United States President Donald Trump has officially unveiled a draft charter for the Gaza Board of Peace.
The proposal, which seeks to overhaul the post-war governance of the Gaza Strip, reportedly includes a staggering request: a $1 billion “entry fee” for nations seeking permanent membership on the board.
According to a leaked draft charter first reported by Bloomberg and Reuters, the administration of Trump has reached out to about 60 nations with invitations to join the oversight body.
While the board is ostensibly designed to supervise Gaza’s transitional administration and reconstruction, the financial “pay-to-play” model has drawn immediate scrutiny.
Under the proposed rules, member states of the Gaza Board of Peace would typically serve three-year terms; however, those that contribute at least $1 billion in cash within the first year would bypass these limits, securing a permanent seat.
The White House described the initiative as a “nimble and effective” alternative to traditional international bodies. The board is expected to be chaired by Trump himself, with a founding executive committee that already includes high-profile figures such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Jared Kushner, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The European Union’s executive arm, Russia, Belarus, and Thailand, on Monday, were the latest to be asked to join the new Gaza Board of Peace that will supervise the next phase of the Gaza peace plan.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin received the invitation and that the Kremlin is now “studying the details” and would seek clarity of “all the nuances” in contacts with the U.S. The Thai Foreign Ministry said it was also invited and that it was reviewing the details.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has been invited and is ready to take part, according to the country’s Foreign Ministry.
European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill confirmed that Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the commission, received an invitation and would be speaking to other EU leaders about Gaza. Gill didn’t say whether the invitation had been accepted, but that the commission wants “to contribute to a comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict.”
According to the World Bank’s Gaza and West Bank Interim Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (IRDNA) report released last year, it’ll take $53 billion to rebuild the strip.
The Board of Peace was first touted in the 20-point plan that Washington devised in September to end the conflict in Gaza, and which led to the current fragile truce in the enclave.
This initial plan, which seeks to create a transitional model of governance that excludes Hamas, anticipates the establishment of a Palestinian technocratic committee, in charge of the day-to-day life of Gaza and supervised by the board.
The U.S is expected to announce its official list of members in the coming days, likely during the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
Board members will oversee an executive committee that will be in charge of implementing the tough second phase of the Gaza peace plan that includes the deployment of an international security force, disarmament of Hamas and reconstruction of the war-devastated territory.
However, Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Monday dismissed the Gaza Board of Peace as a raw deal for Israel and called for its dissolution.
“It is time to explain to the president that his plan is bad for the State of Israel and to cancel it,” Smotrich said at a ceremony inaugurating the new Yatziv settlement in the occupied West Bank. “Gaza is ours, its future will affect our future more than anyone else’s. We will take responsibility for what happens there, impose military administration, and complete the mission.”
On Saturday, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the formation of the committee wasn’t coordinated with the Israeli government and “is contrary to its policy” without clarifying what its objections were.
