Trump's Gaza Peace Board: Countries Asked for $1 Billion

Countries on Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” for Gaza will be asked to contribute $1 billion in order to keep their membership for more than 3 years, according to reports. "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," a draft document first reported by Bloomberg News shows. It adds that the three-year 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”. According to the draft, Trump would serve as the board’s chairman and decide on who is invited to be a member. While decisions would be taken by a majority, with each member state present getting one vote, all decisions would be subject to the chairman’s approval. The draft also reportedly suggests that Trump would control the money himself, and that the money would allegedly go towards rebuilding Gaza. The board is described as “an international organization that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict.” The board would become official once three member states agree to the charter. They would meet at least once a year, and “at such additional times and locations as the Chairman deems appropriate”. The chairman, Donald Trump, would also approve the agenda for meetings. “The Chairman shall at all times designate a successor for the role of Chairman,” the charter reportedly says. Earlier this week, Sir Tony Blair announced he had been asked to be on the “Board of Peace”, which also includes US secretary of state Marco Rubio and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. In a statement, Sir Tony said president Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza was an "extraordinary achievement" and that implementing it will take "enormous commitment and hard work". The former Labour leader, Rubio and Kushner are joined on the board by World Bank president Ajay Banga, Marc Rowan, Robert Gabriel, and U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff. Additional Executive Board and Gaza Executive Board members will be announced over the coming weeks. Several world leaders have also reportedly been invited, including Argentina’s Javier Milei and Canada’s Mark Carney, to be part of a Board of Peace for Gaza. The former UK prime minister’s inclusion on the list of board members may be controversial, as he remains a divisive figure in the Middle East due to his role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He later became a representative of the Quartet, a group seeking peace between Israel and the Palestinians made up of the U.S., E.U., Russia and the United Nations, but stepped down after being deemed too close to Israel. The Isreal, however, appeared to express concern about the membership of the board. Israeli government said on Saturday that the executive committee “was not co-ordinated with Israel and is contrary to its policy”, and that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given instructions to the foreign ministry to contact US secretary of state Marco Rubio.