Donald Trump launches the Gaza Peace Board and reinforces his threat to Iran

“And now is the time for Iran to join us on a path that completes what we are doing. And if they join us, it will be great. If they don’t join, it will also be great, but it will be a very different path,” said the head of the White House, while the US Armed Forces are carrying out a large military deployment in the Middle East. In addition, he set a deadline for what will happen in Iran: “They will probably find out in the next ten days.”

The inauguration was a ceremony of self-congratulations for Trump for all his peace initiatives in eight international conflicts, but also for threats against Iranwhich refuses to comply with Washington’s demands to end its nuclear and military ambitions.

Around two dozen leaders, including the Argentine Javier Miley and the Paraguayan Santiago Peña, went to Washington to launch an alliance that could compete with the United Nations.

To give it the first push, Trump announced that contribution of 10 billion, to which were added billions of dollars from Gulf countries, as well as Japan and other nations present, to start the rehabilitation works in the devastated Gaza Strip.

Trump had announced before the meeting that board members have pledged $5 billion for reconstruction, a fraction of the roughly $70 billion estimated to be needed to rebuild the Palestinian territory, devastated after two years of war. Members are expected to announce commitments of thousands of troops to international stabilization and police forces in the territory.

“We have the best leaders in the world joining the Peace Board,” Trump told reporters earlier this week. “I think it has the potential to be the most consequential meeting of any kind ever assembled.”

The board was launched as part of Trump’s 20-point peace plan to end the conflict in Gaza. But since the October ceasefire, Trump’s vision for the junta has changed and he wants it to have an even more ambitious mandate: one that not only completes the Herculean task of achieving lasting peace between Israel and Hamas, but also helps resolve conflicts around the world.

But, before the first meeting of the board, Gaza ceasefire agreement remains fragile and Trump’s expanded vision has raised fears that the US president will seek to create a rival to the United Nations. Trump said earlier this week that he hoped the junta would encourage the UN to “get its act together.”

“The United Nations has great potential,” he said. “They haven’t lived up to that potential.”

More than 40 countries and the European Union decided to send officials to Thursday’s meeting, according to a senior government official who was not authorized to comment publicly. Germany, Italy, Norway and Switzerland are among more than a dozen countries that have not joined the board but were expected to attend as observers, the official said.

The UN Security Council held a high-level meeting on Wednesday on the ceasefire agreement and Israel’s efforts to expand control in the West Bank. The U.N. session in New York was originally scheduled for Thursday, but was moved up after Trump announced the board meeting for the same date and it became clear it would complicate the travel plans of diplomats who planned to attend both.

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin told reporters earlier this week that “at the international level it should be first and foremost the UN that manages these crisis situations.” The Trump administration on Wednesday rejected the Vatican’s concerns.

“This president has a very bold and ambitious plan and vision to rebuild and rehabilitate Gaza, which is already well underway thanks to the Peace Board,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. “This is a legitimate organization in which there are dozens of member countries from all over the world.”

Mike Waltz, US ambassador to the UN, also rebutted skeptical allies, stating that the junta “is not talking, it is acting.”

“We’re hearing the chattering class criticize the board structure, which is unconventional, which is unprecedented,” Waltz said. “Again, the old ways weren’t working.”

A central point of Thursday’s talks will be the creation of an international armed stabilization force to maintain security and ensure the disarmament of Hamas, a key Israeli demand and a pillar of the ceasefire agreement.

But so far, only Indonesia has offered Trump a firm commitment to the proposed force. And Hamas has given few signs to build confidence that it is willing to move forward with disarmament.. The administration “has no illusions about the challenges around demilitarization” but has been encouraged by what mediators have reported, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto pledged to work closely with other leading Islamic countries invited by Trump to “join efforts to try to achieve lasting peace in Palestine.”

The Gaza Executive Board, the junta’s operational arm, is expected to present updates on Thursday on its efforts to create a functional government system and services for the territory, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity to advance the general guidelines of the meeting.

In addition to Trump, other speakers at the conference are expected to include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, senior executive board representative Nickolay Mladenov, and Waltz.

Michael Hanna, director of the U.S. program at International Crisis Group, a nonprofit focused on conflict prevention, suggested that the skepticism shown by some of Washington’s allies is not unwarranted.

“Without clear authorization to expand his mandate beyond Gaza, it is not surprising that many US allies and partners have chosen to reject Trump’s offer to join the junta,” Hanna said. “Instead, many of the states most committed to the future of Gaza have signed on in the hopes of focusing the attention of the United States and encouraging Trump himself to use the influence and leverage he has with Israel.”