By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON, Feb 11 (Reuters) – Israel has joined U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” initiative, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday during his visit to Washington where he met Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Visuals released earlier on Wednesday after the Netanyahu-Rubio meeting showed them holding a document with Netanyahu’s signature on Israel joining the board. Netanyahu said on X he “signed Israel’s accession as a member of the “Board of Peace.””
He later discussed Iran with Trump.
A U.N. Security Council resolution, adopted in mid-November, authorized the board and countries working with it to establish an international stabilization force in Gaza, where a fragile ceasefire began in October under a Trump plan on which Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas signed off.
Under Trump’s Gaza plan, the board was meant to supervise Gaza’s temporary governance. Trump thereafter said the board, with him as chair, would be expanded to tackle global conflicts.
The board will hold its first meeting on February 19 in Washington to discuss Gaza’s reconstruction.
Many rights experts say that Trump overseeing a board to supervise a foreign territory’s affairs resembled a colonial structure. Israel’s presence on the board is expected to bring further criticism as the board does not include a Palestinian.
Countries have reacted cautiously to Trump’s invitation to join the board launched in late January. Many experts are concerned the board could undermine the United Nations.
While some of Washington’s Middle Eastern allies have joined, many of its traditional Western allies have stayed away.
The ceasefire in Gaza has been repeatedly violated, with at least 580 Palestinians and four Israeli soldiers reported killed since it began in October, according to Palestinian and Israeli tallies, respectively.
The next phase of Trump’s Gaza plan calls for resolving complex issues like Hamas’ disarmament, which the group has long rejected, further Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the deployment of an international peacekeeping force.
Israel’s assault on Gaza has killed over 72,000, according to Gaza’s health ministry, caused a hunger crisis and internally displaced Gaza’s entire population.
Multiple rights experts, scholars and a U.N. inquiry say it amounts to genocide. Israel calls its actions self-defense after Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and took over 250 hostages in a late 2023 attack.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Michael Perry)
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