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Trump Pledges $10B for Board of Peace to Rebuild Gaza Amid Funding Doubts

Trump Pledges $10B for Board of Peace to Rebuild Gaza Amid Funding Doubts
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President Donald Trump pledged $10 billion in U.S. funding for his new Board of Peace at its inaugural meeting in Washington on Thursday, part of what he cast as an international push to rebuild war‑ravaged Gaza and cement a fragile ceasefire with Hamas nbcnews +1. The commitment came on top of roughly $7 billion in reconstruction pledges Trump said were made by member states, far short of estimates of up to $70 billion needed to rebuild the territory nbcnews +1.

How the Board of Peace Aims to Rebuild Gaza

The Board of Peace, born from Trump’s 20‑point Gaza peace plan unveiled in 2025 and formally launched at Davos last month, was designed to oversee ceasefire implementation, Gaza’s reconstruction and an eventual transition to new local governance structures nbcnews +1. Around 40–50 countries sent representatives to the first meeting at the U.S. Institute of Peace, where Trump framed the $10 billion pledge as “a very small number” compared with the cost of continued war nbcnews +1.

Trump said nine member states, including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Kuwait, had collectively pledged $7 billion as an initial down payment for rebuilding homes, infrastructure and basic services in Gaza nbcnews +1. Additional commitments included a $2 billion humanitarian package from U.N. agencies and $75 million from FIFA for sports facilities and youth programs in the enclave nbcnews.

Skepticism Over Funding, Legitimacy and Conditions

Key questions remained over where the U.S. money would come from, with Trump and his aides declining to spell out whether Congress would have to appropriate the full $10 billion or whether existing funds would be redirected thehill +1. Rights groups and legal experts warned that without clear oversight mechanisms, the Board’s vast reconstruction budget could face accountability problems, echoing past concerns over large post‑conflict aid efforts nytimes.

The initiative also met resistance from some of Washington’s closest allies and from Palestinian leaders. Major European governments such as the U.K., France, Germany and Norway declined to become full members, wary of empowering a parallel structure that could sideline the U.N. and exclude Palestinian decision‑makers from senior roles nbcnews +1. Palestinian officials and church leaders criticized the Board as a “colonialist operation” in which others would decide Gaza’s future; Hamas said it welcomed aid but argued the real test would be whether the body could force Israel to respect the ceasefire and allow large‑scale rebuilding to begin nbcnews +1.

Central to the plan is a demand that Hamas disarm before full reconstruction proceeds, a condition that remained unresolved and could stall projects even as donor money is pledged nbcnews. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that “there is no plan B for Gaza” beyond the current framework, saying failure to implement it risked a slide back into war nbcnews.

The Bigger Picture

Trump’s $10 billion promise underscored how his Gaza initiative has become a test case for a new, U.S.-led style of multilateralism operating partly outside the U.N. system, with backing from several Middle Eastern donors but skepticism among Western allies nbcnews +1. Whether the Board of Peace accelerates Gaza’s recovery or deepens diplomatic rifts will hinge on two unresolved issues: if Washington can translate its headline pledge into funded, accountable programs, and whether the Board can reconcile its political conditions—especially Hamas disarmament and Israeli withdrawal—with the urgent need to rebuild a devastated territory.