The Board of Peace and the Illusion of Gaza
President Trump’s Board of Peace had its first meeting on Thursday. About two dozen nations have pledged about $6.5 billion to the organization which is supposed to help rebuild the Gaza Strip which was destroyed in Israeli retaliation for the genocidal Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
Trump said at the meeting that the organization would work with the United Nations and not against it. But the UN which, as I’ve written elsewhere, is an organization that is entirely useless from a U.S. national security and foreign policy standpoint, needs to be replaced by an alliance of democracies.
The United States has pledged $10 billion over 10 years to the Gaza rebuilding effort. But despite the billions pledged by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, there is a complete roadblock to the Board of Peace’s work. That roadblock is Hamas.
Five countries — Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, and Albania — have committed to send troops to keep the peace in Gaza. But how they can cope with the resurgent Hamas is entirely unclear. Unless these countries have committed troops to combat Hamas, they will not be able to restore peace. It should be noted that the U.S. has not committed troops.
The BoP will be a temporary obstacle for the Israelis to destroy Hamas.
Egypt and Jordan have committed to train security forces for Gaza, which will bring them into contact with Hamas.
In the wake of Hamas’s October 2023 assault on Israel, a negotiated peace agreement aimed to stabilize the situation. Nevertheless, Hamas appears to be violating the agreement in at least two important ways.
First, Hamas is not disarming. They refuse to do so despite their evidently false commitment to do so to comply with Mr. Trump’s plan. Hamas is probably re-arming with the help of the Iranian regime which is its principal supporter.
Second, Hamas is trying — so far successfully — to reassert its control over the Gaza Strip. They have been patrolling the streets — reimposing their authority — and murdering members of opposition groups including Arab militias. It matters not to Hamas that a reported 70,000 Gaza residents — including, mostly, Hamas members — have been killed since the October 2023 attack. Ideologically, Hamas cannot and will not stop trying to destroy Israel.
That will be a clear and final cancellation of the Board of Peace’s plan to rebuild Gaza. After the members of the BoP rejected former UK prime minister Tony Blair to head the group, it has apparently devolved to former Bulgarian prime minister Nickolay Mladenov to fill the post.
With all due respect to Mr. Mladenov, the choice of him to head the group sounds like no one else would take the job. He previously served as the top UN representative to the region, which is not a great recommendation for the job. He now assumes the title of High Representative to Gaza, whatever that means.
At the BoP’s first meeting, Mr. Trump described the group as the most prestigious board ever assembled. Yet among its 50 members were relatively few heads of state. Prestigious or not, the task before them — securing peace and rebuilding Gaza — appears daunting.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is probably the greatest statesman since his predecessor, George C. Marshall. (It’s a great pity that he has said that if Vice President J.D. Vance runs for president in 2028, he would not.)
Mr. Rubio said, “There is no plan B for Gaza. Plan B is going back to war. Plan A, the only path forward, is one that rebuilds Gaza in a way of enduring and sustainable peace where no one has to worry about returning to conflict, human suffering, and destruction.”
But Mr. Rubio’s Plan B is apparently where this is all going. The Israelis know that and so does everyone else involved in the BoP.
The BoP won’t be able to disarm Hamas nor will they try to. Hamas — and its principal supporters Iran and Qatar — will rearm with more guns and missiles and then attempt another October 2023 massacre of Israelis.
Mr. Trump wants to create another Riviera in Gaza complete with massive hotels and casinos. It’s a pipe dream that cannot — while Hamas, Iran, and Qatar enable Hamas to rebuild — be achieved. The BoP will be a temporary obstacle for the Israelis to destroy Hamas. But even if they do, another group with the same sponsors and supporters, will arise. This is an endless war with no peace in sight.
READ MORE from Jed Babbin: