At a ceremony in Davos, Switzerland, on January 22, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, a new intergovernmental organisation was formally established. The Board of Peace, proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump and endorsed by the UN Security Council in November 2025, is envisaged as part of broader global efforts to rebuild war-torn Gaza.
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Mr. Trump announced the board in September 2025 as part of the second phase of a 20-point peace plan to reconstruct Gaza. This phase envisages the “demilitarisation, technocratic governance, and reconstruction” of the Gaza Strip. The board is expected to oversee the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, headed by Ali Shaath, a U.S.-friendly technocrat who was formerly a deputy minister in the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank.
According to a draft of the board’s charter, it “will be tasked with promoting peace around the world and working to resolve conflicts” and engage in “peace-building functions in accordance with international law”. Notably, the charter, which is 11 pages long, and comprises eight chapters and 13 articles, does not expressly mention Gaza, and later comments from Mr. Trump also indicated a potential expansion of its mandate to other conflicts.
Mr. Trump will be the inaugural chairman of the board, while the members of the founding executive board are former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Apollo CEO Marc Rowan, World Bank President Ajay Banga, and security advisor Robert Gabriel.
The White House has stated that each member will “oversee a defined portfolio critical to Gaza’s stabilisation and long-term success,” including governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding, and capital mobilisation.
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At least 50 countries and private entities have been invited to join the board. While 20 representatives were present at the signing ceremony in Davos, others are still mulling over the invite. Membership of the Board will be for three years, while those countries which donate $1 billion within the first year can become permanent members.
Invitation for India
France, Sweden, Norway and Slovenia have declined invites to join the board. India was invited but is yet to make a decision. China and Russia have been invited as well. Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked that Russia’s membership costs be drawn from the funds frozen by former President Joe Biden since the start of its war with Ukraine. Among those who have joined the board are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Egypt, Morocco and Turkiye.
While Germany has expressed reservations, European nations such as Kosovo, Belarus, Hungary, and Bulgaria have signed on. From the rest of Asia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Vietnam, Indonesia and Mongolia have signed. South American nations Paraguay and Argentina have also joined. Israel is expected to join, although no representative was present at the Davos ceremony. Reports note that Israel may not be pleased with Turkish and Qatari representation on the board.
Canada said it has agreed to join in principle, but on January 22, Mr. Trump wrote in a social media post that he was withdrawing the invitation for Canada amid growing rift with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Other invitees like Singapore, Croatia, Ukraine and the European Union’s executive arm remain unsure, while the U.K. has expressed reservations about the invitation to Mr. Putin. Spanish media have noted that Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is reviewing the invitation, and Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee echoed similar sentiments.
The charter makes no reference to a path to a Palestinian State, and no mention of this was made during the signing ceremony either.
Mohammed Mustafa, the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, told the media on the sidelines of a WEF event that they wanted to work with the Board of Peace, with the executive board and with the committee, to ensure that “they do their part of things”.
Meanwhile, Palestine’s Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin stated in a recent meeting that “any transitional institutional framework or body must not serve as a substitute for the UN.”
In November, the UN Security Council approved a U.S backed resolution for the Board of Peace to operate, but only till 2027 and with Gaza as the sole focus. Notably, Russia and China abstained, saying the resolution had not outlined a clear role for the UN in the rebuilding efforts.
Several nations have expressed concerns that the board will overshadow the UN. Mr. Trump has criticised the UN and, earlier in January, signed a memo directing the withdrawal of the U.S. from 66 international organisations, including 31 UN bodies. In earlier comments, he signalled that the Board may replace the UN, but later toned down his remarks. “Once this board is completely formed, we can do pretty much whatever we want to do. And we’ll do it in conjunction with the United Nations,” he said.
‘Beautiful piece of property’
At the signing event, Mr. Trump said he was honoured to be the chairman of what could become “one of the most consequential bodies ever created”. He asserted that the Israel-Hamas war was really coming to an end, and warned Hamas to disarm, saying that if they did not, “it’s going to be the end of them”. Calling Gaza “a beautiful piece of property,” Mr. Trump said he was a “real estate person at heart”, adding that “people that are living so poorly are going to be so well.”
The ceremony also saw Jared Kushner, member of the board’s executive, unveiling plans to redevelop the region, complete with a plan for a “New Gaza”, coastal tourism and industrial zones, high-rise buildings, new roads, public services and thousands of new jobs. He stated that there was no “Plan B” for the redevelopment of Gaza, besides engaging in a multi-stage process to end the war and rebuilding the region.
The “number one thing is going to be security — obviously we’re working very closely with the Israelis to figure out a way to de-escalation, and the next phase is working with Hamas on demilitarisation,” he said.
Published – January 25, 2026 01:24 am IST
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