Leaders from several countries have received invitations to join a so-called U.S.-led ‘Board of Peace’, an initiative that would initially aim to end the conflict in Gaza before expanding to address other global disputes, diplomats said on Saturday.
The White House on Friday announced some members of the board, which would oversee Gaza’s temporary governance under a fragile ceasefire in place since October, before continuing its work elsewhere.
Those named include U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, former British prime minister Tony Blair and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Trump will chair the board, according to a plan unveiled in October.
Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas signed off on the proposal, which envisages Gaza being governed during a transitional period by a Palestinian technocratic administration overseen by an international board.
"It’s going to, in my opinion, start with Gaza and then do conflicts as they arise," Trump told Reuters in an interview earlier this week.
"Other countries that are going to war with each other," he added when asked about the board’s objectives.
The White House said the responsibilities of individual board members had not yet been detailed and confirmed that no Palestinians had been named. Officials said additional members would be announced in the coming weeks.
The administration also named a separate 11-member "Gaza Executive Board" to support the technocratic body.
It includes Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan, UN Middle East peace coordinator Sigrid Kaag, United Arab Emirates international cooperation minister Reem Al-Hashimy and Israeli-Cypriot businessman Yakir Gabay.
However, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the composition of the Gaza Executive Board had not been coordinated with Israel and contradicted its policy, in an apparent reference to Turkey’s inclusion.
The Israeli government did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.
The plan has drawn criticism from rights experts and advocates, who say a U.S.-led board overseeing governance of a foreign territory resembles a colonial structure.
Blair’s involvement has also been criticised because of his role in the Iraq war and the history of British imperialism in the Middle East.
Four sources said the leaders of France, Germany, Australia and Canada were among those invited to sit on the Board of Peace.
The offices of the Egyptian and Turkish presidents confirmed they had received invitations, while a European Union official said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had been invited to represent the EU.
Two diplomatic sources said the invitation letter included a "charter", described by one diplomat as a "Trump United Nations" that ignored the fundamentals of the UN charter and promoted what it called a "bold new approach to resolving global conflict".
The White House said the board would also include private equity executive Marc Rowan, World Bank president Ajay Banga and Trump adviser Robert Gabriel. Nickolay Mladenov was named high representative for Gaza.
U.S. Army Major General Jasper Jeffers was appointed commander of an International Stabilisation Force. A UN Security Council resolution adopted in mid-November authorised the board and partner countries to establish the force in Gaza.
Israel and Hamas have accused each other of ceasefire violations, during which more than 450 Palestinians, including over 100 children, and three Israeli soldiers have been reported killed.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza since October 2023 has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, triggered a hunger crisis and displaced the territory’s entire population.
Multiple rights experts, scholars and a UN inquiry say the campaign amounts to genocide. Israel says it acted in self-defence after Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages in an attack in late 2023.
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The armed wing of Hamas has said it will not accept calls to disarm while key conditions of the Gaza ceasefire remain unmet, highlighting growing tensions around efforts to extend the ceasefire.
French police detained European Parliament member Rima Hassan in Paris for several hours on Thursday as part of an investigation into an alleged “apology for terrorism”, following a social media post linked to a deadly attack in Israel in the 1970s.
Amid ongoing devastation in Gaza, small efforts are helping to support children affected by months of conflict. One initiative in Khan Younis offers a brief escape and a moment of relief for some of the youngest victims of the war.
Hungarians vote in elections on Sunday that could see the end of hard right nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s more than 15 year rule. Opinion polls show Orbán’s Fidesz party trailing 45-year-old Péter Magyar’s centre-right opposition Tisza party.
U.S. and Iranian negotiators held their highest-level talks in half a century in Pakistan on Saturday in an effort to end their six-week war, as President Donald Trump said the U.S. military had begun the process of clearing the Strait of Hormuz.
Amid fragile calm, António Guterres urged constructive U.S.- Iran talks, while Pope Leo XIV warned violence is spreading. Lebanon's President said an Israeli strike killed 13 security personnel in Nabatieh.
Dubai has restricted foreign airlines to one daily flight to its airports until 31 May due to the Iran crisis, raising fears of significant revenue losses for Indian carriers, industry letters show.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has told Taiwan opposition leader Cheng Li-wun that “people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are Chinese” and that the future of cross-strait ties should be decided by “the Chinese people themselves”.
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Australia and Singapore have agreed to deepen cooperation on energy security as global fuel markets come under strain from disruption linked to the conflict in the Middle East.
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