The United States President Donald Trump has said member states of the Board of Peace will pledge more than $5 billion for reconstruction and humanitarian efforts in Gaza at a meeting on Thursday.
In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump wrote that member states have committed thousands of personnel toward a UN-authorised stabilisation force and local police in the Palestinian enclave.
Gaza Reconstruction: Board of Peace to announce $5 billion pledge this week
The gathering will mark the first official meeting of the group and will take place at the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, which the State Department recently renamed after the president. Delegations from more than 20 countries, including heads of state, are expected to attend.
The board’s creation was endorsed by a United Nations Security Council resolution as part of the Trump administration’s plan to end the war between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza.
Israel and Hamas agreed to the plan last year with a ceasefire officially taking effect in October, although both sides have accused each other repeatedly of violating the ceasefire.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, more than 590 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops in the territory since the ceasefire began. Israel has said four of its soldiers have been killed by Palestinian militants in the same period, according to a report by Reuters.
Regional Middle East powers including Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Israel, as well as nations such as Indonesia, have joined the board. However, traditional Western US allies have been more cautious in their participation.
