian authority. The only way to do that is the full implementation of the 20-point plan," Mladenov said.
The UN
The Board of Peace charter makes no mention of the words "Gaza" or "Palestinian".
The Trump administration has also broken from decades of precedent in no longer making a "two-state solution" a US policy goal.
Trump has not hidden the fact that he wants to see the board - of which he is the chairman for life - tackle other international crises, given, in his view, the UN's inability to do so.
At last week's Munich Security Conference, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, Kaja Kallas, criticised the peace board for making no reference to either Gaza or the UN.
Spain has refused to join the board, along with most of Europe. Some EU representatives attended the meeting as "observers" on Thursday.
The Vatican declined to attend, and Canada's invitation was rescinded by Trump.
"We're going to be working with the United Nations very closely," Trump said on Thursday, adding that the Board of Peace will be "looking over the United Nations and making sure it runs properly".
"We're going to bring them back. I think the United Nations has great potential... Someday, I won't be here. The United Nations will be, I think, much stronger," he added.
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