Donald Trump’s plans for Gaza are controversial.Image: keystone
A committee for Trump’s Gaza Peace Council is to discuss investments. According to a draft, anyone who wants to be there for more than three years will have to pay a lot of money.
January 18, 2026, 05:45Jan 18, 2026, 06:27
Thomas Wanhoff / t-online
The US government apparently wants to make long-term participation in a body for a Gaza Peace Council dependent on financial payments. Anyone who wants to sit at the table at the Executive Committee should contribute at least a billion dollars. This is reported by the American business agency Bloomberg and the magazine “The Atlantic”. They refer to a draft statute of the committee that US President Donald Trump wants to decide on the development of the Gaza Strip.
«Each Member State shall have a term of office not exceeding three years from the entry into force of this Charter, subject to extension by the Chairman. The three-year term of office does not apply to member states that pay more than USD 1,000,000,000 in cash to the Peace Council within the first year after the Charter comes into force,” the draft says. Trump has appointed himself chairman. He also has the option to dismiss members and a veto, even if there is a two-thirds majority. He could also choose his successor himself.
Competition with UN bodies?
According to Trump’s plans, there should be an overarching peace council in which the USA, Israel and representatives of the Palestinians as well as other states should be represented. In addition, there are at least two committees that are supposed to take care of investments and reconstruction. Apparently Trump wants to prevent UN missions.
According to The Atlantic, the first paragraph of the preamble to the Executive Committee states:
“Long-lasting peace requires pragmatic judgment, sensible solutions and the courage to break away from approaches and institutions that have all too often failed.”
A little further down in the preamble, the need for a “more flexible and effective international peace organization” is addressed.
The committee is described in the charter as “an international organization committed to promoting stability, restoring reliable and lawful governance and securing lasting peace in areas affected by or threatened by conflict.” It would become official once three Council Member States agree to the Charter.
Resistance from Israel
Israel is angered by the White House’s appointment of the Gaza Oversight Board. “The announcement regarding the composition of the so-called ‘Gaza Executive Board’, which reports to the ‘Peace Council’, is not coordinated with Israel and contradicts its policies,” said a statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He instructed Foreign Minister Gideon Saar to contact his US colleague Marco Rubio about this matter.
Not happy with Trump’s latest Gaza plans: Benjamin Netanyahu.Image: keystone
Milei and Blair invited
According to US President Donald Trump, several heads of state and government have been invited to take part in the so-called Peace Council for the Gaza Strip. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Egypt’s head of state Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Argentina’s President Javier Milei received invitations. The latter wrote on X that it was an honor for him to take part. It was said from Egypt that they were currently discussing the matter.
The “Peace Council” is part of the second phase of Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, which envisages a permanent end to the war and the disarmament of the terrorist organization Hamas, which it rejects. The international body is supposed to oversee the new interim government of the coastal strip that was largely destroyed in the war between Hamas and Israel. Trump himself is in the chair.
Trump recently announced the appointment of the Executive Committee, which is supposed to implement the goals of the Peace Council and control reconstruction and administration in the Gaza Strip. According to the White House, the committee includes former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and US special envoy Steve Witkoff. Blair called the nomination an honor. “I look forward to working with you and other colleagues in line with the President’s vision to promote peace and prosperity,” said the former head of government.
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