US President Donald Trump will host the first meeting of a so-called “peace commission” in Washington on Thursday, bringing together representatives from member countries to announce strategies and funding for rebuilding Gaza.
While the United States’ Western allies are careful to keep the council at arms-length, some Middle Eastern countries are participating in the first meeting at the US Institute of Peace in Washington.
Praising the peace commission’s “limitless potential,” Trump, who is its indefinite chairman, wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform that “the commission will be the most important international organization in history.”
Critics have criticized President Trump’s “imperialist policies” over the expanded charter of the council, which many analysts consider comparable to the United Nations.
Trump has also been criticized for offering board seats to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who are wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. Despite being outraged by the addition of Turkish and Qatari officials to the Gaza Executive Committee, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far been the only one to formally accept it.
For some participants arriving in Washington on Thursday, the stakes are domestic as well as diplomatic, as decisions made at the inaugural meeting on the occupied Palestinian territories could have domestic repercussions.
So who comes and who doesn’t? And what’s the problem?
What was the topic of the first Peace Committee meeting?
A major focus of Thursday’s first meeting will be plans to rebuild the Gaza Strip, which has been largely reduced to rubble by Israel’s ongoing genocidal war with diplomatic support and arms supplies from the United States.
The United States is expected to announce $5 billion in funding from member states “for humanitarian assistance and reconstruction efforts in Gaza.”
The council is also expected to hear further details about the so-called International Stabilization Force, which will guard Gaza under the Trump administration’s 20-point plan to end Israel’s war in the Strip, announced last year.
It proposed a gradual ceasefire in Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas, and the establishment of a technocratic governance structure to administer the Palestinian territories during a transition period.
The Peace Commission was formally announced last month on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a member of the administration, also offered a glossy recovery vision for the Gaza Strip that included beach resorts and high-rise towers in a presentation that Palestinian advocacy groups denounced as “imperialist.”
On February 15, President Trump wrote on Truth Social that Council member states are “deploying thousands of members of the International Stabilization Force and local police to maintain security and peace for Gazans.”
Rebuilding the flattened Palestinian territory, devastated by Israeli bombing of Gaza and destruction and raids in the West Bank, is a monumental task in itself, with a cost estimated by the United Nations at about $70 billion.
But while the Council was originally conceived as a body to mediate Israel’s war against Palestine and regional stability, it has since expanded its charter to resolve conflicts around the world. The council “presents a bold vision of world peace for the civilian population of Gaza and, ultimately, far beyond Gaza.” Trump added to the post:
Who’s coming to Washington and who’s not?
The White House has formally invited 50 countries to join the peace commission, and so far 35 have expressed interest. Currently, 26 countries sit on the Board and are designated as founding members of the Board. At least 14 countries rejected the invitation.
Europe
Europe is divided over President Trump’s peace commission and its broad charter, and the U.S. president will continue to chair the commission beyond the end of his presidential term.
The European Union itself has said it is not considering joining the Peace Council over concerns about the Charter, and President Ursula von der Leyen declined an invitation to Thursday’s meeting.
President Trump’s invitation to Russian President Vladimir Putin to take a seat on the council further complicates coordination among European countries amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. President Putin has not yet decided whether he will join.
All major European countries, including France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Spain, have declined invitations to serve as members of the peace commission.
Despite the concerns, the EU will send Mediterranean Commissioner Dubravka Watermelon as an observer to Thursday’s meeting. The spokesperson said that although questions remained about the charter, the EU would work with the United States to “implement the Gaza peace plan.”
The EU is not a member of the Council, but two EU member states, Hungary and Bulgaria, are on the Council. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is attending the meeting, is a close friend of President Trump.
Kosovo and Albania have also joined the board and are expected to attend Thursday’s meeting.
Italy, Cyprus, Greece and Romania confirmed that they would send representatives as “observers”. Romanian President Nixor Dan, who is also in charge of foreign policy, will also be attending in person.
Meanwhile, Pope Leo, who heads the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, declined an invitation to the council, stressing that the crisis should be managed by the United Nations.
Tahani Mustafa, a visiting fellow in the Middle East and North Africa Program at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told Al Jazeera that while the US’ Western allies “insist on upholding a liberal rules-based order, a multilateralism that gives them equal footing, the rest of the Global South has been much more pragmatic about providing aid, support and even membership in peace commissions.”
middle east
Several regional powers in the Middle East are participating in President Trump’s peace commission.
From Israel, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar will attend Thursday’s meeting.
Last month, longtime U.S. allies the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain were among the first Arab countries to agree to participate, followed by Egypt.
Later, Saudi Arabia, the region’s largest economy, joined Turkiye, Jordan and Qatar, saying it was committed to supporting Palestine’s “right to self-determination and statehood under international law.” Kuwait has finally joined. All these countries are sending delegations to the conference.
“Our partners in the Middle East are saying they are trying to be pragmatic and do what they think is best for Gaza and stop the bloodshed,” said Mustafa, who previously worked as a senior Palestine analyst for the International Crisis Group.
“The reality is, at the end of the day, this is about strengthening relations with the United States, not about angering someone as picky as Trump,” she told Al Jazeera. Mustafa further argued that “Middle Eastern countries have a notorious history of not being the best defenders of Palestine, especially in recent decades.”
Asia/Oceania
From Central Asia, the presidents of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Shavkat Mirziyoyev, will attend the meeting in Washington as members of the Peace Council.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev are also visiting the US capital for talks as members of the board.
From Southeast Asia, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will also be in Washington for a meeting, and Vietnam’s Communist Party Secretary-General Lin Lin will also attend a board member meeting.
Pakistan is the only country from South Asia to join President Trump’s peace commission. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is in Washington to attend. India is considering an invitation, but has not yet participated in the board meeting and has not sent anyone as an observer.
Meanwhile, New Zealand declined the invitation, saying it wanted more clarity about its participation on the board, while Australia said it was still considering the invitation.
Which leaders are under pressure domestically on this issue?
More than 20 leaders have convened in Washington, and decisions regarding policing and governance in the occupied Palestinian territories could have political implications domestically, particularly for the governments of Indonesia and Pakistan.
In Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, advocacy for Palestinian independence goes back decades.
Indonesia also found support in the Palestinian leadership during the independence movement, which reached its climax in 1945. Opinion on the peace commission domestically has been divided since Prabowo joined, and the outcome of the Washington conference will have implications for him domestically.
Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif is also likely to face pressure at home, where his people have long supported the Palestinian cause.
