The U.S. has committed $10 billion to the Board of Peace, President Donald Trump announced Thursday,
The Board of Peace, which held its first meeting Thursday in Washington, D.C., was created to reconstruct the Gaza Strip. However, Trump wants to see broadened to tackle other foreign conflicts, per The Hill.
“When you look at that compared to the cost of war, that’s two weeks of fighting, it’s a very small number. It sounds like a lot, but it’s a very small number,” he said.
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The White House did not immediately respond to the question of where the funds coming from.
The United Nations Security Council gave the Board of Peace a mandate as part of its approval of the Trump administration’s 20-point plan for peace in Gaza.
Trump has invited dozens of countries to sign up as founding members with a $1 billion pledge for lifetime membership. It’s still unclear whether Trump’s vision for a broader Board of Peace will take away from the focus on Gaza, or whether all money pledged to the board will go to Gaza.
Trump said $7 billion has been raised for a relief package for Gaza. These funds were provided by Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Kuwait.
Money for Gaza will go to a dedicated fund at the World Bank, which is called the Gaza Reconstruction and Development Fund, World Bank President Ajay Banga said.
“This fund is ready to receive the donations that he spoke about just a little while ago,” Banga said, adding the Board of Peace is responsible for ensuring “that the right kind of financial legal and oversight mechanisms are being put in place.” The World Bank is expected to help with transparency.
“We’ve even assigned a financial controller from the World Bank on a secondary basis to the Board of Peace to ensure that we can try and help build the best standards in this process,” he said.
