Trump’s First Peace Board Meeting Highlights Gaza’s Demilitarization and Aid Dilemmas

President Donald Trump will preside over the first meeting of his Board of Peace on Thursday as unresolved questions about Gaza’s future cast a shadow over an event expected to draw representatives from more than 45 nations.

Key challenges—including Hamas terrorist disarmament, the scale of reconstruction funding, and humanitarian aid delivery to Gaza’s war-torn population—will test the board’s effectiveness in coming months.

Trump is set to address the group at the Donald J. Trump U.S. Institute of Peace—a Washington building he recently renamed for himself—and announce that participating nations have raised $5 billion for reconstruction efforts. The funds, expected to serve as a down payment on a larger fund requiring billions more, include an estimated $1.2 billion each from the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, according to U.S. officials.

Trump’s Board of Peace has faced criticism for excluding Palestinian representatives while including Israel, and his proposal to address issues beyond Gaza has raised concerns about undermining the United Nations’ role in global diplomacy and conflict resolution.

Senior U.S. officials stated Trump will also announce that several nations plan to deploy thousands of troops to an International Stabilization Force aimed at maintaining peace in Gaza. However, Hamas disarmament remains a major obstacle for deploying peacekeepers, with the force unlikely to begin operations for weeks or months.

Hamas has been reluctant to surrender weapons under terms of Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan that established a fragile ceasefire last October during the two-year conflict, reportedly due to fears of Israeli retaliation.

“A senior administration official stated: ‘We are under no illusions about the challenges regarding demilitarization, but we have been encouraged by what the mediators have reported back.’”

The event is expected to draw delegations from 47 countries and the European Union, including Israel and nations spanning Albania to Vietnam. Permanent United Nations Security Council members such as France, Britain, Russia, and China are not among attendees.

Expected speakers include Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair—who is anticipated to hold a senior role on the board—U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, and High Representative for Gaza Nickolay Mladenov.

An anonymous peace board member described significant obstacles for the Gaza plan: establishing security in the enclave is necessary for broader progress but the police force remains untrained and underprepared. The official also noted that identifying who would negotiate with Hamas presents a critical challenge—potential engagement with nations like Qatar and Turkey that influence Hamas faces Israeli skepticism.

Another pressing issue involves aid delivery, which the anonymous official described as “disastrous” and urgently requiring expansion. Even if aid levels increase, it remains unclear who would manage its distribution.