New Delhi: The inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace (BoP) will be hosted by the White House at the Donald J Trump Institute of Peace in Washington DC on Thursday. The meeting will mark the board’s first official session and double as a fundraising conference for Gaza’s reconstruction.
US President Donald Trump will announce that member states have pledged more than $5 billion for reconstruction and humanitarian efforts in Gaza at the summit.
As part of the second phase of the Trump’s 20-point peace plan, the newly formed group will oversee Gaza’s reconstruction efforts and supervise the disarmament of Hamas. The group is also expected to deploy an international security force to uphold the ceasefire, which has been wobbly since October.
20 countries to take part
On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that over 20 countries would take part in the summit. He added that member states had committed to providing thousands of personnel for the international stabilisation force for Gaza. The US President would chair the first part of Thursday’s meeting before departing Washington for a visit to Georgia.
On January 23, Trump had signed documents in Davos, Switzerland, to set up the Board of Peace. The board’s creation was endorsed through a United Nations Security Council resolution as part of Donald Trump’s Gaza plan.
Leavitt reportedly pointed out: “The president has a very bold and ambitious plan and vision to rebuild and reconstruct Gaza, which is well under way because of the Board of Peace. This is a legitimate organisation where there are tens of member countries from around the world.”
Those in the group include Turkey, UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, Indonesia, Argentina, Paraguay, Hungary and Kazakhstan.
Vatican won’t join
Dozens of world leaders and national delegations are expected to attend the inaugural meeting. However, several key European allies have declined to join and voiced concerns over the body’s opaque funding and political mandate. This week, Pope Leo XIV announced that the Vatican would not join the board.
Trump’s Gaza plan resulted in a fragile ceasefire in October. The board was originally meant to supervise Gaza’s temporary governance. But Trump later said the board would expand to handling global conflicts. Critics claim that the body seeks to encroach on the authority of major international organisations like the UN and could help Trump to remain its chair even after his presidency ends.
Thursday’s meeting is expected to focus only on Gaza.