Gaza reconstruction: Who has signed up to Trump’s Board of Peace?

International leaders meet in Washington on Thursday for the first major summit of US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, created to govern post-war Gaza.

It comes amid glossy plans for high-rise apartments and data centres in the devastated enclave, where more than 72,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, and where Israeli bombing continues despite an official ceasefire signed in October.

Around half of those nations invited to join, including some of Trump’s biggest allies, have chosen to snub the board.

What is the Board of Peace?

Some 26 countries have now joined the board, which the US president has described as the “greatest and Most Prestigious Board ever assembled at any time, any place" and for which permanent membership requires a $1bn entrance fee. 

The board, announced last September to end the war in Gaza as part of Trump’s 20-point peace plan, launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos on 22 January. 

It is intended to oversee the transition from phase one of the Gaza plan, which focused on a ceasefire and humanitarian supplies, to phase two, which covers disarmament and reconstruction.  

The board is permitted to establish an international stabilisation force in the enclave, following UN Security Council Resolution 2803, passed on 17 November.

Its charter does not mention Gaza, leading to fears that it may seek a broader role that would sideline existing international bodies, such as the UN. 

Asked if the board could replace the UN on 21 January, Trump said: “It might." He added: "The UN just hasn’t been very helpful. It’s just never lived up to its potential.”

The charter says that peace requires “the courage to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed”. 

Trump is chairman of the board. The charter does not mention how long he can serve, but he is allowed to appoint and remove members.

Below Trump is an "executive board" of seven high-profile figures. They are:

- Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law
- Marco Rubio, US secretary of state
- Steve Witkoff, US special envoy to the Middle East
- Tony Blair, former UK prime minister
- Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank
- Marc Rowan, US private equity billionaire
- Robert Gabriel, US deputy national security adviser

Trump defended his appointments on 21 January. "I have some controversial people. But these are people that get the job done. These are people that have tremendous influence," he said. 

These figures will govern, alongside heads of state from around the world (the White House has said it has invited around 60 countries to join). According to the board’s charter, these members will vote on proposals that need to be approved by the chairman. 

This executive board will oversee the work of a National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), which will run logistics in the Palestinian territory. 

NCAG is a committee of 15 Palestinians, led by former Palestinian deputy minister of planning, Ali Shaath. It will have no political role. 

Nikolay Mladenov, a former Bulgarian foreign minister and UN diplomat has been appointed the board’s High Representative for Gaza, the link between the executive board and the NCAG. 

Who has signed up from the Middle East?

Ten countries from the Middle East and North Africa have so far said they will join the board.

As well as a seat at the negotiating table, signatories will gain favour in Washington. Since Trump’s return to office in January 2025,  the US has struck lucrative deals with what it deems friendly states and used the threat of tariffs to reprimand others.

First to join the board from MENA on 19 January were the UAE, Morocco, and Bahrain. All three are longtime US allies. In 2020, during the first Trump administration, each signed the Abraham Accords to “normalise” their relations with Israel, ending decades of diplomatic boycott.

In a statement, the UAE foreign ministry described Trump’s peace plan as “critical for the realization of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people”.

Egypt was the next to join the board on 21 January. It borders Gaza and has played a major role in negotiations throughout Israel’s genocide in the enclave, including hosting the Sharm-el-Sheikh summit in October 2025.

The Egyptian government fears the mass displacement of Palestinians into its country, and wants a voice at the negotiating table. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has long depended on US military aid, which Trump has used as leverage in his relationship with Cairo.  

Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Jordan, and Qatar signalled hours later in a joint statement that they would be joining the board, saying that they were committed to supporting Palestine’s “right to self-determination and statehood in accordance with international law”.

Saudi Arabia, the region’s largest economy, has long been a US regional partner and a presence in negotiations about Gaza. Late last year, it pledged billions in investment to the US. In return, it was promised US-made F-35 jets, something Riyadh has coveted for years and will wish to safeguard by maintaining good relations.

The kingdom also wants support from Washington amid its major fallout with the UAE over the wars in Yemen and Sudan. 

But both Gulf monarchies share common interests when it comes to Gaza, and have each supported the Palestinian Authority over Hamas.

Qatar has been a key mediating partner in US-led peace negotiations throughout the conflict. Along with Turkey and Egypt, it is a guarantor of the ceasefire agreement signed in October. 

Doha has been rewarded by Washington over the years for its support: having designated Qatar a major non-Nato ally in February 2022, the US waived visa requirements for Qatari citizens in September 2024. 

The US then signed a pact to defend Qatar following Israel’s attack on Hamas negotiators in Doha in September 2025.

Finally, Kuwait also signed up on 21 January. It has long been a major Western ally, but appeared to fall foul of Trump in January when it was added to the US visa ban list.

Is Israel involved in the Board of Peace?

The most controversial appointment to the board is Israel, which officially signed up on 12 February. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, previously criticised Trump’s international appointments to the board.

Netanyahu said on 17 January that the inclusion of Qatari and Turkish diplomats on the board was "not coordinated with Israel and runs contrary to its policy".

There has also been pushback against the plan from across the Israeli political spectrum, including within Netanyahu’s coalition government. 

Israel’s far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said on 18 January that Israel should instead establish “a military government [in Gaza], to encourage immigration and settlement”.

Meanwhile, opposition leader Yair Lapid, addressing Netanyahu in the Israeli Knesset on 19 January, said: “Trump published over your head the composition of the governing committee for Gaza. Hamas's hosts in Istanbul and Doha, the ideological partners of Hamas, were invited to manage Gaza.”

Netanyahu changed his position on 21 January, announcing that Israel would join, although it did not attend the launch in Davos the next day.

Which Middle East countries are not on the Board?

Iran, which Washington bombed last summer and is a longtime enemy of the US, was not invited to join the board.

Lebanon and Syria, which have both been attacked repeatedly by Israel since October 2023, are also not represented. They have not said whether they were invited.

Also absent are Algeria, Tunisia, Oman, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Sudan.

There is no Palestinian representation on the executive tier of the board. Neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority, including leader Mahmoud Abbas, were invited to join. 

Which countries outside the Middle East have signed up?

The first country to accept Washington’s invitation to the board was Vietnam on 18 January, which reached an agreement to lower US tariffs in October.

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan announced on 19 January that they would sign.

Indonesia and Pakistan followed on 21 January. Indonesia has played a role in Gaza for decades, including funding Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital, and is set to deploy 8,000 troops as part of an international stabilisation force.

Azerbaijan also joined on 21 January, followed by its rival Armenia and Mongolia on 22 January. 

Hungary and Bulgaria are the only EU nations to sign up as full members so far, both confirming membership on 22 January. Italy and Cyprus, meanwhile, have said that they will attend the board’s 19 February meeting as observer states.

Other European signatories include Albania, the partially-recognised state of Kosovo, and Belarus, an ally of Russia.

In Latin America, the right-wing leaders of Paraguay (21 January), Argentina (22 January), and El Salvador (28 January) have also signed on. 

Cambodia announced on 26 January that it had joined as a “non-permanent” member and would not be required to pay the $1bn membership fee.

Who hasn’t joined?

Most of the world’s leading powers have yet to join the Board of Peace. The US is the only member of the UN Security Council to sign up. 

Trump claimed that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had accepted an invitation to the board.

But the UK criticised Moscow's potential participation amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. Yvette Cooper, the UK foreign secretary, said she had “concerns about President Putin being part of something which is talking about peace, when we have still not seen any signs from Putin that there will be a commitment to peace in Ukraine.”

Hours later the Russian leader said later that he was reviewing the proposal. Putin was absent from the board’s launch in Davos on 22 January.

France declined its invitation on 22 January amid fears that the board threatened the power of the UN. China said on 20 January it had received an invitation but has yet to accept.

Its foreign ministry released a statement on 19 January reiterating French commitment to the UN as a “keystone of effective multilateralism”. 

China said on 20 January it had received an invitation but has yet to accept.

Canada had its invitation rescinded on 23 January after its prime minister, Mark Carney, used his Davos speech on 20 January to criticise Trump. 

Trump wrote in a Truth Social post addressed to Carney: "Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada's joining, what will be, the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time." 

Germany declined on 23 January, citing the board’s incompatibility with its constitution. 

At the Munich Security Conference in February, Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, accused the board of exceeding its original UN Security Council mandate. “I think there is a Security Council resolution, but the Board of Peace does not reflect it,” she said. 

India confirmed on 18 January that it had received an invitation but has yet to accept.

The Vatican, which confirmed that Pope Leo had received an invitation on 21 January, has not accepted. 

What have Palestinians said about the Board?

Hamas, which remains in control of Gaza west of the “Yellow Line” boundary, has made few public statements amid peace talks in Doha and Cairo.

Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official, told Al Jazeera on 11 February that Netanyahu’s participation in the council was “the farce of the era”.

In December, Hamas told Egyptian, Turkish and Qatari mediators that it would freeze all offensive operations against Israel from Gaza for up to a decade and bury its weapons if Israel fully withdrew from the enclave.

Islamic Jihad, the second-largest group in Gaza, criticised the appointments to the board on 18 January, saying they “came in line with Israeli specifications and in a manner that serves the interests of the occupation.”

The Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq described Trump’s peace plan as a “dark day for the international community”. 

“Rather than ensuring an immediate and unconditional end to Israel's unlawful occupation … the plan extends, deepens, and internationalises it,” it said in a 10 December statement.