President Donald Trump on Thursday gathered the leaders and foreign ministers of such increasingly prominent US allies as Kazakhstan, Indonesia and Azerbaijan for the inaugural meeting of his Board of Peace.
At the meeting in Washington, Trump announced a $10bn US commitment to the board and claimed that Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Kuwait had committed $7bn more for Gaza relief.
The administration played a promotional video produced by football governing body Fifa that proclaimed a “new dawn for Gaza” and featured AI-generated images of green parks, futuristic high rises and residences with glass balconies.
The Board of Peace was initially conceived to oversee the ceasefire in Gaza but US officials have suggested it could rival the UN, while the White House has promoted it as the answer to decades of conflict in the Middle East.
Yet the leaders of formerly prominent US allies such as Canada, the UK, France and Australia were absent.
“I want to thank every nation that helped us achieve this monumental breakthrough, saving countless lives and really bringing peace and bringing the concept of peace,” Trump said. “We have peace in the Middle East . . . The war in Gaza is over.”
Trump has cast the board as a collective guarantor of Gaza’s redevelopment after he brokered an October ceasefire to end two years of fighting there between Israel and Hamas.
But the concept has drawn fire for its broad exclusion of Palestinians and its failure to address critical issues such as Israel’s continued occupation, bombardment and blockade of Gaza, and a clear plan to disarm Hamas.
On stage at the building formerly known as the US Institute of Peace — renamed the Donald J Trump Institute of Peace — the president congratulated participants ranging from the president of Paraguay to his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Tony Blair for their “breakthrough”.
Along with the financial pledges, Egypt and Jordan would train a future Palestinian police force to secure Gaza, Trump said. Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania had committed to sending potentially thousands of troops to help secure Gaza if necessary.
“Fifa will be helping to raise a total of $75mn for projects in Gaza, and I think they’re soccer-related,” Trump added.
The promotional video, the latest in a series of such productions on Gaza displayed by Trump and his senior officials, showed images that Palestinians say are profoundly at odds with reality on the ground in the strip.
Within the enclave, more than 500 people have been killed in the four months since the ceasefire, while children sheltering in makeshift tents have continued to die from cold and complications from malnutrition.
“It feels surreal to watch somebody talk about you, but you’re not in the conversation, and they’re making plans,” said Hani Almadhoun, the Palestinian-American founder of the Gaza Soup Kitchen, who was not in attendance.
The meeting was also emblematic of the new world order that Trump has sought to cultivate, in which peace, trade and the exchange of money are intertwined.
Trump, in a rambling 47-minute address, emphasised the benefits of being in his favour, the power of his office — and the risks of ignoring his threats.
The meeting came as Trump is amassing the largest military build-up in the Middle East since the Iraq war and threatening strikes on the Iranian regime in a bid to push Tehran to make concessions on its nuclear programme, its ballistic missiles and its support for regional militant groups.
If Iran fails to make a deal, “bad things will happen”, he said on Thursday.
But good things happened to those he likes, he noted.
“You know, I’ve had a very good record of endorsing candidates within the United States, but now I endorse foreign leaders,” he said, pointing to the Hungarian strongman Viktor Orbán, seated on stage.
Argentine President Javier Milei, seated nearby, had been “a little behind in the polls” until Trump endorsed him, and then “ended up winning in a landslide”, Trump added.
Now major world powers had the opportunity to take part in “the most prestigious board ever put together”, Trump said.
“I believe it’s the most consequential board. Certainly in terms of power and in terms of prestige, there’s never been anything close.”
On funds pledged through the board, Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank Group, said the bank would serve as “a limited trustee” for the new Gaza Reconstruction and Development Fund, which will receive the donations. Under the board’s direction, the fund will then “disperse the money for reconstruction and development projects in Gaza”, Banga said.
Most EU states have rejected Trump’s invitation to join the board, where a $1bn fee secures lifetime membership.
But Trump suggested that eventually “everybody” would be compelled to join. “You can’t play cute with me,” he said.
Additional reporting by Neri Zilber in Tel Aviv