Trump holds first meeting of Peace Council, announces funding pledges to keep peace in Gaza
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Five countries have committed troops to the international security forces in Gaza, a military commander said Thursday during a meeting in Washington, DC, of President Donald Trump’s newly formed Peace Council.
“The first five countries have committed soldiers to serve in the ISF – Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania. Two countries have committed to train the police – Egypt and Jordan,” said US Army Maj.-Gen. Jasper Jeffers, commander of the International Stabilization Force (ISF).
Jeffers also said that the ISF will start by deploying to Rafa in southern Gaza, train police there and “expand the industry by sectors.”
The long-term plan is to deploy 20,000 ISF soldiers and train 12,000 police officers, Jeffers said.
In several announcements at the end of a long, strong speech to representatives from 47 nations, Trump said that the US will make a contribution of US $ 10 billion to the Peace Council. The source of the US contributions was not immediately clear; Congress played no role in approving the peace project.
He said the nine contributing countries have raised $7 billion as the first payment for the reconstruction of Gaza, a Gaza reconstruction fund that aims to rebuild the area once the militant group Hamas disarms, a goal that is far from being a reality.
WATCH | Trump appears to be criticizing himself despite the board’s lofty ambitions:
No Palestinian representative is on board
Trump also said that FIFA will raise $75 million for football-related projects in Gaza and the United Nations will release $2 billion for humanitarian aid.
Trump first raised the bar last September when he announced his plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza. He later made it clear that the money released by the board would be extended beyond Gaza to deal with other conflicts around the world.
US President Donald Trump launched his ‘Peace Board’ in Davos, Switzerland, but so far, few Western allies have joined. Approved by the United Nations as part of the Gaza peace process, its charter makes no mention of Gaza. Some critics now accuse Trump of trying to establish a rival UN.
The Peace Council includes Israel but not Palestinian representatives. Trump’s suggestion that the council could eventually deal with challenges beyond Gaza has raised concerns that it could undermine the role of the UN as the main forum for negotiating and resolving conflicts around the world.
“We’re going to strengthen the United Nations,” Trump said, trying to undercut his critics. “It’s really important.”
Most of the US’s allies in NATO or the European Union have chosen not to participate. Canada declined a significant number of permanent seats and Trump later withdrew Canada’s invitation, not long after Prime Minister Mark Carney’s blunt speech in Davos.
The disarmament of Hamas forces and the accompanying withdrawal of Israeli forces, the size of the reconstruction fund and the flow of aid to the war-torn Gazans are among the major questions likely to test the board’s performance in the coming weeks and months.
Regarding international security forces, Indonesian President Parbowo Subianto said in Washington that his country would contribute 8,000 or more troops, while Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said they would send military units, including medical units, to participate. Two thousand Palestinians have applied to join the Palestinian interim police force, Nickolay Mladenov, Gaza’s chief representative, said at Thursday’s meeting.
Hamas, which fears Israeli retaliation, has been reluctant to provide weapons as part of Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan that brought a fragile final ceasefire in October to the two-year-old Gaza war.
Andrew Chang explains what US $1 billion buys members of Trump’s Peace Council. Photos provided by The Canadian Press, Reuters and Getty Images
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that in Israel, Hamas will be disarmed one way or another. “Soon, Hamas will face a dilemma – to disarm peacefully or disarm by force,” he said.
In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said any international force must “monitor the ceasefire and prevent [Israeli] “More than a few hundred Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire in October.
Disarmament can be discussed, he said without committing to it.
Norway clarifies Trump’s claim
Trump said at Thursday’s meeting that Norway had agreed to “host an event involving the Peace Board,” but the government in Oslo quickly issued an explanation.
Norway has said it will host a meeting this spring of the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee (AHCL) for Palestinian aid but is not joining Trump’s board.
Norway has for decades led the AHCL, which was established after the Oslo accords of 1993-1995 that sought to end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
“The United States, and the European Union, are the vice-chairs of this group … we are communicating with the US about how we can talk about the Gaza peace process there,” said a Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokesperson.
“Norway has clearly stated that it will not be a member of the Peace Council, and this position remains strong.”
While Trump touted the event as bringing peace to the Middle East, the meeting came amid a large number of US troops in the region that has fueled fears of a wider war. The US has been negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program, and Trump said on Thursday that “bad things” will happen to Iran if it fails to reach a deal.
