The president of USA, Donald Trumphas once again taken a shower of praise. This time it was at the opening ceremony of the “Peace Board” that must end the conflict in Gazaheld in parallel to the Davos Economic Forum, which takes place this week in the Swiss city. Each of the 18 men and one woman who make up this new international organization have signed its founding charter under the watchful eye of the Republican president. “Gaza will be rebuilt beautifully, and then we can move on to other things, along with United Nations“Trump declared in his speech, allaying fears that the Peace Board he will preside for life aims to rival the world organization.
“The UN has a huge potentialand there are excellent people in it; I think that the combination of the Peace Board with the type of people we have here, at the UN, is fundamental,” added the US president. No Western European leaderincluding its Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sanchezhas accepted Trump’s invitation considering that this new organization would undermine the authority of the UN. This Thursday, at the inauguration ceremony, the majority were countries from the Arab and Islamic world, such as Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan or Bahrainor from the Caucasus, as Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Argentina, Bulgaria, Hungary, Indonesia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Paraguay, Kosovo or Uzbekistan They have also sent their leaders to share the stage with Trump. During his final comments, the American president once again highlighted the real estate value from the Gaza Strip. “This is an excellent location, look at this location on the sea, look at this beautiful property: what it could be for so many people, it will be great, the people who live so badly will live so well,” he recalled in reference to the first conversations about the Peace Board. After his presentation, the Secretary of State spoke, Marco Rubiothe special envoy Steve Witkoffand his son-in-law and advisor, Jared Kushner.
Plan details
Kushner has focused much of his speech on describing the development plans of the organization in Gaza, without mentioning the steps towards a path towards a Palestinian state. “The most important thing will be security; Obviously, we are working very closely with the Israelis to find a way to de-escalate, and the next phase is to work with Hamas on the demilitarization“, he said. At the same time, he highlighted the need for investments and the intention to use the “free market principles” to change Gaza’s dependence on foreign aid. Gaza would be divided into “residential” and “mixed zones” coastal tourism“, as announced by Kushner.
“In two or three years” cities like Rafah or the “New Gaza” could be rebuilt, where they will be built 100,000 housing units in each one, the president’s son-in-law has declared, projecting on the screens images of high futuristic buildings that are more reminiscent of the landscape of Dubai than that of the Palestinian enclave. On the slide about Gaza National Administration Committee (CNAG), the technocratic Government that will control the enclave, there were grammatical errors in the Arabic translation of the name of this organization. Over the next 100 days, according to Kushner’s projections, the Board’s efforts will focus on humanitarian aid and the reconstruction of the enclave.
Rafah reopening
In turn, Ali Shaathpresident of the CNAG, has intervened with a video recorded from Cairosince the Israeli authorities have not allowed the members of the committee to enter the Strip, as reported by Palestinian sources this week. After thanking Trump for his achievements, Shaath defended that, from now on, in Gaza there will be “one authority, one law and one weapon”in reference to the will of demilitarize Hamas. Furthermore, before addressing the population of Gaza, praising their “firmness” over the past two years, Shaath announced that, starting next week, the Rafah pass It will open in both directions, a condition that Israel should have met as part of the first phase of the ceasefire and that remains pending.
An Israeli official has told The Times of Israel that the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahuwill convene the cabinet on Sunday to discuss the opening of the Rafah crossing, closed since May 2024, and the return of the body of the sergeant Ran Gvilithe last hostage left in the Strip.
The global attention on him has allowed Trump to refer to other issues related to the region, such as Hezbollah in it Lebanon —”we have to do something about this”— and Iran. “We completely eliminated Iran’s nuclear and uranium enrichment capabilities; Tehran wants to talk, and we will talk“, he declared. “Yes [Hamás] If he doesn’t hand over his weapons, it will be his end,” he added.
In his presentation, Kushner gave more details about the demilitarization that will be carried out in Gazan territory. Group members who surrender their weapons will be “rewarded with amnesty and reintegrationor with a safe conduct”, as could be read on a slide. Some of them will be “integrated” into the new palestinian police force after a “rigorous investigation.” Once demilitarization is completed and verified, the Israeli Army will withdraw to the security perimeter around Gaza. Reconstruction will only begin in those areas where disarmament has taken place. In addition, Kushner has announced that in the coming weeks it will be held in Washington an investment conference a Gaza.
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