Els: MBN360 US
US President Donald Trump has hosted the inaugural meeting of his “Board of Peace” today, at which countries promised $7bn for Gaza’s reconstruction, and six countries pledged troops for an eventual 20,000-strong International Stabilisation Force.
Trump’s speech focused on his perceived successes in Gaza and other conflicts, claiming “war in Gaza is over” despite repeated ceasefire violations, and calling the Board of Peace the “most consequential … in terms of power and in terms of prestige.”
“There’s never been anything close because these are the greatest world leaders. Almost everybody’s accepted, and the ones that haven’t will be.”Donald Trump
Also, Trump pledged a $10bn contribution from the US to the Board of Peace, with Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates contributing around $7bn.
Trump also thanked Indonesia, which has preliminarily said that it will provide 1,000 troops to an international stabilisation force in Gaza. He said that “Albania, Kosovo and Kazakhstan have all committed troops and police to stabilise Gaza.” “Egypt and Jordan are likewise providing very, very substantial help… training and support for a very trustworthy Palestinian police force,” he added.
“The Board of Peace is showing how a better future can be built right here in this room…So many conflicts, they say, are impossible to settle. Of those eight that we settled, most of them are said to be not settle-able.
“They not only got settled – they got settled in days. More impossible problems can be solved as we go along this beautiful path.”Donald Trump
Trump also cast ire on Norway and Iran, saying that Norway “screwed” him by not awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize, and warning “bad things will happen” if Iran doesn’t strike a deal amid a buildup of US military forces and hardware in the Gulf.
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General Jasper Jeffers, who has been appointed Commander of the International Stabilization Force (ISF) planned for Gaza, disclosed that troops eventually comprising up to 12,000 police and 20,000 International Stabilization Force soldiers, will be allocated across five sectors and deploy to Rafah first.
Jeffers also said that Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania have committed troops to the force, while Egypt and Jordan have agreed to train police.
Trump has been criticised for offering seats on the board to Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, both leaders wanted for alleged war crimes by the International Criminal Court.
Dozens of people gathered outside the United States Institute for Peace, where the Board of Peace meeting took place, to protest Israel’s participation amid the exclusion of Palestinian voices.
World Bank To Serve As Limited Trustee Of Donor Funds
World Bank Group President, Ajay Banga also addressed the summit, saying the World Bank will serve as the “limited trustee” of donor funds, meaning it will “manage the donor contributions coming in… and then we help to manage that money while it stays with us.”
Banga said that “under the direction of the Board of Peace, we disperse the money for reconstruction and development projects in Gaza.”
He said that the Board of Peace “takes the ownership of ensuring that the right kind of financial, legal and oversight mechanisms are being put in place” but that the that the World Bank has assigned a financial controller “on a secondment basis… to ensure that we can try and help build the best standards in this process.”
“Now this is just the beginning. This work is going to need two or three things that the World Bank Group can bring to the table. The first is leveraging of public finance.
“The second is, we can de-risk private investing. And the third is we have people on the ground [with] expertise and knowledge of doing this kind of work in other markets.”Ajay Banga
