Trump’s Board of Peace convening for 1st time, as US bullish on disarmament prospects

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace will hold an inaugural meeting on Thursday in Washington, where it aims to advance the reconstruction of Gaza despite looming questions over whether Hamas will agree to disarm and Israel will consent to further withdraw from the Strip so the planned rebuild can move ahead.

The meeting comes nearly four months since the Trump administration brokered a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that allowed the release of all remaining Israeli hostages.

Since then, though, both sides have accused one another of near-daily violations of the truce and hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.

Nonetheless, a senior US official pushed back on the notion that progress in Gaza has stalled.

“We are under no illusions on the challenges regarding demilitarization, but we have been encouraged by what the mediators have reported back,” the senior US official said on Wednesday.

While the US is branding Thursday’s gathering as an inaugural meeting, Board of Peace members met last month in Switzerland for a signing ceremony on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.

Who is coming?

The US invited heads of state to join Trump at the Washington confab, but many opted to stay home, with Bahrain’s King Hamad Al Khalifa the lone Middle Eastern country head making the trip.

Nearly fifty countries will still be represented, with Israel, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Qatar and others sending foreign ministers or another senior cabinet member.

The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority was not invited, but National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) chief commissioner Ali Shaath will be in attendance, two Arab diplomats told The Times of Israel, and a senior US official said updates regarding the NCAG will also be provided at the Thursday meeting.

Shaath’s committee of Palestinian technocrats is tasked with replacing Hamas in Gaza, but the NCAG has yet to enter the Strip, with the Board of Peace’s Gaza High Representative Nickolay Mladenov saying last week that it cannot do so if violations of the ceasefire continue.

In addition, a handful of European countries that have refrained from joining the Board of Peace due to legal complications or concerns that the body may undermine the United Nations will be participating in Thursday’s session as observers, the senior US official said.

Who is paying?

Trump said on Sunday that over $5 billion in pledges for humanitarian aid and reconstruction will be announced at the Thursday meeting.

The Times of Israel revealed last week that top funders would include Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and the United States — each contributing over $1 billion.

It’s unclear whether additional countries will agree to contribute amid fears that anything rebuilt will be destroyed in the next cycle of violence so long as Hamas remains in power.

Who is deploying troops?

Trump also said Sunday that the countries that have agreed to contribute thousands of personnel to the International Stabilization Force will also be announced at the Thursday gathering.

Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani will be among those leading observer delegations, after Rome expressed willingness to contribute to the ISF along with Indonesia.

However, Jakarta and other countries weighing participation in the ISF have stressed they would only want their troops to partake in more modest peacekeeping missions such as securing borders and humanitarian aid, as opposed to enforcement operations that could require combatting Hamas and other armed groups in order to take away their weapons.

A more limited ISF mandate will require Hamas to willingly give up its guns or risk a return to war, as being threatened by Israel.

Egypt, Qatar and Turkey have been holding talks with Hamas for months regarding the decommissioning of weapons in Gaza.

The US is still working on a formal disarmament proposal to present to Hamas, but two sources familiar with the effort told The Times of Israel last week that the plan’s fundamental principle will be stripping Hamas of tools that can be used to threaten Israel.

The plan also envisions a gradual process beginning with heavy weaponry and the destruction of weapon manufacturing sites in addition to incentivizing the handover of lighter weapons by offering funds, jobs and amnesty to those who cooperate, the sources said.

The proposal will focus on one section of Gaza at a time, rather than the entire Strip at once. Accordingly, it will take months to finish, the sources added.

While this may not lead to the recovery of every single weapon belonging to terror groups in the Strip, the US believes that enough pressure from Middle East mediating countries can prevent Hamas from playing spoiler, the sources said.

Who is speaking?

The Thursday gathering will begin with breakfast at 9 a.m.

Trump will arrive at 10 a.m. to provide opening remarks and sign a number of resolutions pertaining to Gaza.

The head of each delegation in attendance was instructed to offer brief remarks, during which they are encouraged to announce their contributions to the Gaza reconstruction effort.

There will also be speeches from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, top Trump aides Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, former UK prime minister Tony Blair and the Board of Peace’s High Representative for Gaza Nickolay Mladenov, the US official says.

Rubio is a member of the Board of Peace’s Executive Board, while Kushner, Witkoff, Blair and Mladenov are members of the Board of Peace’s Gaza Executive Board. Both panels are expected to play a role in overseeing the postwar management of Gaza.

Trump will participate in a group photo before leaving at 11 a.m., while the event will continue for another hour, according to a schedule sent to attendees.