Palestinians in the Gaza Strip expressed skepticism Thursday about the potential impact of a new international initiative led by U.S. President Donald Trump, as the first meeting of his Board of Peace (BoP) convened in Washington, DC.
Funds allocated: Genuine support or rhetoric?
While Trump announced that nine member nations have pledged $7 billion to a reconstruction fund for Gaza, and five countries agreed to deploy troops to an International Stabilisation Force, many in Gaza questioned whether the pledges would translate into tangible improvements on the ground.
“I’ve heard about money being collected for Gaza, but we see nothing. This has happened many times, but nothing ever changes,” said 43-year-old Amal Joudeh, who lives in a tent in Deir el-Balah after being displaced from Beit Lahiya.
Joudeh, a mother of eight, said she needs support and reconstruction, “any solution,” for her family, including her injured husband and children.
The pledges fall short of United Nations estimates of up to $70 billion needed to rebuild the Palestinian territory, which has been heavily damaged during more than two years of war.
Awad al-Ghoul, a 70-year-old Palestinian displaced from Tal as-Sultan in Rafah and now living in az-Zawayda, viewed the “Board of Peace” as “nothing more than a ‘club of major powers.’”
Very little has changed since the “ceasefire” agreement brokered by Trump went into effect in October. Most Palestinians continue to struggle to meet basic needs, with limited access to health, education, and sanitation.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported that more than 600 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli gunfire since the truce, which Palestinians had hoped would end over two years of war that has killed more than 72,000 people, according to official statistics.
“Israel kills, bombs, violates the ceasefire agreement daily and expands the buffer zone without anyone stopping it,” al-Ghoul said. “If a peace board of this size cannot force Israel to stop its attacks in a small place like Gaza, how will it fix conflicts across the world?”
Jamal Abu Makhdeh, 66, of Deir el-Balah, expressed similar doubts. “They won’t do anything for Gaza. It’s all lies,” he said. “Anything Israel agrees to certainly won’t be in our interest.”
Abu Makhdeh believes Trump and Israel intend to use the board to impose their decisions through force, prioritizing “power, control, and domination.”
Past reconstruction plans have been hampered by Israeli restrictions on the entry of construction materials.
“Even if the board decides to rebuild Gaza, this is unlikely and won’t happen. We’ve heard this many times and nothing happened,” Abu Makhdeh added. “How can we trust a peace board in which Israel is a member? It is the one that killed us, destroyed us, and committed genocide.”
He also voiced concern about the push to disarm Hamas, fearing it would lead to internal conflict.
“Their main goal is to disarm Hamas so that we drown in internal and civil disputes,” he said.
Al-Ghoul expressed cautious optimism about the possibility of an international peacekeeping force, hoping it would deter further Israeli attacks, similar to UNIFIL in Lebanon.
Reconstruction: The biggest absence in the speech
The board’s announcement lacked concrete decisions regarding reconstruction of Gaza’s infrastructure. Al-Ghoul argued that reconstruction is meaningless without an end to Israeli violations of the truce.
“Reconstruction has no value if Israel’s hand continues destroying and killing. What’s the point of rebuilding while Israel destroys?”
Jouda expressed a desire for a return to normalcy, including the reopening of schools and a safe home for her family.
Ultimately, the demands of the people of Gaza are simple: safety, peace, and the right to return home. Al-Ghoul wants to return to his neighborhood in Rafah, while Abu Makhdeh called for justice for Gaza.
“We are exhausted. They must show mercy. We demand what is good for our people, to live in peace and be granted a simple life with our basic right to safety.”
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