Donald Trump made a headline-grabbing announcement this week: member countries of his new Board of Peace had pledged $5 billion toward rebuilding Gaza and would contribute thousands of peacekeeping personnel. It was exactly the kind of bold, concrete-sounding commitment the board needed to project credibility as it held its first meeting in Washington Thursday.
There was one problem: no financial pledges were made public. No agenda for the meeting was released either. The gap between the presidential announcement and the verifiable documentation is familiar territory for Trump, but in the context of a diplomatic initiative whose credibility depends on delivering results, it raised immediate questions among observers and potential partners.
The board’s ambitions are vast and the needs are genuine. The UN, European Union, and World Bank jointly estimate that Gaza’s reconstruction will cost approximately $70 billion. Kushner’s Davos presentation showed a reimagined Gaza with coastal tourism zones, industrial areas, and data centers — a vision he suggested could be realized in three years. UN experts say that timeline dramatically underestimates the complexity of even preliminary work like clearing rubble and demining.
Progress on the core elements of the ceasefire agreement remains limited. Hamas has not disarmed. No international forces are deployed. The transitional Palestinian governing committee is stuck in Egypt. Israeli strikes continue daily. The ceasefire has paused major operations and enabled aid increases, but a durable settlement remains distant.
If the Board of Peace is to have any meaning, it must translate announcements into action and pledges into verified commitments. Expert observers have warned that the board’s credibility will crumble quickly if its first meeting does not produce fast, tangible improvements on the ground — particularly on the humanitarian front. Thursday’s gathering will be judged not by the rhetoric that preceded it but by what changes in Gaza in the days and weeks that follow.