{"id":10297,"date":"2026-02-19T18:14:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T18:14:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/02\/19\/trump-gets-pledges-for-gaza-reconstruction-and-troop-commitments-at-inaugural-board-of-peace-talks-associated-press-news\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T18:14:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T18:14:30","slug":"trump-gets-pledges-for-gaza-reconstruction-and-troop-commitments-at-inaugural-board-of-peace-talks-associated-press-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/02\/19\/trump-gets-pledges-for-gaza-reconstruction-and-troop-commitments-at-inaugural-board-of-peace-talks-associated-press-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump gets pledges for Gaza reconstruction and troop commitments at inaugural Board of Peace talks – Associated Press News"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump<\/a><\/span> announced Thursday at the inaugural Board of Peace meeting that nine members have agreed to pledge $7 billion toward a Gaza relief package and five countries have agreed to deploy troops as part of an international stabilization force for the war-battered Palestinian territory.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania have pledged to send troops for a Gaza stabilization force, while Egypt and Jordan have committed to train police.<\/p>\n

Troops will initially be deployed to Rafah, a major population center where the U.S. administration hopes to first focus reconstruction efforts.<\/p>\n

The countries making pledges are Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Kuwait, Trump said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery dollar spent is an investment in stability and the hope of new and harmonious (region),\u201d Trump said in thanking the donors. He added, \u201cThe Board of Peace is showing how a better future can be built right here in this room.\u201d<\/p>\n

The dollars pledged, while significant, represents a small fraction of the estimated $70 billion needed to rebuild the Palestinian territory decimated after two years of war between Israel and Hamas. <\/p>\n

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Trump also announced the U.S. was pledging $10 billion for the board, but didn\u2019t specify what the money will be used for.<\/p>\n

Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers, the leader of the newly created International Stabilization Force, said the plans call for 12,000 police and 20,000 soldiers for Gaza.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith these first steps, we help bring the security that Gaza needs for a future of prosperity and enduring peace,\u201d Jeffers said.<\/p>\n

The board was initiated as part of Trump\u2019s 20-point peace plan<\/a><\/span> to end the conflict in Gaza. But since the October ceasefire, Trump\u2019s vision for the board has morphed and he wants it to have an even more ambitious remit \u2014 one that will not only complete the Herculean task of bringing lasting peace between Israel and Hamas but will also help resolve conflicts around the globe.<\/p>\n

But the Gaza ceasefire deal remains fragile and Trump\u2019s expanded vision for the board has triggered fears the U.S. president is looking to create a rival to the United Nations. <\/p>\n

Trump, pushing back against the criticism, said the creation of his board would help make the U.N. viable in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeday I won\u2019t be here. The United Nations will be,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI think it is going to be much stronger, and the Board of Peace is going to almost be looking over the United Nations and making sure it runs properly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even as Trump spoke of the gathering as a triumph that would help bring a more persistent peace to the Middle East, he sent new warnings to Iran.<\/p>\n

Tensions are high between the United States and Iran as Trump has ordered one of the largest U.S. military buildups in the region in decades. <\/p>\n

One aircraft carrier group is already in the region and another is on the way. Trump has warned Tehran it will face American military action if it does not denuclearize, give up ballistic missiles and halt funding to extremist proxy groups, such as Hezbollah and Hamas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to make a meaningful deal. Otherwise bad things happen,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

Some US allies remain skeptical<\/h2>\n

More than 40 countries and the European Union confirmed they were sending officials to Thursday\u2019s meeting. Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom are among more than a dozen countries that have not joined the board but that took part as observers.<\/p>\n

Most countries sent high-level officials, but a few leaders \u2014 including Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Argentine President Javier Milei and Hungarian President Viktor Orb\u00e1n \u2014 traveled to Washington for the gathering.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlmost everybody\u2019s accepted, and the ones that haven\u2019t, will be,\u201d Trump offered. \u201cAnd some are playing a little cute \u2014 it doesn\u2019t work. You can\u2019t play cute with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.N. Security Council held a high-level meeting Wednesday<\/a><\/span> on the ceasefire deal<\/a><\/span> and Israel\u2019s efforts to expand control in the West Bank<\/a><\/span>. The U.N. session in New York was originally scheduled for Thursday but was moved up after Trump announced the board\u2019s meeting<\/a><\/span> for the same date and it became clear that it would complicate travel plans for diplomats planning to attend both.<\/p>\n

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin told reporters earlier this week that \u201cat the international level it should above all be the U.N. that manages these crisis situations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Questions about disarming Hamas<\/h2>\n

Central to Thursday\u2019s discussions was assembling an armed international stabilization force to keep security and ensure the disarming of the militant Hamas group, a key demand of Israel and a cornerstone of the ceasefire deal.<\/p>\n

Hamas has provided little confidence that it is willing to move forward on disarmament. The administration is \u201cunder no illusions on the challenges regarding demilitarization\u201d but has been encouraged by what mediators have reported back, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his pledge that Gaza will not be rebuilt until Hamas disarms.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe agreed with our friends in the United States: There will be no reconstruction of the Gaza Strip before the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip,\u201d he said in a speech to graduating officers at an army base in southern Israel. \u201cSoon, Hamas will face a dilemma: disarm the easy way \u2013 or disarm the hard way. But it will be disarmed, and Gaza will no longer threaten Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Josef Federman in Jerusalem, Didi Tang in Washington, Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations and Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump announced Thursday at the inaugural Board of Peace meeting that nine members have agreed to pledge $7 billion toward a Gaza relief package and five countries have agreed to deploy troops as part of an international stabilization force for the war-battered Palestinian territory. Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}