Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ for Gaza names Pakistan among 26 founding members

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump’s newly formed ‘Board of Peace’ for Gaza on Wednesday designated 26 countries as founding members of the body, with Pakistan included among the initial participants.

According to the announced list, the founding members include Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Albania and Bahrain. Other countries named are Belarus, Bulgaria, Cambodia, El Salvador, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Mongolia, Morocco, Paraguay, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

A week after Trump formally introduced the ‘Board of Peace’ for Gaza at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the body also launched its official account on X, signalling the start of its operations.

Major European powers, including France, Germany and the UK, were notably absent from the list. According to Anadolu, their exclusion comes amid sharp disagreements with the US administration over issues such as Greenland and tariff policies, which have strained relations between Washington and several European capitals.

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Ukraine raised questions over its potential participation alongside Russia and Belarus. Russia, however, was not included among the founding members, despite President Vladimir Putin previously stating that Moscow was ready to allocate $1 billion from Russian assets frozen by the former US administration to the board’s budget.

Trump announced the establishment of the Board of Peace on January 15 as part of his broader Gaza plan, under which a ceasefire agreement was reached. While the body was initially conceived to oversee the ceasefire and reconstruction of Gaza, its charter has expanded its mandate to include peace-building efforts in all regions affected by or at risk of conflict.