White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday that $5 billion pledged by member states of the Gaza Peace Council will be directed towards the reconstruction of Gaza.
Speaking ahead of a meeting of council members in Washington on 18 February, Leavitt said more than 20 countries are expected to attend. She added that the United States would release a full list of participating nations.
“The president will be opening the meeting tomorrow with remarks and will sort of formally be chairing the meeting at the beginning before he departs for Georgia,” she said, describing the funding as a major investment in rebuilding Gaza.
Leavitt characterised the initiative as a significant step forward, saying the administration was already making progress towards what she described as an ambitious reconstruction plan. She referred to earlier discussions in Davos, where a detailed presentation outlining the vision for Gaza’s rebuilding and humanitarian efforts was delivered.
According to Leavitt, security arrangements will form a central part of the upcoming discussions. She said achieving stability on the ground is essential before broader reconstruction and development can take place.
“First, you must achieve security to get to prosperity,” she said.
The Gaza Peace Council was formed under a broader plan introduced in 2025 to co-ordinate ceasefire implementation and post-conflict reconstruction. The board was formally established during a charter-signing ceremony at the World Economic Forum in Davos on 22 January 2026, where U.S. President Donald Trump ratified the charter alongside founding members.
Partially endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2803 in relation to its Gaza mandate, the council comprises around 26 founding member states, although some sources report up to 35 participants or signatories. The group includes countries from the Middle East, Asia, parts of Europe and Latin America.
Observers have noted that the council’s structure - which operates with limited formal UN oversight despite Security Council backing for certain functions - has raised questions about its institutional independence. No new official statement from the United Nations has addressed recent concerns regarding the council’s autonomy or its relationship to existing UN-led processes.
A U.S.-backed ceasefire has been in place in Gaza since October 10, halting Israel’s two-year war that has killed more than 72,000 people - mostly women and children - and injured over 171,000 others since October 2023.
Despite the ceasefire, Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli forces have committed hundreds of violations through shelling and gunfire, killing 603 Palestinians and injuring 1,618 others.
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The U.S. President’s Board of Peace has presented Hamas with a written proposal on disarmament, two sources said, a step the group has so far refused as Washington presses ahead with its plan for Gaza’s future.
The United States and international partners have announced billions of dollars in pledges to rebuild Gaza but many Palestinians remain sceptical about whether the funds will translate into tangible improvements for daily life.
The Iran-U.S.-Israel conflict is intensifying, with fresh strikes near Tehran, European calls for restraint, and Iran threatening to target U.S. firms in the region, raising fears of a broader escalation across the Middle East.
Russia has expelled a British diplomat, accusing him of economic espionage in a move that further strains already tense relations between Moscow and London. The United Kingdom described the action as intimidation and rejected the allegations outright, Reuters reports.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday urged U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene in the escalating Gulf conflict, warning that only he could prevent it from spreading further.
Australia’s move to ban social media access for children under 16 has intensified a global debate, as governments around the world weigh tougher rules amid growing concerns over mental health, safety and screen addiction.
There are fears of an oil spill after a drone strike hit a Kuwaiti oil tanker near Dubai on Tuesday, while U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran reportedly killed at least two people. A loud explosion was heard in Beirut in southern Lebanon early Wednesday, as oil prices climbed above $100 a barrel.
At least 18 people were killed when an inflatable boat carrying migrants sank off Türkiye's western province of Mugla on Wednesday, the coastguard said in a statement, adding that search and rescue efforts continued in the area.
Azerbaijan has voiced strong support for Türkiye following the interception of a fourth ballistic missile over Turkish territory on Monday (30 March), amid rising regional tensions.
An American female journalist was kidnapped in Baghdad on Tuesday and authorities are searching the city for her, two police officials said.
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Mines and Petroleum says around 25 kilometres of the TAPI gas pipeline have been laid in Herat province, as work continues on one of the region’s largest energy projects.
Three Armenian citizens have been charged following an alleged attempt to attack Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at St Anna Cathedral in Yerevan on 29 March. Analysts say the incident reflects rising tensions between the government and the Church ahead of upcoming elections.
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