Board of Peace tells UN it needs countries to follow through on funding pledges for Gaza

The gap between funding pledges and disbursement for Donald Trump’s Gaza rebuilding plan must be closed urgently, the US president’s “Board of Peace” says in a report, identifying a potential cash crunch in a plan estimated to cost $70 billion.

Trump set up the Board of Peace to oversee his ambitious plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza and rebuild the shattered territory.

The UN Security Council has recognized the board, though many major powers have not joined Washington’s main Middle Eastern allies and some middling and smaller states in signing up. Reuters reported in April that the board had only received a small fraction of the $17 billion pledged by members for Gaza, preventing the president from moving ahead with his plan.

The board denies that report, saying in a statement it was an “execution-focused organization that calls capital as needed,” and that there “are no funding constraints.” The money is meant to pay for reconstruction and fund the activities of a new US-backed transitional Gaza government.

In a May 15 report to the United Nations Security Council, viewed by Reuters today, the board says that “the gap between commitment and disbursement must be closed with urgency.”

It adds: “Funds committed but not yet disbursed represent the difference between a framework that exists on paper and one that delivers on the ground for the people of Gaza.”

The board calls on countries that signed up for Trump’s board and others to make contributions without delay, and urges “those Member States that have made pledges to accelerate disbursement processes.”