President Donald Trump’s “Peace Board” will meet for its long-awaited first meeting on Thursday, with the focus on the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire.
Key US allies will be absent from the meeting, however, amid concerns Trump may be hoping to challenge the United Nations with his broader desire to use the organization to help resolve global conflicts.
Representatives of at least 40 countries, including heads of state, are expected to descend on Washington for the conference, which is expected to be held at the US Institute of Peace, a senior US official told NBC News. At least five world leaders are expected to attend, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Argentine President Javier Milei, both friends of Trump.
Trump is expected to announce a multibillion-dollar Gaza reconstruction plan, along with contributions from board members, the president said. over the weekend, which has so far been promised more than five billion rands, without identifying the countries that promised this funding.
He is expected to reveal the details of the military plans approved by the United Nations in Gaza, including a number of countries that the American official said are planning to donate thousands of soldiers to this plan.
A senior US official told NBC News that the meeting will include updates on “all lines of effort,” including humanitarian aid, the Gaza National Management Committee, and the International Stabilization Force.
The president expressed his hope for the preparation of the summit, telling reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday that “great leaders in the world” are joining the Peace Board, which he first set up as a body to oversee peace efforts in Gaza, before greatly expanding its work to become a body similar to the UN aimed at dealing with the world’s major conflicts.
A number of countries have committed to join, including Armenia, Egypt, Hungary, Pakistan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, although it is unclear how many, if any, have committed to contributing $1 billion to the permanent membership program.
However, those who will not be present at the talks will be important partners of the US, with the UK, France, Norway, Sweden and Slovenia among the countries that refused to join the organization, one of the concerns of its constitution, which did not specifically mention Gaza, and its ability to undermine the role of the UN in peacekeeping efforts.
Pope Leo XIV was the latest to decline Trump’s invitation to join the board, with the Vatican expressing concern that “the UN is responsible for managing these difficult situations.”
White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt called the decision “very unfortunate,” adding, “I don’t think peace should be partial or political or controversial.”
Other world leaders have also expressed concern about Russia’s involvement, after being invited by the Kremlin. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said earlier this week that the country would not join the first summit but was “still working” on its long-term position, according to Russian news agency TASS.
The European Union and Italy said they would attend the meeting, but only as observers. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who is part of a right-wing government that is broadly aligned with Europe in its standoff with Trump, said his country is willing to help train police in Gaza and elsewhere in the Palestinian territories, according to Reuters.
While some of America’s allies have pulled out of the move, at least one was kicked off the board entirely, when Trump withdrew Canada’s invitation to join last month, shortly after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney gave a speech at the World Economic Forum warning of an “explosion” of the global order.
Rights experts and others have criticized the Peace Board as a colonial project, and questioned the lack of Palestinian representation on the Gaza board.
“It is a colonial occupation: others decide for the Palestinians,” said Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, according to the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.
Advisor to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Dr. Mahmoud Al-Habbash said that it is a “temporary arrangement” that “the Palestinian leadership rejects under any circumstances,” but he said that it is “the lesser of two evils,” speaking to the Arab agency Asharq Al-Awsat.
“So far, we haven’t seen Gaza’s interests represented at the Peace Board,” said Julie Norman, a fellow at Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Program in a phone interview Wednesday. “That became clear in the way the authority of the board changed.”
A separate technical body, overseen by the Gaza executive board, will oversee day-to-day administration in Gaza, and is made up of Palestinians and headed by Palestinian Authority chief Ali Shaath.
The lack of Palestinian representatives could be a divisive issue after Israel joined the Peace Council last week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the announcement on X last week while on a trip to Washington to meet with Trump.
As it stands, the ceasefire in Gaza continues to hold, despite Israeli airstrikes in the war-torn enclave that have seen hundreds killed during the truce, according to Palestinian health officials, while both Hamas and Israel trade accusations of violations.
Meanwhile, dire conditions persisted for Palestinians in the area, where most people remained homeless and lived in tents.
The implementation of the next steps of the ceasefire, including the demilitarization of Hamas, which is an important goal and sticking point in the cease-fire agreement, and the presentation of plans to rebuild Gaza, where a large part of Enclad has been destroyed, will be a major task.
“We are not oblivious to the challenges associated with demilitarization, but we are encouraged by what the mediators have reported,” said a senior US official.
Trump expressed his desire for the Peace Council, which he agreed to go “beyond Gaza” on Tuesday.
“I think there will be peace around the world,” he said, adding that although his board will work “in cooperation with the United Nations,” he believes the international organization “has not achieved its potential.”
