When Donald Trump unveiled his Board of Peace, he promised it would be the most consequential board ever assembled of any kind. But as it held its first meeting in Washington Thursday, the distance between that vision and the reality on the ground in Gaza could hardly have been greater.
The ceasefire that the board is meant to support has technically held — major military operations have paused, hostages have been freed, and aid deliveries have increased. But Palestinians continue to be killed in near-daily Israeli strikes. Hamas has not disarmed. No stabilization force has deployed. And the Palestinian committee meant to take over from Hamas is stranded in Egypt, waiting for Israeli permission to enter Gaza.
Trump and his inner circle — including Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff — have painted a picture of a reconstructed Gaza that would rival modern Gulf cities, complete with a coastal tourism strip and data centers. Kushner suggested this could all be accomplished in three years. The United Nations estimates reconstruction would cost $70 billion and that clearing rubble and demining alone would take far longer than that.
More than two dozen countries signed on as founding members of the board, including Israel and several regional heavyweights involved in ceasefire negotiations. Notable absences include key US allies France, Norway, and Sweden. Palestinians themselves were not invited to participate — a decision that has drawn sharp criticism given that the board is determining the future of a territory home to two million of them.
The stakes are high and the timeline is unforgiving. Expert observers have made clear that if Thursday’s meeting does not produce visible, measurable progress on humanitarian conditions and governance, the board will lose credibility rapidly. Trump’s ambition is real. Whether the board can translate it into results on the ground in Gaza is the question that now defines his foreign policy legacy in the Middle East.