In a speech at the World Economic Forum, Trump sought to create momentum for a project to map out a future of the war-torn Gaza Strip.
“This isn’t the United States, this is for the world,” he said, adding, “I think we can spread it out to other things as we succeed in Gaza.”
The event featured Ali Shaath, the head of a new, future technocratic government in Gaza, announcing that Rafah border crossing will open in both directions next week.
That's after Israel said in early December it would open the crossing, which runs between Gaza and Egypt, but has yet to do so. Shaath, an engineer and former Palestinian Authority official from Gaza, is overseeing the Palestinian Palestinian committee set to govern the territory under U.S. supervision.
Big questions remain, however, about what the eventual board will look like.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country is still consulting with Moscow’s “strategic partners” before deciding to commit. The Russian president on Thursday is due to host Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for talks in Moscow.
Others are asking why Putin and other authoritarian leaders had even been invited to join. Britain’s foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, said her country wasn't signing on “because this is about a legal treaty that raises much broader issues.”
“And we do also have concerns about President Putin being part of something which is talking about peace, when we have still not seen any signs from Putin that there will be a commitment to peace in Ukraine,” she told the BBC.
Norway and Sweden have indicated that they won’t participate, after France also said no. French officials stressed that while they support the Gaza peace plan, they were concerned the board could seek to replace the U.N. as the main venue for resolving conflicts.
There's also concern in some circles about the fact that Turkey and Qatar are part of the Board of Peace. Both those countries have been allies of the Hamas terrorist group that carried out the October 2023 massacre of more than 1200 Israeli men, women and children.
