The Trump administration’s Board of Peace, tasked with overseeing the reconstruction of Gaza, initially made bold promises and announcements. The group claimed to have secured $17 billion in pledges to support rebuilding efforts, with Jared Kushner outlining a 100-day plan to deliver aid to Gaza and a ‘masterplan’ for the region’s transformation into a futuristic coastal outpost.
However, the reality on the ground has fallen short of these lofty ambitions. The board has struggled to establish even a modest pilot program for a displaced persons camp, with many key elements of the plan still in limbo.
Following recent discussions in Cyprus, the board is now focusing on establishing a camp near the city of Rafah, which would serve tens of thousands of people and be overseen by an international security force and a newly trained group of Palestinian police officers.
Despite this, aid continues to trickle in slowly, and the Israeli government has yet to clear the International Stabilization Force (ISF) or the police force for operation inside the territory. The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza has also been barred from operating on the ground in Gaza.
Major preparatory work on the pilot camp and a support base for the ISF has not begun, with requests for proposals on the initial work only recently going out. Substantial progress on the camp is not expected until after Israeli elections in late October, which could lead to a change in leadership and prolong the suffering of the more than 2 million displaced people in Gaza.
The situation is further complicated by stalled negotiations around Hamas and other groups fully disarming, a precondition for the strip receiving full reconstruction support. As of early June, the World Bank had not received any of the billions of dollars in contributions from donor countries backing the rebuilding effort, including the United States.
.png?trim=0,0,0,0&width=1200&height=800&crop=1200:800)
