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The US is continuing phase two of the Gaza peace plan in the face of objections from Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“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,” a senior US official told Axios, making reference to Netanyahu.
Prime Minister Netanyahu released a strongly worded statement in response to news that the US had begun phase two of President Trump’s 20-point peace plan by forming a new “Board of Peace” to govern the Gaza Strip.
The committee, which is led by President Trump himself, also includes the foreign minister of Turkey and a senior official from Qatar, two countries Netanyahu insisted should have no role in governing Gaza.
“The announcement… was not coordinated with Israel and runs counter to its policy. The Prime Minister instructed the Foreign Minister to raise this matter with the U.S. Secretary of State,” Netanyahu said.
The senior US official who spoke to Axios said Netanyahu has no choice but to accept the composition of the Board.
“If he wants us to deal with Gaza, it will have to be our way. 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,” the official said.
The only other option for Israel, the official continued, is to send troops back into Gaza, and the US will withdraw.
Axios reports that, although Trump has maintained cordial relations with Netanyahu, many on Trump’s team are “fed up with the Israeli prime minister’s hardline stances in Gaza and beyond.”
President Trump will launch the new Board of Peace at the World Economic Forum in Davos new week.
The board will be headed by Ali Shaath, former deputy minister of transportation in the Palestinian Authority, and former UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov will serve as the “High Representative.”
“Mladenov will report to an international Executive Board, which will include Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner; former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair; billionaire businessman Marc Rowan; the foreign minister of Turkey and ministers from Qatar and the UAE; Egypt’s intelligence chief; Israeli-Cypriot billionaire Yakir Gabay; and former UN Gaza envoy Sigrid Kaag,” according to Axios.
“Each member of the Executive Board will be responsible for a defined portfolio critical to stabilizing Gaza, including governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding, and capital mobilization,” the White House said.
President Trump’s peace plan will still depend on convincing Hamas to surrender its weapons and on Israel withdrawing its troops from the territory.
On Thursday night, Trump said a comprehensive agreement to achieve these goals will be secured.
“With the support of Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar, we will secure a COMPREHENSIVE Demilitarization Agreement with Hamas, including the surrender of ALL weapons, and the dismantling of EVERY tunnel,” he wrote.
