The inaugural meeting of President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace is being held on Thursday. Representatives from more than two dozen countries set to focus on reconstructing war-torn Gaza and building an international stabilization force there.
Ahead of the meeting, Trump said so far, board members have pledged $5 billion for reconstruction efforts. It’s estimated to cost $70 billion to rebuild the devastated enclave.
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Members of the board are also expected to commitment thousands of personnel to international stabilization and police forces at the first meeting.
So far, only Indonesia has publicly committed troops to the proposed force. Officials say up to 8,000 troops are expected to be ready by the end of June for a potential deployment to Gaza.
A bigger plan
The board is part of Trump’s 20-point peace plan to end the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, but he has also said it will serve a broader goal of helping resolve conflict around the globe.
While the heaviest fighting has mostly stopped, Israel’s military has still been carrying out airstrikes near military-held areas.
At Thursday’s session, the Gaza Executive Board, the operational arm of the effort, is expected to outline next steps toward establishing a functioning governing structure inside Gaza.
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On average, roughly 84% of the Gaza Strip is entirely destroyed, according to the United Nations.
Who will be there
More than 40 countries and the European Union are reportedly sending representatives to the first Board of Peace meeting.
Countries that will be represented include Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Hungary and Belarus.
Members of Trump’s cabinet, like Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff are also expected to speak at the meeting. As will executive committee member former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and High Representative Nickolay Mladenov, who serves as the key link between the board and the Palestinian technocratic committee, according to CNN.
A senior administration official told the Associated Press that Germany, Italy, Norway and Switzerland have not formally joined the board, but will attend Thursday’s session as observers.
UN Security Council meeting
The U.N. Security Council held a high-level meeting Wednesday on the ceasefire and Israel’s expanding operations in the West Bank. That session, originally scheduled for Thursday, was moved up after the Board of Peace meeting was announced.
At that meeting, Ambassador Mike Waltz pushed back on criticism of the new initiative.
“I’ve heard — we are hearing the chattering class criticizing the structure of the board,” Waltz said,” that it’s unconventional, that it’s unprecedented. Again, the old ways were not working. We had — we had choices of Hamas continuing to control Gaza and occupation of Gaza, or a new way.”
Several council members also spoke out against steps taken by Israel recently to expand its control over the West Bank. Pakistan’s representative called the efforts “null and void” under international law.
