Trump administration planning ‘Board of Peace’ meeting in DC on February 19
By Jennifer Hansler, CNN
(CNN) — The Trump administration is planning a meeting of the “Board of Peace” on February 19 in Washington, DC, per a US official and a diplomat from a country that was invited.
The US sent invites for the event on Friday and described the gathering as “the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace,” according to an invitation seen by CNN. It is slated to be held at the US Institute of Peace, which President Donald Trump has renamed after himself.
The US official said the meeting is intended in part to be a fundraiser, but stressed that details are still being worked out. CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
The gathering, first reported by Axios, would be the first time the group has assembled since a signing ceremony at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month. Around two dozen countries have signed on to the Board of Peace.
It is unclear which countries will attend the February 19 meeting and at what level they will be represented.
The Board of Peace has been met with skepticism about its mandate and questions about whether it is seeking to supplant the United Nations. Most of the US’ European allies have not agreed to join and Israel has not formally signed the charter to join the organization despite accepting Trump’s offer to join the organization, though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel would.
The board, chaired by Trump, was originally pitched as a limited body tasked with overseeing the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, which was devastated by a two-year war with Israel. However, according to the charter draft, its mission has since expanded to tackle conflicts the world over. The draft, which was sent along with the invitations to join, does not even reference Gaza.
The upcoming meeting comes as the administration works to push forward Phase 2 in its peace plan for Gaza and garner support for its reconstruction. The US announced the start of the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire plan in mid-January, but has not provided concrete plans for how they plan to address one of the thorniest issues: the demilitarization of Hamas.
Last month at the World Economic Forum, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner unveiled a flashy 11-page slide deck presenting the board’s vision for rebuilding and investing in Gaza, complete with more than 150 skyscrapers lining the coast.
Kushner said at the time the administration’s “master plan” for redeveloping Gaza does “not have a plan B” beyond its multi-step effort to end the war and transform the region. The president’s son-in-law stressed that much of that plan relies on Hamas demilitarizing. He vowed that the US is “going to enforce” that part of the ceasefire agreement, without providing specifics.
The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, Pakistan, Turkey, Hungary, Morocco, Kosovo, Albania, Bulgaria, Argentina and Paraguay have all signed on as members of the Board of Peace, as have the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Uzbekistan, and the Southeast Asian nations of Indonesia and Vietnam.
Netanyahu’s office said he will meet with Trump in Washington on Wednesday, though the Prime Minister’s office indicated the meeting will be about negotiations with Iran.
CNN’s Aleena Fayaz, Helen Regan, Kara Fox and Dalia Abdelwahab contributed to this report.
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