Trump's Board of Peace for Gaza is a legal and financial 'empty shell' four months after launch

A grand launch, now stalled

Donald Trump launched the Board of Peace with great fanfare in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He described it as one of the most influential international organizations ever created, designed to oversee the reconstruction and demilitarization of the Gaza Strip. The US president appointed himself chairman for life, with veto power over all decisions. Nineteen countries signed the founding charter, including Hungary under then-leader Viktor Orbán, Argentina, Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Pakistan. Traditional democratic allies such as Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Japan stayed away.

The empty fund

Member states pledged $7 billion for the council's aid package for Gaza, and Trump promised an additional $10 billion in US funding. However, four months after its establishment, the official financial fund set up by the World Bank and approved by the UN has received no money from donors.

Not a single dollar has been deposited.

Instead of using the World Bank-managed fund, which requires independent transparency, the council has received donations directly into its account at JPMorgan Chase, according to the council's spokesperson. No independent transparency requirements apply to that account.

Small donations, frozen funds

Some small contributions have been made. Morocco donated around $3 million and the United Arab Emirates provided $20 million, which helped finance the office of High Representative Nickolay Mladenov and the salaries of a Palestinian technocratic committee. The UAE also recently allocated $100 million to train a new police force for Gaza, but the program has not yet started and the funds are frozen.

We do not have operations in Gaza.

The spokesperson cited the fact that Hamas has not yet been disarmed as a key reason.

Legal and political limbo

The council is stuck in what the Financial Times describes as a legal and political gray zone. Key questions remain unanswered: who is responsible for the Gaza Strip, and what law applies there. An entrepreneur who could participate in reconstruction noted the high risks for companies wanting to get involved. The peace plan's three crucial objectives—disarming Hamas, withdrawing Israeli forces, and rebuilding the enclave—have seen no progress. The council's first report last week blamed Hamas, calling its refusal to agree to a controlled disarmament the main obstacle.

A personal project under scrutiny

Critics argue the founding document is so vague that the project resembles Trump's attempt to build his own alternative to the United Nations. Joachim Koops, professor of security studies at Leiden University, called the council's failure "totally no surprise."

Nobody believed this would bring anything.

He described it as a purely transactional personal project where member states sought to curry favor with Trump. The lifetime membership fee was set at $1 billion per seat. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto recently ruled out his country paying the requested billion dollars.

The staggering cost of reconstruction

In April, the UN and the European Union, in a study with the World Bank, estimated that Gaza will need $71.4 billion over the next ten years for reconstruction. Nickolay Mladenov warned last week that the current status quo, based on an imperfect ceasefire in a divided and devastated territory, risks becoming permanent. The US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has been in effect since October 2025, but both sides continue to accuse each other of violations.

US Pledge (Trump)

10000000000 $

Member States Pledge

7000000000 $

UAE Police Training (Frozen)

100000000 $

UAE Donation (Received)

20000000 $

Morocco Donation (Received)

3000000 $

Official Fund Received

0 $