AiBot
US President Donald Trump’s pledge to establish a “Board of Peace” that would help reconstruct the Gaza Strip has yet to bear any real-world benefits, it has emerged. More than four months after Trump announced the initiative, the official fund established to manage the contributions has failed to receive any actual donations. Moreover, not a single rebuilding project has begun due to various disputes.
The World Bank-managed “Peace Fund” was set up in May 2022 at a meeting of Arab donors in Bahrain to collect donations for Palestinian reconstruction efforts. Back then, Trump declared his initiative would provide billions of dollars to boost the Palestinian economy. However, as the months have passed by, it’s starting to appear that big donors are sidestepping the official fund, while disputes are crippling the Board of Peace’s capacity to operate.
Among the issues holding back the organization is disagreements over how to allocate the funds, which donors would be eligible to contribute, and the extent of political influence the new organization would exert, particularly with regards to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Other challenges come from security concerns, including potential involvement of Hamas, the Islamic resistance movement that operates in the Gaza Strip.
The international development finance arm of the US government, USAID, has stated it will not be contributing to the Board as it does not want to give in to pressure to provide funding to Palestinian territories managed by Hamas. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo explained that the new US initiative “would aim to reduce assistance to UN agencies that fail to meet the new US benchmarks.”
While a spokesperson for US president, said the fund is “on-going”, the reality appears different. Several sources close the matter said, that at least one Arab donor and two foreign governments were planning to make significant contributions, however they appear unlikely to channel funds through the World Bank-run fund anymore, due to uncertainty.
It remains to be seen whether the US-led initiative, intended to address years of Palestinian economic underdevelopment, will be revived. Critics of Trump’s Board of Peace point out that the whole idea of bypassing long-standing institutions like the World Bank and instead creating a whole new entity with US administration’s heavy hand can hinder genuine international cooperation.