On Monday, Russia, Belarus and Thailand were the latest members of the European Union’s executive arm to be asked to join U.S. President Donald Trump’s new deal. peace committee will supervise next stage Part of the Gaza peace plan, a senior Israeli official said the initiative was “bad for Israel” and should be scrapped.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin had received the invitation and that the Kremlin was now “looking at the details” and would seek to clarify “all nuances” when it contacts the United States. Thailand’s foreign ministry said it had also received the invitation and was reviewing the details.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has received the invitation and is ready to participate, according to the Belarusian Foreign Ministry.
European Commission spokesman Olof Geer confirmed that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had received the invitation and would speak on Gaza along with other EU leaders. Gill did not say whether he had accepted the invitation, but said the committee wanted to “contribute to a comprehensive plan to end the conflict in Gaza.”
It’s unclear how many leaders have been invited to join the board. But Trump mentioned in his invitation that the agency would “take a bold new approach to resolving conflicts around the world,” suggesting it could become a rival to the U.N. Security Council, the most powerful body in the global organization. Created after World War II.
According to the World Bank’s Interim Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (IRDNA) report for Gaza and the West Bank released last year, US$53 billion will be needed to rebuild the strip.
Israel’s opposition
to the board of directors
Israeli far-right finance minister Bezare Smotrich on Monday dismissed the peace council, arguing it was an unfair deal for Israel and calling for its dissolution.
“It’s time to explain to the president that his plan is bad for the state of Israel and to cancel it,” Smotrich said at the inauguration of the new Yaziv settlement in the occupied West Bank. “Gaza is ours, and its future affects our future more than anyone else’s. We will take responsibility for what happens there, exercise military stewardship, and fulfill our mission.”
Smotrich, a hard-line opponent of the ceasefire in Gaza, even suggested that if Hamas does not comply with a “short-term ultimatum of genuine disarmament and exile,” Israel will launch a new all-out offensive in the region to destroy Hamas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday that the committee’s establishment was not coordinated with the Israeli government and “contravened Israeli policy,” but did not clarify its objections. Unlike major regional rival Türkiye, Israel was not invited to join the committee.
final list
The United States is expected to announce its formal membership in the coming days, likely during the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
Board members will oversee executive committee will be responsible for the implementation A tough second phase The Gaza peace plan includes deploying international security forces, disarming Hamas and rebuilding the war-torn territory.
A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the $1 billion donation would secure permanent membership on the council and that the funds would be used to rebuild Gaza. The details of the commission have not been made public as he was not allowed to speak publicly about it. There are no contribution requirements for the three-year appointment.
But the details of how exactly that would work remain unclear. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday that Britain was discussing a peace commission with its allies. Although the UK has not yet revealed whether Starmer has been formally invited to join, he said there was a need to proceed with the second phase of the Gaza peace plan and that the UK had “expressed its willingness to play our part and we will do so”.
Run Gaza
Egypt’s top diplomat met on Monday with the leader of a newly appointed Palestinian technocratic council that will be responsible for day-to-day affairs in Gaza during the second phase of the peace plan.
Foreign Minister Badr Abdulati met with Palestinian engineer and former official of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority Ali Shaath, who was appointed chief commissioner of the Gaza National Governing Council last week
In a statement after the meeting, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said Abdulati expressed Egypt’s government’s “full support” for the council and confirmed its role in managing Gaza’s day-to-day affairs before the Palestinian Authority takes over the territory.
He also stressed “the importance of preserving the unity of the Palestinian territories and ensuring geographical and administrative continuity between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.”
The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains fragile
The United Nations World Food Program said on Monday it had “significantly expanded” its operations in Gaza, providing hot meals, bread bags and food parcels to more than 1 million people a month, 100 days after the ceasefire. But it warned that despite key progress in containing the famine, the situation remained “extremely fragile”.
The report states that malnutrition has been prevented in 200,000 pregnant and lactating women and children under 5 years of age, while school snacks have been delivered to 235,000 children in 250 makeshift schools.
Nonetheless, the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis in December shows that 77% of the population faces crisis-level food insecurity, with more than 100,000 people experiencing catastrophic hunger.
WFP said access to nutritious food such as fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy products is limited, and most households still cannot afford to bring more goods into Gaza.
Israeli troops enter Hebron
Israeli army and security forces have launched a massive counterterrorism operation in the West Bank city of Hebron to dismantle “terrorist infrastructure, eliminate illegal possession of weapons and strengthen security.”
The Israeli military said on Monday the operation was expected to last several days. Israeli armored vehicles and soldiers patrolled city streets and set up roadblocks where operations were carried out.
Hebron Mayor Khalid Dudin said Israeli forces attacked the area, home to 80,000 people, because it was preventing Israel from building more settlements.
Israeli military activity in the West Bank has surged since a Hamas-led attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war on October 7, 2023.
Three Palestinians killed
Israeli forces killed three Palestinians, including a teenager, in southern Gaza on Monday, hospital authorities said.
Two men traveled through time Entering Israeli-controlled areas According to Al-Nasser Hospital, 17-year-old Hussein Tawfiq Abu Sabara was shot dead in the Al-Mouasi area of Rafah. It was unclear whether the teenager had entered or approached Israeli-controlled territory.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, more than 460 people have been killed in Israeli fire since the ceasefire came into effect just over three months ago, and their bodies have been taken to hospitals.
The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, keeps detailed casualty records that U.N. agencies and independent experts say are generally reliable
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Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and Grant Peck in Bangkok, Thailand, contributed to this report.