Trump Will Announce Tomorrow the Allocation of Funds for the Peace Council, and Israel Decides Not to Support It Financially

SadaNews - A White House spokeswoman stated on Wednesday evening that U.S. President Donald Trump will announce at the Peace Council meeting tomorrow, Thursday, a commitment from member countries of more than $5 billion for efforts in Gaza.

She noted in a briefing to reporters that Trump will announce that member countries of the Peace Council have allocated thousands of individuals to the international stability force in Gaza.

She indicated that more than 20 countries will attend the Peace Council meeting tomorrow.

She highlighted that it is the Peace Council that will decide how to spend the billions that will be pledged for the benefit of Gaza.

In contrast, the Israeli newspaper Yisrael Hayom reported following the media that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided that Israel will not allocate any funds to the council.

Trump will chair the first meeting of the Peace Council on Thursday morning, primarily focused on the situation in the Gaza Strip, with delegations from 27 countries participating, including heads of state representation such as Argentine Javier Milei, Indonesian Prabowo Subianto, and Uzbek Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Prime Ministers from several other countries are also attending, including Egyptian Mostafa Madbouly, Pakistani Shahbaz Sharif, Hungarian Viktor Orbán, and Foreign Ministers from a large number of Arab countries, in addition to Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar. Four European countries—Italy, Romania, Greece, and Cyprus—and Asian countries South Korea and Japan will attend as observers, along with representatives from the European Union and international organizations.

In turn, several European countries announced that they would not participate, expressing concerns over the Peace Council potentially exceeding the authority of the United Nations. The Vatican also announced that the Holy See would not participate in the council meeting "due to ambiguities on some fundamental points that need clarification and for affirming that the United Nations should manage this crisis."

Trump will deliver his speech at the "American Peace Institute," which he renamed to the "Donald J. Trump Peace Institute" last December.

Speculations are increasing about what will come out of this meeting, which is being promoted as "a historic step towards the reconstruction of Gaza and achieving stability in the Middle East."

Two American officials indicated that President Trump will announce during the meeting a plan to reconstruct Gaza amounting to $5 billion (so far) and will announce details regarding the formation of the stability force approved by the United Nations. He will emphasize the importance of disarming "Hamas" and initiating a phase to impose order, but the specifics regarding timelines, phases, and methods of implementing these announcements are unclear.

All eyes are on what this meeting will yield in terms of announcements, recommendations, and steps, and how it will address the complex challenges in Gaza, particularly disarming "Hamas," implementing the Israeli withdrawal, and the realistic ability to form a stability force with local and international legitimacy, amidst lingering questions regarding the future of Palestinian governance and Israeli expansionist moves in the West Bank.