US president Donald Trump has announced the creation of a ‘board of Peace’ that he said will administer the Gaza Strip, according to a post on his social media platform, Truth Social.
“It is my Great Honor to announce that THE BOARD OF PEACE has been formed. We have OFFICIALLY entered the next phase of Gaza’s 20-Point Peace Plan,” he wrote on Friday.
Mr Trump said the United States, working with mediators Egypt, Turkey and Qatar, would ensure the disarmament of Hamas, the surrender of all the group’s weapons and the dismantling of tunnels in the territory, adding that Hamas must also return the body of the final hostage in Gaza, Israeli police officer Ran Gvili.
“As I have said before, they can do this the easy way, or the hard way. The people of Gaza have suffered long enough,” he added. “The time is NOW.”
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Washington claims that during a meeting with Mr Trump’s top aides on the eve of the October 2025 ceasefire deal, Hamas officials agreed to disarm – something the militant group has denied.
US officials said the board of peace is expected to be formally announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which convenes next week.
Mr Trump did not name the board’s members, saying details will be announced shortly. It is expected that Nickolay Mladenov, a Bulgarian diplomat, who was the UN’s special co-ordinator for the Middle East peace process between 2015 and 2020, will serve as director of the board.
British prime minister Keir Starmer, Italy’s leader Giorgia Meloni and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan have all been named as potential board members.
[ US announces start of phase two of Gaza peace planOpens in new window ]
Friday’s announcement follows the inaugural meeting this week in Cairo of the new Palestinian technocratic committee that will be responsible for the enclave’s day-to-day management, including sanitation, infrastructure and education.
The challenge of reconstructing Gaza is daunting.
Hundreds of thousands of residents remain war refugees living in makeshift tent encampments. They have already suffered repeated bouts of flooding from the winter rains. Buildings have collapsed and tents have blown away in the storms.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) remain in control of more than half the war-torn enclave and are also reportedly operating beyond the “yellow line” demarcation border, destroying tunnels in the Palestinians zone.
IDF units are unlikely to further redeploy until Hamas has disarmed. Israel has also linked the reopening of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt to the return of Mr Gvili’s remains.
Clashes are an almost daily occurrence and more than 450 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire. The IDF on Friday said six militants were killed in a strike near Rafah, in southern Gaza, following clashes on Thursday.
