Trump kicks off his Board of Peace with eye on Gaza and beyond
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The meeting will look at how to launch the International Stabilization Force to ensure security in Gaza.
PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump on Feb 19 gathered allies to inaugurate the Board of Peace, his new institution focused on progress on Gaza but whose ambitions reach much further.
Around two dozen world leaders or other senior officials have come to Washington for the meeting – including several of Mr Trump’s authoritarian-leaning friends and virtually none of the European democrats that traditionally sign on to US initiatives.
The Board of Peace
The US says that the plan has now entered its second phase with a focus on disarming Hamas – the Palestinian militant group whose unprecedented Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel triggered the massive offensive.
Gaza’s Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas authorities, says at least 601 people have been killed by Israeli forces since the truce began.
At the Board of Peace meeting, Mr Trump is expected to detail pledges of more than US$5 billion (S$6.3 billion) for Gaza, where the vast majority of buildings lie in rubble and the property mogul turned president has improbably suggested developing resorts.
The meeting will also look at how to launch the International Stabilization Force that will ensure security in Gaza.
A key player will be Indonesia, the largest Muslim-majority country, which has said it is ready to send up to 8,000 troops to Gaza if the force is confirmed.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will take part in the inaugural meeting, after joining the launch event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January.
Progress on Gaza?
US officials, including Mr Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump’s friend and roving negotiator, have insisted that solid progress is being made and that Hamas is feeling pressure to give up weapons.
Israel has suggested sweeping restrictions, including seizing small personal rifles from Hamas.
“The heavy weapon, the one that does the most damage, is called an AK-47,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said recently.
“That’s the main weapon, and that has to go,” added Mr Netanyahu, whose government will be represented by the foreign minister.
Mr Jeremy Issacharoff, a strategic affairs expert at Israel’s Reichman University, acknowledged that disarming Hamas would not be a “simple task”, but said that for Israel, a credible pathway would be key to determining “whether this exercise can get off the ground”.
In one step towards a new Gaza, a technocratic committee was formed in January to handle day-to-day governance of Gaza, headed by engineer and former official Ali Shaath.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told AFP that the Board of Peace should compel Israel to “stop its violations in Gaza” and lift its long siege of the territory.
Ambition and narcissism
The meeting will take place in the building of the US Institute of Peace, a longstanding institution that studied conflict resolution whose staff was fired by Mr Trump, whose name was then chiselled on the entrance.
Under terms laid out by the White House, Mr Trump will wield veto power over the Board of Peace and can remain its head even after leaving office, and countries that want to stay on permanently rather than enjoy a two-year stint will need to pay US$1 billion.
US officials say the meeting on Feb 19 is about Gaza, but have also spoken of the Board of Peace in broader, amorphous terms, saying it can address other global hot spots.
“It’s a confused mix of ambition and narcissism, unleavened by any effort at intellectual coherence,” said Dr Bruce Jones, a senior fellow at Brookings Institution.
The effort comes as Mr Trump thumbs his nose at the UN, scaling back funding and withdrawing the US from key bodies.
Friends and suitors
The inaugural meeting will bring ideological allies of Mr Trump, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is facing a tough re-election battle, and Argentina’s President Javier Millei.
Other leaders in attendance include some eager for US attention, such as Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has courted Mr Trump for support in his country’s conflict with India.
But major historic allies of the US are not participating, including France and Canada.
Japan, usually among the most stalwart US allies, has not decided whether to join the board and will send an envoy handling Gaza.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declined an invitation, saying the board should be limited to Gaza and “include a seat for Palestine”.
Mr Lula in January dubbed Mr Trump’s board “a new UN where only he is the owner”. AFP
