WASHINGTON, DC – US President Donald Trump will hold the first Peace Commission summit in Washington, DC. At the event, U.S. leaders appear hoping to prove that the recently launched panel can overcome skepticism, even from those who have signed on to support it, in the face of months of Israeli ceasefire violations in Gaza.
Thursday’s summit will be held nearly three months after the U.N. Security Council approved a U.S.-backed “ceasefire” plan amid Israeli carnage in Gaza. The plan included a two-year mission to the Peace Council to oversee the rebuilding of devastated Palestinian enclaves and the creation of a so-called International Stabilization Force.
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There has been an atmosphere of unrest in the Security Council since November’s vote, with many traditional Western allies wary of the administration’s apparent far-reaching ambitions, which some see as an attempt by the Trump-led regime to counter the United Nations.
Other countries, including those that have already signed on as members, have expressed concerns about whether the Council is fit to bring about meaningful change in Gaza. Several Middle Eastern regional powers are on the council, and Israel was a late addition in early February, a puzzling addition for some.
As of Thursday’s meeting, there was still no Palestinian representation on the council, which many observers see as a major obstacle to finding a lasting path forward.
“What exactly does President Trump want to get out of this meeting?” asked Yousef Munayer, director of the Israel-Palestine program at the Arab Center in Washington, D.C.
“I think he wants to be able to say that people are on board and that people believe in his project, his vision and his ability to move things forward,” he told Al Jazeera.
“But I don’t think there will be much promise until we find clearer solutions to key political issues that so far remain unresolved.”
“The only game in town”
Indeed, Munayer explained that the peace commission is currently “the only game in town” for parties interested in improving the lives of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, while at the same time being “very closely tied to the persona of Donald Trump.”
This raises serious questions about the longevity of boards in response to a crisis that is likely to last for decades.
“I sincerely hope that those in the region who are deeply concerned about the future of the region and who are concerned about the genocide will be able to have some influence and some direction on the future of Gaza in the coming years by joining this peace council,” Munayer said.
He assessed that the greatest opportunity for member states that “understand the challenges and understand the situation” is to focus on “focusing on the immediate needs and proactively addressing them.” He said this includes promoting health infrastructure, freedom of movement, ensuring people have shelter and ending ceasefire violations, to name a few.
At least 72,063 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023, and 603 since the ceasefire took effect on October 11, 2025. Almost the entire population of 2.1 million people was forced to evacuate, and more than 80 percent of buildings were destroyed.
Meanwhile, Trump, who has long envisioned turning Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East,” struck a positive tone ahead of the meeting. In a post on his Truth social account on Sunday, President Trump touted the board’s “limitless potential” and said it would be “the most important international institution in history.”
Trump also said that $5 billion in funding would be announced for “humanitarian assistance and reconstruction efforts in Gaza,” and that member states were “deploying thousands of personnel to the International Stabilization Force and local police to keep Gazans safe and peaceful.”
Details were not disclosed.
Meanwhile, President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, a member of the panel’s so-called “Gaza Executive Committee,” released the clearest vision yet for Washington’s “master plan” for Gaza in January.
The plan, drawn up without any input from Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, is premised on the erasure of the enclave’s urban fabric and outlines glittering residential towers, data centres, seaside resorts, parks and sports facilities.
At the time, Mr. Kushner did not say how the restructuring plan would be financed. He said it would begin after complete disarmament by Hamas and the withdrawal of Israeli troops, both of which are unresolved issues.
Pressure on Israel?
As the administration looks ahead to the massive construction project, it will likely face harsher realities when it meets with the 25 signatories and several others sending observers to the meeting, said Anel Sheline, a Middle East program fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible States.
He noted that any progress that represents the council’s “proof of concept” would almost certainly require it to assert unilateral pressure on Israel.
“President Trump wants countries to support the $5 billion claim in order to get actual commitments on paper,” Cherine told Al Jazeera.
“Perhaps this will be difficult, especially because the Gulf states have made it very clear that they are not interested in financing a new reconstruction that will be destroyed again in a few years.”
Israel’s decision to join the board, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu initially opposed, has raised concerns about further influence over American policy. Sherine added that adding Palestinian officials to the board could be considered as an act of good faith by the United States to promote a more lasting peace.
She suggested as a candidate Marwan Barghouti, a widely popular Palestinian political prisoner who continues to serve consecutive life sentences in Israel. His release could be an example of an area where the U.S. government can exert immediate influence, she said.
In the short term, “[the member states involved]are pretty much waiting for the security situation to be resolved. Israel is violating the ceasefire every day and moving the Yellow Line,” Cherine said, referring to the border in the Gaza Strip from which Israeli troops had to withdraw as part of the first phase of the “ceasefire” agreement.
The Indonesian government has announced that it is preparing to add 1,000 troops to the stabilization force, which could eventually expand to 8,000 troops. But without better ceasefire guarantees, any deployment is likely to remain delayed, she said.
“This is an area where war is still going on,” Sherine added. “So it’s very understandable that even Indonesia, which hypothetically says it will contribute forces to the stabilization force, is likely to say it doesn’t actually intend to do so until the situation stabilizes.”
chance?
Ensuring actual implementation of the ceasefire, including creating accountability mechanisms for violations, remained the “most important issue yet” at the Council’s inaugural meeting, said Laurie Nathan, director of the mediation program at the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace.
President Trump’s peace committee “will not be able to play a meaningful recovery role without stability in Gaza. Stability requires observance of a ceasefire,” he told Al Jazeera.
The next key step, and possible major development from Thursday’s meeting, would be the deployment of troops, but Nathan noted that any deployment would likely result in a stalemate until a voluntary Hamas disarmament agreement is reached.
Faced with the situation, President Trump will appear increasingly motivated to use Washington’s considerable influence over Israel to promote stability in Gaza, which closely aligns with the president’s own self-image.
After all, Trump and his allies have regularly portrayed the US president as a “chief peacemaker” and repeatedly touted his success in resolving conflicts, even when the facts on the ground contradict that claim. Trump has been vocal about his belief that he should win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Still, “Trump’s motivations are multifold,” Nathan explained.
“Does he care about peace? I think he does. Does he want to be a peace broker? Yes. Does he really want the Nobel Peace Prize? Yes.”
“On the other hand, he’s a histrionic…it’s never clear how serious it is to him,” he added. “The added problem is that whenever President Trump does these things, there is always personal interest at play.”
Broader ambitions?
Both Washington’s Western allies and conflict resolution experts are scrutinizing the apparent scope of the peace commission’s yawning reach, which extends far beyond the scope of Gaza recognized by the U.N. Security Council last year.
The widely publicized founding “charter” sent to invited countries delves into existing peacebuilding approaches that “foster permanent dependence and institutionalize crises rather than helping people overcome them,” and does not directly mention Gaza. Instead, it envisions “more agile and effective international peacebuilding institutions.”
Critics have also questioned Trump’s unique and indefinite role as “chairman” and sole veto holder, which seriously undermines the principles of multilateralism that organizations such as the United Nations are meant to enshrine. They argued that this structure fosters a transactional approach, both in dealings with the U.S. government and with Trump personally.
Richard Gowan, director of the Global Affairs and Institutions Program at the International Crisis Group, said these concerns are unlikely to subside anytime soon. However, he believed that this would not prevent European countries from supporting the Council’s efforts, provided the Council could make meaningful progress.
“As a practical matter, I think that while other countries will try to support what the Council is doing on the Gaza case, they will continue to distance themselves from the Council on other issues,” he said.
Thursday’s meeting could signal the peace committee’s future vitality and tone.
“When President Trump uses his Charter powers to order people around him, block proposals he doesn’t like, and do it in a completely individualistic way, even countries that want to get along with him are going to question what they’re doing,” Gowan said.
“If Trump shows a calmer side, especially if he’s going to actually listen to what Arab groups are saying and what they’re saying about what Gaza needs, if it looks like a real conversation in a real contact group,” he added, “That won’t eliminate all questions about the future of the council, but it will at least suggest that it can be a serious diplomatic framework.”
