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US officials have floated the idea of broadening a Gaza “Board of Peace” headed by Donald Trump to include other hotspots such as Ukraine and Venezuela, according to people familiar with discussions.
Western and Arab diplomats have expressed concerns about the notion of giving the nascent body an expanded mandate to mediate well beyond the Middle East.
One person briefed on the idea said they believed the Trump administration viewed the Board of Peace “as a potential substitute for the UN . . . a kind of parallel unofficial body to deal with other conflicts beyond Gaza”.
Diplomats said the board was expected to be unveiled at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos next week.
The proposal to expand the board’s mandate has increased other governments’ unease about endorsing the Trump-controlled body, originally intended to help steer the shattered Palestinian enclave after the devastating two-year Israel-Hamas war.
“There is caution in the region with regards to [this idea],” an Arab diplomat said, adding the topic had been discussed among regional officials. “This is not a normal procedure.”
A US official on Friday said planning for the Board of Peace was focused on the Israel-Gaza conflict and had not expanded beyond that as of that point.
In a post the day before, Trump announced the board had been “formed” and that its membership — expected to consist of other world leaders — would be unveiled “shortly”.
“I can say with certainty that it is the Greatest and Most Prestigious Board ever assembled at any time, any place,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Many details of how the board will function remain unclear, including its precise make-up as well as the legal mandate with which it would act beyond the Middle East. It was formally authorised to oversee Gaza’s postwar transition by a UN Security Council resolution in November.
The idea of expanding the board’s remit was first reported by Haaretz. US officials this week said invitations to prospective members of the board had been sent out on Wednesday, but did not say to whom.
“People are in a celebratory mood,” one US official said. “The fact that this coincides with Davos feels a little bit like it was meant to be.”
“The entire world wants to be part of President Trump’s historic effort to deliver peace to the Middle East,” the White House said. “Any announcements of Board of Peace membership will come from the president directly.”
The state department declined to comment on the idea of expanding the board’s mandate.
The board is intended to mark a crucial step in the transition to the next phase of Trump’s peace plan for Gaza. The enclave’s day-to-day governance would be handled by a Palestinian technocratic committee overseen by Nickolay Mladenov, a former Bulgarian defence minister and UN envoy.
Diplomats said US officials have floated Venezuela, which has been in turmoil since the capture of Nicolás Maduro this month, as a future area for mediation by the board.
Regarding Ukraine, a senior Kyiv official involved in discussions with the US said a separate board of peace — also chaired by Trump — was an important part of the proposals to end Russia’s war.
“Currently, it is suggested that this particular board will be established particularly for the Ukraine-Russia case,” the official said.
They added that this board — including representatives of Ukraine, Europe, Nato and Russia — would monitor and guarantee the implementation of the 20-point peace proposal that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described as “90 per cent ready”.
The official also said the US had not specified that this board would be overseen by a broader body.
“We did not discuss the idea of expansion of the scope for this board,” they said. “We believe that, at least at [this] first stage, the board shall be focused on monitoring of [this] particular peace settlement.”
Additional reporting by Abigail Hauslohner