Trump Rolls Out His Board Of Peace At Davos, But Many Top U.S. Allies Aren’t Participating

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — President Donald Trump opened on Thursday Peace Board Leading efforts to maintain a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas and insisting that “everyone wants to be part of” a body that could eventually rival the United Nations, even though many of America’s allies have chosen not to join.

In a speech at World Economic ForumTrump has sought to build momentum for a project to map the future of the war-torn Gaza Strip that has been overshadowed this week. capture greenlandlater a dramatic retreat from this push.

“This isn’t the United States, this is for the world,” he said, adding, “I think we can spread it out to other things as we succeed in Gaza.”

Event featured Ali ShaatThe head of the new technocratic government to be established in Gaza announced the following: Refah border gate will be opened next week in both directions. This comes after Israel said in early December that it would open the crossing between Gaza and Egypt, but had not done so yet.

Shaath, a Gazan engineer and former Palestinian Authority official, runs it Palestine committee It was decided to govern the territory under US control.

new peace board It was originally intended as a small group of world leaders overseeing a ceasefire, but it has grown into something much more assertive, and doubts about its membership and jurisdiction have led some of the countries closest to Washington to agree to the decision.

Trump tried not to let non-participants ruin his inaugural party, saying 59 countries had signed on to the convention; whereas in reality only heads of state, senior diplomats and other officials from 19 countries plus the United States attended. “You are the most powerful people in the world,” he told the group, which stretched from Azerbaijan to Paraguay and Hungary.

Trump has talked about the board replacing some of the UN’s functions and perhaps even making the entire body obsolete one day. But he took a more conciliatory tone in his statements on the sidelines of the forum in the Swiss Alps.

“We will do this with the United Nations,” Trump said, while also denigrating the UN for doing what he said was not enough to calm some conflicts around the world.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said some country leaders have stated that they plan to join but still need approval from their parliaments, while the Trump administration has received questions about membership from countries that have not yet been invited to join.

But there are still big questions about what the final board will look like.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin He said his country was still consulting with Moscow’s “strategic partners” before deciding to commit. The Russian President will host Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for talks in Moscow on Thursday.

Others ask why Putin and other authoritarian leaders were invited to participate. British foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said her country did not sign the agreement because it concerned a legal agreement that raises much wider issues.

“We also have concerns about President Putin being part of something that talks about peace, whereas we have not yet seen any indication from Putin that there will be a commitment to peace in Ukraine,” he told the BBC.

After France said no, Norway and Sweden stated that they would not participate. While French officials supported the Gaza peace plan, they emphasized that they were concerned that the body might try to replace the UN as the main venue for conflict resolution.

Canada, Ukraine, China and the executive branch of the European Union also did not commit. Trump’s cancellation of the high tariffs he threatened regarding Greenland may ease the reluctance of some allies, but the problem is still far from being resolved.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that it planned to discuss Putin’s proposal to send $1 billion to the Peace Board and use it for humanitarian purposes during his meeting with Abbas. However, he noted that the use of these assets would require U.S. action to remove these barriers.

The Peace Board idea was first proposed by Trump. 20-item Gaza ceasefire plan and even it was Approved by the UN Security Council.

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu His office announced that he had agreed to participate after previously criticizing the composition of the board’s committee tasked with overseeing Gaza.

Although months have passed since the ceasefire, more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza continue to suffer from the humanitarian crisis caused by the war that has been going on for more than two years. Violence in Gaza continues, although not at the level before the ceasefire and hostage agreement in October.

The key to an ongoing ceasefire is the disarmament of Hamas; This is something that the militant group that has controlled Palestinian territory since 2007 has refused to do and which Israel regards as non-negotiable. Trump on Thursday repeated his oft-voiced warnings that the group would have to do so or face dire consequences.

He also stated that the war in Gaza was “really coming to an end”, while admitting that “We have small fires to put out. But they are small” and “giant, giant, very big fires”.

Trump’s call for peace comes after he threatened military action against Iran, which has been cracking down on Iran this month. Some of the biggest street protests in recent yearsIt kills thousands of people.

Trump signaled that he will not launch a new attack on Iran. assurances received He said the Islamic government would not carry out the planned execution of more than 800 protesters.

But Trump also underlined his tough approach towards Tehran. Attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities This incident, which took place in June last year, was of critical importance for the integration of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement. Iran was Hamas’ most important patron, providing hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid, weapons, training and financial support to the group over the years.

Trump also met with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr ZelenskyyThose who came to Davos. Trump continues to fight to get Zelenskyy and Putin to agree to terms to end their dispute almost 4 years of warHe repeatedly expressed his disappointment with both sides.

“I believe they are now at a point where they can come together and make a deal,” Trump said Wednesday. “And if they don’t, they’re stupid; that goes for both.”

Madhani and Weissert reported from Washington.