Former US President Donald Trump is assembling a controversial international body to govern Gaza, a move being condemned as a brazen act of neocolonialism that completely excludes Palestinian representation.
The 'Board of Peace': A Roster of Controversial Figures
The proposed board, which Trump would chair in a personal capacity, reads like a who's who of figures deeply unpopular across much of the Middle East. Tony Blair, the former British Prime Minister widely reviled for his role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, is a named invitee. The Chilcot Inquiry later found the UK government under Blair catastrophically failed to plan for Iraq's reconstruction.
Other reported members include Trump's son-in-law, property developer Jared Kushner, who previously remarked on the "very valuable" potential of Gaza's coastline. The list also features Hungarian autocrat Viktor Orbán, an Israeli billionaire, a US private equity tycoon, and, according to the Kremlin, even Vladimir Putin. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's inclusion has reportedly caused friction with Israel.
Gaza as a Laboratory and a Luxury Resort
The plan emerges as Palestinians describe the occupied territories as a laboratory for technologies of oppression, from advanced surveillance to AI-driven warfare, later exported worldwide. Against this backdrop, Trump's vision for Gaza appears chillingly clear.
He has previously suggested permanently resettling Gaza's population, a proposal amounting to ethnic cleansing. While he later stated "nobody is expelling any Palestinians," his recent comments alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—who faces ICC arrest warrants for war crimes—hinted at voluntary depopulation, citing polls and suggesting Gazans would move for a "better climate."
This aligns with Netanyahu's own historical support for "voluntary migration" and his statement that Palestinians will "be allowed to exit." A potential mechanism emerged when Israel recently recognised Somaliland, with Somalia's president alleging a deal to take Gaza refugees in exchange—a claim Somaliland denies but did not fully rule out.
Most revealingly, Trump once shared an AI-generated video portraying a future Gaza as a luxury resort, complete with a giant golden statue of himself.
A Template for a Post-UN World Order
Analysts warn the project's implications stretch far beyond Palestine. The board's charter does not explicitly mention Gaza and appears designed as an alternative to the United Nations, a blunt instrument for projecting American power under Trump. Gaza, in this reading, is merely a trial run.
This signals a stark departure from traditional US foreign policy rhetoric. Trump has openly abandoned pretensions of moral superiority, boasting on Venezuela that US companies would "take back" its oil. This crude honesty, experts argue, hastens the decline of American hegemony, which was historically propped up by claims to moral leadership—a claim shattered by events from Abu Ghraib to the facilitation of Gaza's destruction.
The so-called 'Board of Peace' thus represents a dual threat: a neocolonial scheme for a devastated territory and a potential blueprint for a new, unrestrained global order that bypasses international institutions and places power directly in the hands of a select few.
