For all the geopolitical complexity surrounding Donald Trump’s Board of Peace — the UN rivalry, the coalition management, the Hamas disarmament debate — the most fundamental test is simpler and more human: can it make life better for the approximately two million Palestinians living in a devastated Gaza Strip?
That question hung over the board’s inaugural meeting Thursday in Washington. The ceasefire has reduced the scale of major military operations and allowed increased aid deliveries. But near-daily Israeli strikes continue to kill Palestinians, including civilians. Food, water, shelter, and medical care remain critically insufficient. The humanitarian situation, while no longer at its worst acute crisis point, remains dire.
Trump claimed this week that member countries had pledged $5 billion for reconstruction and thousands of peacekeeping personnel. Those pledges have not been documented publicly. The UN, EU, and World Bank estimate reconstruction will cost $70 billion. Even if the $5 billion figure is accurate, it represents a small fraction of what is needed.
The political prerequisites for serious reconstruction remain unmet. Hamas has not disarmed. The transitional governing committee cannot enter Gaza. International stabilization forces have not deployed. Israel will not approve reconstruction until Hamas fully disarms. This chain of preconditions means that the two million people living in Gaza face an indefinite period of devastation regardless of how ambitious the board’s plans appear.
Expert observers have been direct: if the board’s first meeting does not produce fast, tangible improvements on the ground — particularly on the humanitarian front — its credibility will crumble. The board was built to be consequential. Whether it can be consequential in ways that reach the people of Gaza is the only test that ultimately matters.