Trump Wants $1BN Fee From States Seeking To Join Gaza Peace Board
According to a Saturday Bloomberg report, the Trump administration is asking nations interested in holding a permanent seat on a proposed Gaza Strip "Board of Peace" to pledge at least $1 billion in funding.
Bloomberg described that US allies and regional partners have already been briefed on the concept as part of wider diplomatic efforts to influence and direct Gaza's future after the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The intent of the funding threshold is reportedly to ensure that participating countries have substantial financial involvement in stabilizing the territory and supporting long-term redevelopment.
Washington seems to be arguing that spreading the financial burden internationally is critical to preventing American taxpayers from shouldering most of the reconstruction costs. Sadly, this was of no concern when the same taxpayers were footing the bill for billions in weaponry and foreign aid for Israel over prior years - even as Palestinian neighborhoods got flattened by US bombs.
Officials privy to internal deliberations told Bloomberg, "Several European nations have been invited to join the peace board. The draft appears to suggest Trump himself would control the money, something that would be considered unacceptable to most countries who could have potentially joined the board."
The Times of Israel has obtained a copy of the text of the board's charter, which says, "Each Member State shall serve a term of no more than three years from this Charter’s entry into force, subject to renewal by the Chairman (Trump)."
"The three-year membership term shall not apply to Member States that contribute more than USD $1,000,000,000 in cash funds to the Board of Peace within the first year of the Charter’s entry into force," it added.
As we detailed earlier, among the "founding executive board" members are US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The board also includes private equity executive Marc Rowan, World Bank President Ajay Banga, and US national security adviser Robert Gabriel, according to a White House statement.
The board, to be chaired by Trump, will oversee the Palestinian technocratic committee-also known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG)-which will be led by former Palestinian Authority official Ali Abdel Hamid Shaath.
An anonymous official has sought to ensure to Bloomberg that almost every dollar raised will be "used to execute its mandate" - in reference to the Gaza board and rebuilding and stabilizing the strip. Given that so far Palestinian representation is a small minority, most Gazans will probably remain deeply distrustful of this US-backed and controlled board.