Board of Peace set to hand Trump sweeping powers over Gaza
The Peace Board met for the first time last week in Davos, Switzerland; Member states, including Azerbaijan and Qatar, signed the founding charter, which calls for securing “lasting peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict.”
Much about the Peace Board remains unclear so far, but a draft resolution, a copy of which was obtained by the Times, would allow President Trump to appoint senior officials and assign responsibilities to help administer Gaza.
These officials include a Gaza “high representative” charged with overseeing the Palestinian institution that governs the region and the commander of an international stabilization force meant to help maintain security. Trump will also have the power to approve decisions and suspend them in emergencies.
According to three officials briefed on the decision and who confirmed the authenticity of the obtained copy, the decision is dated January 22 (last Thursday) and has not been signed by Trump, which would put the decision into effect. The officials, who discussed internal deliberations on condition of anonymity, added that the decision was currently being discussed.
It was not clear whether the draft was the final text of the decision.
The document resembles a United Nations Security Council resolution and appears to be an effort to formalize some of the Peace Board’s plans for Gaza. The idea of establishing the Gaza Peace Board first emerged in Trump’s 20-point plan, announced last September, to end the 2-year war between Israel and Hamas that has devastated the Palestinian region.
In November, the UN Security Council mandated the Peace Board as part of US-led efforts to maintain a ceasefire in Gaza.
The assumption was that the panel would focus solely on Gaza, but the Trump administration said this month it would address conflicts elsewhere, although the scope of that remained unclear.
Although some countries enthusiastically joined the new international organization after being invited by Trump, others, including close US allies such as France and the UK, rejected it. Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez said his country would not participate because the body excluded the Palestinian Authority and the institution was “outside the framework of the United Nations.”
The leaders of the nations that signed the project will form the Peace Board, which will have the authority to determine his successor, chaired by Trump, and there will be a board of directors under it.
On January 16, the White House announced the names of the seven people who will form the board of directors, including Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and former British prime minister Tony Blair. The task of the board is to help implement the 20-point plan for Gaza.
However, the draft decision stated that the president’s private secretary, Susie Wiles, and New York-based real estate lawyer Martin Edelman would also be on the board of directors. Their names were announced to the public for the first time regarding the Peace Committee.
Michael Ratney, former US consul general in Jerusalem, said the draft resolution “makes clear that the US is responsible for Gaza and all other countries and organizations play a supporting role.”
Ratney said the decision’s “legal validity is unclear” but continued: “Gazans are desperate and anything that will improve their lives, including the 20-point plan, is worth pursuing.”
According to the draft decision, the Peace Board will coordinate the reconstruction of Gaza, a massive project that is expected to cost tens of billions of dollars and take years, and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid there. It also calls for the establishment of “humanitarian zones” in the region where people can access aid safely.
The draft resolution addresses some of the complex challenges facing Gaza.
For example, it requires that individuals and organizations with “a proven history of collaboration, infiltration, or influence” with Hamas not take part in the management or reconstruction of Gaza.
Tens of thousands of civilian employees and security personnel, including medical professionals, rank-and-file police officers and rescue workers, served in the Hamas-run government.
The draft resolution also details the role of former UN envoy to the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, who was named the first high representative of Gaza by the White House.
According to the decision, Mladenov will closely supervise the National Committee for Gaza Administration, which consists of Palestinian technocrats tasked with administering the area, supervising the police force and managing all its “day-to-day activities”.
This article was first published in The New York Times.
