WASHINGTON, Dec 10 (Reuters/AFP): U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that an announcement about which world leaders will serve on the Gaza Board of Peace should be made early next year.
Trump told reporters during an economic event in the White House Roosevelt Room that a variety of leaders want to be on the board, which was established under a Gaza plan that set up a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas militants.
Trump said "the kings, the presidents, prime ministers - they all want to be on the Board of Peace." He said it should be announced in the new year.
"It'll be one of the most legendary boards ever. Everybody wants to be on it," he said.
A United Nations Security Council resolution adopted on November 17 authorized a Board of Peace and countries working with it to establish a temporary International Stabilization Force (ISF) in Gaza.
The resolution, drafted by the U.S., described the Board of Peace as a transitional administration "that will set the framework, and coordinate funding for, the redevelopment of Gaza" in line with Trump's 20-point peace plan.
It says the Board of Peace will operate "until such time as the Palestinian Authority (PA) has satisfactorily completed its reform program … and can securely and effectively take back control of Gaza."
Israel said on Thursday Hamas "will be disarmed" as part of the US-sponsored peace plan for Gaza, after a top leader from the Palestinian Islamist movement suggested a weapons freeze.
The ceasefire, in effect since October 10, halted the war that began after Hamas's deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. But it remains fragile as Israel and Hamas accuse each other almost daily of violations.
Top Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal told Qatari news channel Al Jazeera that the militant group is open to a weapons "freeze", but rejects the demand for total disarmament put forward in Trump's plan for the Palestinian territory.
An Israeli government official told AFP, however, that "there will be no future for Hamas under the 20-point plan. The terror group will be disarmed and Gaza will be demilitarised".
The agreement is composed of three phases. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently indicated that he expected the second phase to begin soon.
Under that phase Israeli troops would further withdraw from their positions in Gaza and be replaced by an international stabilisation force (ISF), while Hamas would lay down its weapons.
