US president vows multinational force and billions of dollars as autocrats and rightwing allies gather in DC
The US has proposed commanding a multinational force in postwar Gaza with troops from Albania, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Morocco, as Donald Trump unveiled his ad-hoc Board of Peace in Washington to heavy international scrutiny.
The US plan would require the full disarmament of Hamas and support from Israel, which has tempered expectations that the Trump-friendly committee stacked with autocrats and rightwing allies will be able to deliver on the vision of ending the conflict and rebuilding Gaza as a “riviera”.
That did not stop the board from proposing a huge peacekeeping and reconstruction mission in Gaza at a madcap inaugural summit where the president of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, mooted a Trump peace prize and the head of Fifa, Gianni Infantino, donned a red USA cap before unveiling a partnership with the $1bn-a-seat committee.
In opening remarks, Trump said the US would commit $10bn (£740m) to a fund to reconstruct Gaza – a small amount, he said, to “achieve the dream of bringing lasting harmony to a region tortured by centuries of war, suffering and carnage”.
