US expected to unveil Gaza Board of Peace in late December, around Trump-Netanyahu meeting, official says

The United States plans to formally announce the establishment of the Board of Peace — the international board tasked with overseeing the management of Gaza under Washington’s peace plan for the Strip — at the end of this month, a senior European official briefed on the issue tells The Times of Israel.

Officials working to advance the plan’s second phase — in coordination with Israel, the US and other mediating countries — were initially given a specific mid-December date by the Americans for the Board of Peace announcement, according to the official. “That date has since disappeared,” the official says, adding that Washington has now indicated “it might not be so soon.”

Since then, the expected timeframe has shifted to the end of this month, during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the US, where he will meet with US President Donald Trump on advancing the plan, the official adds.

Once the Board of Peace, which is to be headed by Trump, is announced, the body will announce an intermediate “executive committee,” which will then nominate the committee of Palestinian technocrats that will oversee the day-to-day management of the Strip, according to the official.

The official’s comments were made shortly before US envoy to the United Nations Mike Waltz said he expects announcements to be made soon on components of the second phase of the plan, including the Board of Peace, the committee of Palestinian technocrats, and the international force that would patrol the Strip.

Netanyahu’s office announced this evening that the premier’s meeting with Trump will take place at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on December 29, and that his trip will take place from December 28 to January 1.