The first members of the Board of Peace and clearer details about the next phase in the Gaza peace plan were officially revealed on Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Representatives from Paraguay, Pakistan, Kosovo, Argentina, Armenia, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Indonesia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Morocco, Jordan, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Mongolia took part in the signing ceremony. Israel, Russia, Belarus, and Vietnam, which had also already announced they would join the board, were not present. Several other countries have said they’ve received invitations to join, but have either rejected invitations or haven’t responded yet.
The move to stage two of the Gaza peace plan has started despite Hamas’s continued failure to hand over the body of the last Israeli hostage, Ran Gvili.
What is the Board of Peace?
The Board of Peace (or BoP) was first mentioned in United States President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza last year. The Board’s mandate was affirmed by a United Nations Security Council resolution.
On January 16, the White House announced the first members and two Executive Boards within the BoP, which would handle various aspects of the Gaza peace plan.
The first Executive Board is meant to focus on high-level investment and planning, such as collecting funds from the international community and broader plans. Each member has been assigned a specific portfolio concerning Gaza’s stabilization and long-term rehabilitation. This Board is staffed by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff, businessman and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, former British prime minister Sir Tony Blair, businessman Marc Rowan, businessman Ajay Banga, and U.S. national security adviser Robert Gabriel.
The second Board is meant to deal with day-to-day supervision and monitoring of the Palestinian technocratic committee that will govern Gaza. This Board is staffed by Witkoff, Kushner, Blair, Rowan, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi, Egyptian General Hassan Rashad, Emirati International Cooperation Minister Reem Al-Hashimy, Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov, Cypriot-Israeli businessman Yakir Gabay, and Dutch diplomat Sigrid Kaag.
Both boards may have additional members added to them in the coming weeks and months.
Mladenov was also assigned as the High Representative for Gaza, meaning he will act as the on-the-ground link between the Board of Peace and the Palestinian technocratic government that will govern Gaza.
After the announcement, Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office responded with outrage, stating that the declaration had not been coordinated with Israel and “runs counter to its policy.” Israel had expressed opposition to Turkey and Qatar joining the Board of Peace due to their history of providing support for Hamas and for hosting leaders of the terrorist group.
Axios reported, citing a senior U.S. official, that the declaration had, in fact, not been coordinated with Israel. The official expressed frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stating, “This is our show, not his show. We managed to do things in Gaza in recent months nobody thought was possible, and we are going to continue moving.”
“If he wants us to deal with Gaza, it will have to be our way,” the official added. “We worked over him. Let him focus on Iran and let us deal with Gaza. We are not going to argue with him. He will do his politics and we will keep moving forward with our plan. He can’t really go against us. We are doing him a favor. If this fails he can say, ‘I told you so.’ We know that if it succeeds, he will claim credit.”
Several days later, the BoP’s charter was published in various media outlets. The charter doesn’t explicitly mention Gaza, and many analysts have noted that the Board appears to be aimed at handling conflicts worldwide, not just Gaza. Some expressed concerns that the Board could be trying to replace the United Nations, and Trump explicitly acknowledged in an interview on Tuesday that this “might” happen. However, during the signing ceremony on Thursday, he described the BoP as a body meant to work with the U.N., not to replace it.
Countries interested in joining the body will need to pay $1 billion to become permanent members, although the White House has stated that other forms of participation are available to interested countries. Trump will reportedly head the committee, possibly even after he completes his term as president of the United States.
What is the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza?
The move to stage two of the Gaza peace plan was first announced on January 14, when the establishment of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) – the Palestinian technocratic committee that will govern Gaza until further notice – was announced.
The NCAG will be headed by Dr. Ali Abdel Hamid Shaath. Shaath was born in southern Gaza and studied civil engineering in Egypt and the U.K. He has held senior positions in ministries in the Palestinian Authority in the past and has a strong background in civil engineering, planning, and infrastructure.
The NCAG’s mission statement says that the committee is “committed to establishing security, restoring the essential services that form the bedrock of human dignity, such as electricity, water, healthcare, and education, as well as cultivating a society rooted in peace, democracy, and justice. Operating with the highest standards of integrity and transparency, the NCAG will forge a productive economy capable of replacing unemployment with opportunity for all.”
The statement concludes: “We embrace peace, through which we strive to secure the path to true Palestinian rights and self-determination.”
In a video message during the signing ceremony on Thursday, Shaath announced that the Rafah Crossing between Egypt and Gaza would be opened in both directions next week, after it had been mostly closed for the past year and a half. One Israeli source quickly denied the report, insisting that the crossing would only be opened after Gvili was returned by Hamas. Another Israeli source was more ambiguous, stating only that the Israeli government would discuss both Gvili’s return and the opening of the Rafah Crossing on Sunday.
“This transition will succeed only if it delivers real, tangible improvements in daily life for Gazans,” Shaath stressed in his video message.
Addressing Gazans in Arabic, Shaath stated that “this moment is not for looking back, but for moving forward towards a prosperous future where our children grow up without fear or anxiety, where work is rewarded, schools are opened, and daily life regains its stability and security. The coming stage requires the concerted efforts of everyone, but you will not face it alone. Your voices have weight, your actions have impact, and your commitment to peace and the rebuilding of your communities will define the futures of the new Gaza Strip.”
Rebuilding Gaza in four not-so-easy steps
Additionally, at Davos, Jared Kushner presented the next steps concerning disarmament and reconstruction in Gaza. He stressed that reconstruction could only really be carried out after Hamas is disarmed, as no one would be willing to invest unless the area was secure.
Kushner presented the Board of Peace’s Master Plan for the reconstruction of Gaza. The plan has four phases, each addressing a different area of the Strip. The plan envisions a trilateral crossing in Rafah between Egypt, Gaza, and Israel. Throughout Gaza, the plan presents projects for residential areas, infrastructure, coastal tourism districts, a maritime port, trains, an airport, and industrial and hi-tech zones.
The first phase will launch reconstruction in Rafah, with over 100,000 housing units; 200 education centers; 180 cultural, religious, and vocational centers; and 75 medical facilities. According to Kushner, the Board believes this phase can be completed within 2-3 years.
Kushner addressed reports that the Board would start reconstruction only in areas not controlled by Hamas, but he said that, in the end, the Board had dropped that idea and was going all in on the belief that the peace plan would succeed.
“We do not have a plan B,” Kushner emphasized. “We have a plan. We signed an agreement. We are all committed to make that agreement work.”
The principles for the demilitarization of Gaza were presented at Davos as well. The plan calls for the NCAG to be the sole governing body in Gaza, and the PA will eventually replace it once it completes a series of required reforms in its education system and other fields. Heavy weapons (such as rockets), tunnels, military infrastructure, weapons production facilities, and munitions will be completely destroyed. The end goal is for only NCAG-sanctioned personnel to carry weapons.
The plan notes that the IDF will only fully withdraw from Gaza once the demilitarization process is completed. In contrast to Kushner’s comments about dropping the plan to split Gaza based on where Hamas still holds power, a slide on the demilitarization principles stated that reconstruction would only take place in sectors that have been fully disarmed.
A conference will be held in Washington in a few weeks to present investments made by the private sector in the reconstruction of Gaza.
Kushner addressed ongoing complaints against Israel and by Israel against Turkey and Qatar, telling those complaining to “just calm down for 30 days. The war is over. Let’s do our best to try working together.”
Hamas promises to hand over power to technocrats
A few days before the makeup of the NCAG was announced, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem stated that Hamas would dissolve its government bodies in Gaza and hand over power to the NCAG willingly. During a meeting in Cairo right before the announcement, Hamas and all other major Palestinian factions operating in Gaza issued a joint statement expressing their “full support” for the NCAG.
On Thursday, Sky News Arabia reported that Hamas and the U.S. had reached an agreement in which the terrorist movement would hand over its weapons and maps of its tunnels across Gaza, while Hamas would be allowed to continue to exist as a solely political party.
A Palestinian source who spoke with Sky News Arabia added that “the understandings stipulate allowing any Hamas political and military leaders who wish to leave the Gaza Strip to do so, with an American pledge that Israel will not target them or the leaders already abroad in the future.”
The source added that the U.S. is working to integrate some Hamas police officers and former employees into the new Gaza administration after they go through an Israeli-American security check. The U.S. told other mediators that “Israel has significant reservations about a number of these understandings,” according to the report.
Hamas had its start as a purely social, religious, and political movement. It emerged from the Muslim Brotherhood as a da’wa (literally “inviting,” referring to outreach or proselytizing) movement focused on reviving religious belief and practice through outreach. It quickly developed into a terrorist group, however, similar to many other Muslim Brotherhood branches. Hamas was behind a series of suicide bombings and other attacks throughout the 1990s and 2000s, even before it took power over Gaza in 2007.
There are some concerns that if Hamas is allowed to remain in Gaza in any form, it will simply repeat history, slowly rebuilding its militant capacities while pretending to be only focused on social and political efforts. It may also try to rebuild its popularity in order to undermine the new government of Gaza, in a similar fashion to how it undermined the Palestinian Authority before launching a coup to take full control of Gaza in 2007.
Israelis and the world are divided on the move to stage two of the Gaza plan
Gvili’s parents, Itzik and Talik, called on the Israeli government to block the move to phase two while their son remains in Gaza.
“How can anyone be thinking about phase two? What peace is even being talked about?” they asked, warning that “this forgiveness toward a terror group starts with giving up on Rani, and ends with leaving Hamas armed and dangerous.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called on the prime minister to order the IDF to prepare for renewed war “with tremendous force” to achieve “the destruction of Hamas,” and promote the “encouraged emigration” of Palestinians from Gaza.
Former chief of staff and opposition politician Gadi Eisenkot condemned the inclusion of Turkey and Qatar on the Executive Board.
“We repeatedly warned that the lack of Israeli initiative and decisiveness concerning the ‘day after’ in Gaza would lead to a loss of control, and today reality is exploding in our faces: Netanyahu has lost the reins – other countries are the ones running Gaza over Israel’s head, with Turkey and Qatar being part of the governing body,” Eisenkot said. “The transition to phase two after military achievements achieved at heavy costs is being carried out as an international dictate imposed on Israel, out of a leadership and strategic vacuum, and politicians motivated by narrow political considerations.”
Meanwhile, Palestinian coexistence activist Samer Sinijlawi expressed optimism that the plan could succeed, saying, “After 38 years of political activism, I can honestly say I have never felt hope like I do today.”
He described the move to phase two as a shift “from emergency management to governance, from humanitarian containment to long-term regional stabilization.” He emphasized that “This is a pivotal — and rare — moment, marking the beginning of a new governing phase for Gaza: one defined by competence, accountability, and reconstruction rather than factional rule.”
Israeli journalist Jacky Hugi framed the current situation as a choice between two options that both carry significant risks: either proceed with the peace plan or return to war.
The peace plan’s logic is that stripping Hamas of civilian power, limiting reconstruction to non-Hamas areas, and deploying foreign security forces would cause Hamas’s power to “dry up on its own.” This, however, would require “patience and perseverance”—and it remains unclear whether Hamas might fight foreign forces, whether investors would flee instability, or whether Israel can exercise enough restraint after October 7.
Renewed war poses its own risks. “We will succeed in destroying Hamas; the question is what will happen next,” Hugi wrote. Military operations would kill many and destroy remaining infrastructure, potentially causing international partners to “walk away and take the goodwill and money with them. Then we will be left without Hamas, but with two million poor and war-torn Palestinians.”
Hugi emphasized that Israel has historically struggled to build new political realities on its own, stressing that this is “a task that requires patience, human understanding, the ability to deal with complex challenges in a foreign population.” That patience, he noted, “is not a prominent trait among decision-makers in Israel.”
Dan Perry, former chairman of the Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem, outlined several conditions for the plan to work: Israel must signal eventual openness to Palestinian statehood, regional funders must condition reconstruction on Hamas’s disarmament, and the PA must reform its education system and end payments for attacks on Israelis.
“If all this is achieved, the real work begins,” Perry wrote. “Areas under the new authority must visibly improve…The comparison with Hamas rule must be obvious.”
