President Donald Trump has announced at the inaugural Board of Peace meeting that nine members have agreed to pledge $7 billion toward a Gaza relief package. He also says five countries have agreed to deploy troops as part of an international stabilization force for the war-battered Palestinian territory. While lauding the pledges, Trump faces the unresolved challenge of disarming Hamas, a sticking point that threatens to delay or even derail the Gaza ceasefire plan that his administration notched as a major foreign policy win. The dollars pledged on Thursday, while significant, represent a small fraction of the estimated $70 billion needed to rebuild the Palestinian territory decimated after two years of war between Israel and Hamas.
U.S. President Donald Trump's Board of Peace is set to meet for the first time on Thursday in Washington. It's an early test of whether one of his marquee foreign policy initiatives can gain broad support or advance the shaky ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip. Trump's ballooning ambitions for the board extend from governing and rebuilding Gaza as a futuristic metropolis to challenging the United Nations Security Council's role in solving conflicts. But they could be tempered by the realities in Gaza, where there has so far been limited progress in achieving the narrower aims of the ceasefire.
By DAVID RISING and NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press
Indonesia is training troops for a new peacekeeping force in Gaza, backing a key part of President Donald Trump's postwar plan. Earlier this week, the army chief said training has started even though Indonesia has no clear guidance yet. Officials now talk about sending 5,000 to 8,000 troops, focusing on engineering and medical units. Indonesia has long U.N. peacekeeping experience and has backed Gaza aid. But many at home doubt the plan, wondering who will pay the troops and how they will be used. An online petition also calls for Indonesia to reverse its decision to join Trump's Board of Peace, questioning its legitimacy.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney responded to U.S. President Donald Trump comment that "Canada lives because of the United States" on Thursday by saying Canada thrives because of Canadian values. Carney says Canada can show the world that the future doesn't have to be autocratic after returning from Davos where he gave a speech that garnered widespread attention. In Davos at the World Economic Forum, Carney condemned coercion by great powers on smaller countries without mentioning Trump. Upon returning home to Canada, Carney says his country "can show that another way is possible, that the arc of history isn't destined to be warped toward authoritarianism and exclusion; it can still bend toward progress and justice."
By JOSH BOAK, AAMER MADHANI and WILL WEISSERT Associated Press
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced after speaking with President Donald Trump in Davos, Switzerland, two days of trilateral meetings involving the U.S., Ukraine and Russia. Zelenskyy says those meetings start Friday in the United Arab Emirates. Zelenskky met with Trump on Thursday in Davos during the World Economic Forum. Trump has struggled to get Zelenskyy and Russia's Vladimir Putin to agree to terms to end their nearly 4-year-old war. Also Thursday, Trump inaugurated his Board of Peace to try to maintain a ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas, but many U.S. allies are opting out. Trump aims to map a future for Gaza, but those efforts have largely been overshadowed by his efforts to take Greenland.
Divisions have emerged over U.S. President Donald Trump's Board of Peace as its ambitions have grown beyond Gaza. Some Western European countries are declining to join, others are remaining noncommittal and a group of Muslim countries has agreed to sign on. The developments underscore European concerns over the expanded and divisive scope of the project. Some say it may seek to rival the U.N. Security Council's role in mediating global conflicts. Trump is looking to form the board officially this week on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Norway and Sweden said they won't accept their invitations, after France also said no.
The Board of Peace led by U.S. President Donald Trump was originally envisioned as a small group of world leaders overseeing the Gaza ceasefire plan. The Trump administration's ambitions have ballooned into a more sprawling concept, with Trump extending invitations to dozens of nations and hinting it will soon broker global conflicts, like a pseudo-U.N. Security Council. More details are expected when Trump participates in an announcement about the Board of Peace on Thursday at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland. A draft version of the board's charter obtained by The Associated Press indicates much of the power will be concentrated in the hands of Trump himself.
Israeli strikes in central Gaza have killed eight people, including three women, following the U.S. announcement of a second phase in the fragile ceasefire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the ceasefire largely symbolic, questioning its implementation. The announcement marked progress but left many questions unanswered, including the composition of a proposed Palestinian governing committee and the deployment of international forces. Palestinians in Gaza expressed skepticism about changes on the ground, citing ongoing violence and hardships. The second phase of the ceasefire faces challenges, including disarming Hamas and transitioning governance. Reconstruction is expected to take years and cost over $50 billion.
The United States says it's moving into the next phase of a Gaza ceasefire plan involving disarming Hamas, rebuilding the war-ravaged territory and establishing the group of Palestinian experts that will administer daily affairs. President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff says on social media the ceasefire the Republican president helped broker was entering its second phase following two years of war between Israel and Hamas. Witkoff didn't offer any details Wednesday about a new transitional Palestinian administration that would govern Gaza. But other mediators Egypt, Turkey and Qatar said the committee to administer Gaza would be led by a former deputy minister in the Palestinian Authority.
