President Donald J. Trump signed the charter for the Board of Peace last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, marking the formal commencement of Phase 2 of the administration's Gaza peace initiative.
According to the Trump administration, the signing ceremony, attended by regional leaders and global financial executives, transitions the focus of the U.S. strategy from the current ceasefire toward "demilitarization, reconstruction and civil administration" of the Gaza Strip.
Phase 2 establishes a new governing framework for the enclave, intended to replace Hamas and previous international aid structures with a centralized board of stakeholders. Under the terms of the charter, the Board of Peace is now the self-appointed primary authority responsible for directing reconstruction funds and overseeing the transition to a civilian government.
"The whole architecture of the current Trump plan is a very impressive effort which is unprecedented in many ways," Col. (res.) Eran Lerman, vice president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS), told JNS. "There have been ideas in this direction of an international oversight for many years, and this implementation is by far the most concrete and advanced of any of those programs."
Lerman added, however, that the plan is in very early stages and "for now it only exists on paper."
International oversight
The newly established Board of Peace is organized into a tiered hierarchy of multiple levels of oversight committees. At its base sits the General Board of Peace, a plenary body composed of heads of state.
While invitations have been extended to more than 60 nations, including everyone from the pope to Belarusian dictator Aleksander Lukashenko, only 35 countries have so far accepted membership. Notably, most European countries, including the United Kingdom, France and Germany, have declined a position on the board, leading to significant dominance of the Middle Eastern Arab states on the Board of Peace.
This assembly serves as the foundational body for the initiative's international legitimacy, though the charter explicitly grants the chairman-for-life, U.S. President Donald Trump, sole authority to invite new members and appoint his own successor. Under the terms of the charter, while nations may accept a three-year rotating term at no cost, a $1 billion cash contribution to the Board's fund secures a permanent seat.
Above the General Board is the Executive Committee, the primary strategic and decision-making organ. Chaired by President Trump, who retains absolute veto power, this committee is tasked with "operationalizing" the Board's vision.
Key members include U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who serves as the diplomatic lead, and senior adviser Jared Kushner, the principal architect of the administration's "New Gaza" vision.
They are joined by U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and private equity executive Marc Rowan of Apollo Global Management. Rounding out the committee are World Bank President Ajay Banga and U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Robert Gabriel, providing a mix of institutional financial weight and operational strategy.
The final tier is the Gaza Executive Board, which functions as the direct link between the high-level strategists and the administration on the ground. The Executive Board includes many of the lower-level members of the Executive Committee in addition to regional players such as Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad; UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem Al Hashimy; Ali al-Thawadi, a senior aide to the Qatari prime minister; and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
Rounding out the Executive Board are Dutch diplomat Sigrid Kaag and Israeli-Cypriot real estate developer Yakir Gabay, who is expected to oversee the physical implementation of reconstruction projects.
On the ground administration
Directly bridging the gap between the Executive Board and the local administration is Nickolay Mladenov, the newly appointed high representative for Gaza and director of the Executive Board.
A Bulgarian diplomat and former U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Mladenov is tasked with the daily synchronization of governance, reconstruction and security efforts between the civil authorities in Gaza and the Executive Board.
"Most Israelis respect and trust Nikolay Mladenov. We came to know him when he was U.N. envoy," Lerman observed. "He has a deep understanding of the Israeli position and has a deep criticism of the Palestinian Authority and its corruption. We have no difficulty accepting this appointment."
Meanwhile, the civil administration of the Gaza Strip has been assigned to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a 15-member body of Palestinian technocrats. Under the terms of its mandate, the NCAG is responsible for restoring public services, managing infrastructure projects, and overseeing civil institutions.
The committee is chaired by Ali Shaath, a Gaza-born civil engineer who previously served as the Palestinian Authority deputy minister of planning and international cooperation, as well as the undersecretary for the ministry of transport and communications. Shaath belongs to a prominent Gazan clan with deep historical ties to Fatah.
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