WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that his so-called Board of Peace has brokered a landmark agreement for the complete disarmament of Hamas and other armed factions in Gaza, coupled with the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the devastated territory. The announcement marks a dramatic, unilateral intervention in one of the world’s most intractable conflicts, sidelining traditional diplomatic channels.
Trump characterized the agreement as “historic,” detailing a phased implementation plan. Under the terms, Israeli forces, which control roughly two-thirds of the Gaza Strip as of late April, will conduct a staged pullback that corresponds directly with the progress of disarmament operations. The deal emerges after more than 2.5 years of a relentless Israeli military assault that has reduced much of the enclave to rubble, with reconstruction estimates soaring as high as $70 billion.
What is the ‘Board of Peace’h2>
The Board of Peace is a Trump-conceived initiative first floated last September as his blueprint to end the war. Its mandate was subsequently expanded to address global conflicts, with Trump assuming the role of chair—a function historically reserved for the United Nations. The board’s charter stipulates that member states serve three-year terms, unless they pay a $1 billion fee each to secure permanent membership and fund the body’s operations.
In January, the White House named the founding Executive Board, which includes U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The inclusion of Blair has drawn particular scrutiny given his role in the Iraq war and the legacy of British imperialism in the Middle East.
Who Has Joined the Board?
The board’s official website lists over two dozen founding member nations, drawing heavily from Washington’s Middle Eastern allies and a patchwork of states from other regions.
- Middle East and North Africa: Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.
- Other Founding Members: Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Cambodia, El Salvador, Hungary, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Mongolia, Pakistan, Paraguay, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
The Notable Absentees
Conspicuously absent from the initiative are Washington’s key Western allies and major powers from the Global South. The United Kingdom, the European Union, France, Germany, Norway, and Sweden have all declined to participate. Trump also rescinded an invitation to Canada following a speech by Prime Minister Mark Carney in Davos.
Brazil and Mexico refused to join, citing the lack of Palestinian representation on the board. The Vatican echoed this concern, stating that crisis management should remain under the purview of the United Nations. Notably, veto-wielding UN Security Council members China and Russia have also stayed out of the framework.
Authority and Legal Standing
The UN Security Council adopted a U.S.-drafted resolution in November that recognizes the board as a “transitional and temporary administration” to coordinate funding for Gaza’s redevelopment. The resolution authorizes the deployment of a temporary International Stabilization Force but limits the board’s scope exclusively to Gaza and only through 2027, requiring biannual progress reports to the 15-member council. China and Russia abstained, arguing the resolution failed to grant the UN a clear role in Gaza’s future.
Beyond Gaza, the board’s legal authority and enforcement mechanisms remain ambiguous. Its charter states it will undertake “peace-building functions in accordance with international law,” yet grants Trump, as chairman, sweeping executive power, including the ability to veto decisions and remove members, subject to some constraints.
Criticism and Controversy
Rights experts have lambasted the structure as resembling a colonial enterprise, noting that a body tasked with supervising a Palestinian territory’s temporary governance includes no Palestinian representative. The board has also faced condemnation for including nations with widely criticized human rights records, such as Belarus and El Salvador, and for granting Israel a seat on a body overseeing Gaza’s future while the territory lies in ruins from an Israeli military campaign.
The assault, which Israel calls self-defense following the Hamas-led October 2023 attack that killed 1,200 people and took over 250 hostages, has resulted in tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths, a hunger crisis, and the internal displacement of Gaza’s entire population. UN inquiries and rights scholars have assessed that acts of genocide may have been committed.
Recent Board Activity
During the board’s first meeting in February, Trump announced that member nations had contributed $7 billion to a Gaza reconstruction fund, a fraction of the up to $70 billion in estimated rebuilding costs. Progress hit a brief snag when Indonesia, a board member, paused discussions following the onset of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, though talks on Trump’s Gaza plan subsequently resumed.
In April, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres confirmed he was cooperating with the board on Gaza. The same month, the Financial Times reported that the board had engaged with Dubai-based multinational DP World to explore managing supply chains and infrastructure projects in the enclave, signaling a move toward corporate-led reconstruction planning.
