AP
Davos
President Donald Trump on Thursday inaugurated his Board of Peace to lead efforts at maintaining a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas, insisting that “everyone wants to be a part” of the body that could eventually rival the United Nations – despite many US allies opting not to participate.
In a speech at the World Economic Forum, Trump sought to create momentum for a project to map out a future of the war-torn Gaza Strip that has been overshadowed this week, first by his threats to seize Greenland, then by a dramatic retreat from
that push.
“This isn’t the United States, this is for the world,” he said, adding, “I think we can spread it out to other things as we
succeed in Gaza.”
The event featured Ali Shaath, the head of a new, future technocratic government in Gaza, announcing that the Rafah border crossing will open in both directions next week. That’s after Israel said in early December it would open the crossing, which runs between Gaza and Egypt, but has yet to do so.
Shaath, an engineer and former Palestinian Authority official from Gaza, is overseeing the Palestinian committee set to govern the territory under US supervision.
The new peace board was initially envisioned as a small group of world leaders overseeing the ceasefire, but it has morphed into something far more ambitious – and scepticism about its membership and mandate has led some countries usually closest to Washington to take a pass.
Trump tried not to let those not participating ruin his unveiling party, saying 59 countries had signed onto the board – even though heads of state, top diplomats and other officials from only 19 countries plus the US actually attended. He told the group, ranging from Azerbaijan to Paraguay to Hungary, “You’re the most powerful people
in the world.”
Trump has spoken about the board replacing some UN functions and perhaps even making that entire body obsolete one day. But he was more conciliatory in his remarks on the sidelines of the forum in
the Swiss alps.
“We’ll do it in conjunction with the United Nations,” Trump said, even as he denigrated the UN for doing what he said wasn’t enough to calm some conflicts around the globe.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that some countries’ leaders have indicated they plan to join but still require approval from their parliaments, and the Trump administration says it has also gotten queries about membership from countries that hadn’t been invited to participate yet.
