The peace plan for the Gaza Strip has entered a new phase, bringing with it widespread debate about the future of the international system and the role of the UN.
This coincides with the launch by the administration of US President Donald Trump of the “Board of Peace,” an international mechanism to oversee the transitional phase in the Strip.
Permanent membership is contingent upon substantial financial contributions.
While the second phase of the plan has been met with regional and international approval, there are also warnings against the creation of a parallel international entity, especially as the escalation of violence continues in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza.
According to a draft of the proposed charter revealed by Bloomberg, the Board of Peace stipulated that countries wishing to obtain permanent membership must provide a financial contribution of no less than one billion dollars, with special privileges granted to countries that provide funding exceeding this limit during the first year of the council’s establishment.
The draft indicates that the US president will directly chair the council, and the document grants him control over funding mechanisms and the agenda.
This has drawn criticism within Western diplomatic circles, which view the move as an attempt to create an international entity parallel to or competing with the UN.
Trump issues invitations
According to international and Arab media outlets, the Trump administration has extended formal invitations to several world leaders to join the “Board of Peace,” both in its global version and in the sub-organization dedicated to the Gaza Strip.
Jordanian King Abdullah II announced that he had received a formal invitation from the US President to join the “Board of Peace” for Gaza.
The Jordanian Foreign Ministry explained in a statement that the documents related to the invitation are currently under review in accordance with the legal and constitutional procedures in force in the Kingdom.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz stated that the “Board of Peace” charter reflects an American trend toward establishing an international body to rival the United Nations, noting that the document includes implicit criticism of existing international institutions.
The newspaper reported Western diplomats expressing their concerns about creating a parallel mechanism to the existing international system without a clear legal basis, considering the move “an unprecedented experiment in conservative diplomacy.”
During a joint press conference earlier in January with his Greek and Cypriot counterparts, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty clarified that Egypt fully supports the implementation of President Trump’s peace plan, moving to the second phase and implementing it in its entirety – which includes Israel’s complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, early recovery and reconstruction, and the deployment of an international stabilization force.
