Trump’s Board of Peace to meet in Cyprus next week, Times of Israel reports

Politics gazaIsraelPalestineTop Newstrumpuswar Trump’s Board of Peace to meet in Cyprus next week, Times of Israel reports Trump Board Of Peace Relevant News Trump’s Board of Peace to meet in Cyprus next week, Times of Israel reports 23 June 2026 Christodoulides hints at imminent energy announcements as Cyprus marks 250 years of US independence 23 June 2026 Ebola cases in Congo reach highest first-month total of any outbreak, WHO says 23 June 2026 newsroom 23 June 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber The US-led Board of Peace will hold a recalibration meeting at a resort in Cyprus next week, as the international body overseeing postwar Gaza reconstruction seeks to regroup after six months of limited results for the people of Gaza, according to a report by the Times of Israel. Participants will include representatives from the Board of Peace umbrella body, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) — the panel of Palestinian technocrats tasked with replacing Hamas in governing the Strip — and the Office of the High Representative, which coordinates between the two bodies. An Arab diplomat from one of the mediating countries and a Palestinian official familiar with the matter described the gathering as an opportunity for those involved to reset and get on the same page after half a year of limited progress, the Times of Israel reported. What is the Board of Peace? The Board of Peace is a US-led international body established by President Donald Trump in January 2026 to oversee postwar governance, reconstruction, and stabilisation in Gaza. Trump first announced the initiative in late September 2025 as part of a 20-point plan to end the war between Israel and Hamas, presenting it as a mechanism to support security arrangements, reconstruction, and long-term governance in Gaza once Hamas is no longer in control. The Board was formally established at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 22, 2026, where 28 countries signed its founding charter. A UN Security Council resolution adopted in November 2025 welcomed the establishment of the Board and authorised it to deploy an International Stabilization Force to Gaza. The Board’s structure includes an Office of the High Representative headed by Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov, formerly the UN’s special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, who serves as its on-the-ground envoy. The NCAG — the 15-member panel of Palestinian technocrats — operates under the Board’s umbrella and is tasked with administering Gaza in place of Hamas. Cyprus’s role Cyprus accepted an invitation to participate as an observer in the Board of Peace’s February 19 meeting in Washington, with President Christodoulides describing the invitation and Cyprus’s participation as “very important,” noting that Cyprus is the European Union member state closest to the region. In an official announcement, the government in Nicosia stressed that Cyprus’s participation is part of its consistent and active regional role since the onset of the crisis, through initiatives and concrete proposals submitted to international partners. Cyprus did not sign the founding charter at Davos, citing concerns about the Board’s relationship with the United Nations framework. Why progress has stalled The Board of Peace enjoyed initial international support and a degree of buy-in from both Israel and Hamas following its establishment, but momentum has slowed, the Times of Israel reported. Global attention shifted to the Iran war, while talks on Hamas disarmament have remained deadlocked. Hamas has argued that Israel must first abide by the terms of the October 2024 ceasefire — including halting strikes deep into Gaza, pulling back troops, and allowing more humanitarian aid — before it considers giving up its weapons. The stalemate has left nearly half of Gaza’s population of over two million living in temporary tents after nearly three years of conflict. A February donor conference in Washington generated 17 billion dollars in pledges, but only a fraction of those funds have been transferred, as Gulf countries that made the largest commitments were among the most affected by Iranian strikes in the weeks that followed. The NCAG’s 15-member panel has been stuck in Cairo since its establishment in January, unable to enter Gaza amid Hamas’s refusal to disarm and mounting Israeli restrictions on its ability to operate, according to two Arab diplomats from separate mediating countries cited by the Times of Israel. The panel has used the time to develop plans for its Gaza launch, meet with diplomats, and undergo training sessions run by former UN envoy Tony Blair’s Institute for Global Change. Optics concerns Some NCAG members expressed discomfort with the optics of holding a meeting at a Cyprus resort while Gaza’s population continues to suffer, a Palestinian official told the Times of Israel. The guest list for the gathering was scaled back as a result. A Board of Peace official pushed back on the characterisation of the meeting as unusual, noting that representatives from the body’s various committees have met several times this year, including on the sidelines of an April donor conference in Brussels and a more recent gathering in Cairo. The official acknowledged that the Iran war had slowed progress for several weeks but insisted the initiative was otherwise on track. What is moving The Board of Peace has issued more than a dozen formal Requests for Proposal to solicit bids from construction contractors for rubble clearance, unexploded ordnance removal, Hamas tunnel destruction, and the installation of temporary housing, hospitals, schools, and bases for a Gaza police force and an International Stabilization Force, the Times of Israel reported. The Board of Peace official said plans for temporary housing communities — beginning with an Emirati-backed project on the ruins of Rafah — were moving ahead regardless of whether Hamas accepted the disarmament proposal, with construction expected to begin within three to four months. Talks on permanent housing construction have also begun, though the official acknowledged these would not proceed without Hamas agreeing to disarm. What remains blocked While the Board of Peace has begun recruiting for a Gaza police force and received thousands of applications, a Middle East intelligence official told the Times of Israel that Israel was refusing to allow recruits to leave until Hamas accepted the disarmament proposal. Four countries have agreed to contribute troops to the International Stabilization Force, but deployment is not expected before Israel’s autumn elections. Mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey told the Times of Israel earlier this month they were not optimistic about the chances of a breakthrough before the Israeli elections, saying the Netanyahu government had been placing additional hurdles as the vote approached. The Board of Peace official disputed this, maintaining that Israel had been cooperative and that no obstacles had been placed in the way of Gaza reconstruction. Hamas has made some concessions in disarmament talks, putting forward proposals for a gradual handover of some weapons — a shift from its previous outright refusal — but conditioned the move on significant progress towards the establishment of a Palestinian state, which Israel has ruled out. 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