President Donald Trump on Thursday is set to gather allies to inaugurate the Board of Peace, his new institution focused on progress in the Gaza Strip, but whose ambitions reach much further.
About two dozen world leaders or other senior officials are set to come to Washington, D.C., for the meeting. The Board of Peace came together after the Trump administration, teaming with Qatar and Egypt, negotiated a ceasefire in October to halt two years of war in Gaza sparked by Iranian-backed Hamas' terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
The U.S. said the plan has now entered its second phase with a focus on disarming Hamas.
Trump is expected to detail pledges of more than $5 billion to reconstruct Gaza. The meeting will also look at how to launch the International Stabilization Force that will ensure security in Gaza.
A key player will be Indonesia, the largest Muslim-majority country, which has said it is ready to send up to 8,000 troops to Gaza if the force is confirmed.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will take part in the inaugural meeting in Gaza, after joining the launch event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last month.
US officials, including special envoy Steve Witkoff, have insisted that solid progress is being made and that Hamas is feeling pressure to give up weapons. Israel has suggested sweeping restrictions including seizing small personal rifles from Hamas.
"The heavy weapon, the one that does the most damage, is called an AK-47," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said recently. "That's the main weapon, and that has to go."
Israel Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar will represent the Jewish state at the meeting.
Jeremy Issacharoff, a strategic affairs expert at Israel's Reichman University, acknowledged that disarming Hamas would not be a "simple task" but said that for Israel, a credible pathway would be key to determining "whether this exercise can get off the ground."
In a step toward a new Gaza, a technocratic committee was formed last month to handle day-to-day governance of Gaza, headed by engineer and former official Ali Shaath.
The meeting will take place in the building of the US Institute of Peace. Under terms laid out by the White House, Trump will wield veto power over the Board of Peace and can remain its head even after leaving office, and countries that want to stay on permanently rather than enjoy a two-year stint will need to pay $1 billion.
US officials said Thursday's meeting is about Gaza but have also spoken of the Board of Peace in broader, amorphous terms, saying it can address other global hotspots.
"It's a confused mix of ambition and narcissism, unleavened by any effort at intellectual coherence," said Bruce Jones, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
The inaugural meeting will bring ideological allies of Trump including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is facing a tough reelection battle, and Argentine President Javier Millei.
Other leaders in attendance include some eager for US attention, such as Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has courted Trump for support in his country's conflict with India.
But major historic allies of the U.S. are not participating, including France and Canada.
Japan, usually among the most stalwart U.S. allies, has not decided whether to join the board and will send an envoy handling Gaza.