Nations pledge to contribute billions, troops to Gaza at Trump's Board of Peace launch event

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Friday, February 20, 2026

Leaders from around the world gathered in Washington to discuss the future of the war-torn Gaza Strip, with some nations pledging as much as $1 billion toward infrastructure and redevelopment. 

President Donald Trump hosted the first meeting of the newly instituted Board of Peace Thursday. While talking about efforts to restore peace in the Middle East, the central purpose of the new coalition, Trump noted that Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Kuwait have all contributed over $7 billion toward the relief effort in the Gaza Strip. He also announced that the U.S. was contributing $10 billion to the Board of Peace. 

Trump talked about additional relief efforts in Gaza, including the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance raising $2 billion. “Additionally, Japan has just committed to host an aid fundraiser, which will be a very big one,” he said. He noted that several other countries in the region including South Korea, the Philippines and Singapore planned to attend the event. 

“I’m also pleased to announce that FIFA will be helping to raise a total of $75 million for projects in Gaza,” Trump added. He clarified that FIFA, the International Association Football Federation, will be investing in “soccer-related” projects in Gaza including the construction of soccer fields. A video that played at the end of the meeting detailed how FIFA would work with the Board of Peace to construct “football pitches, FIFA arenas, academies and stadiums.”

The video explained that “this initiative will support the creation of leagues at youth, amateur and regional levels, strengthening community engagement both on and off the pitch” in addition to generating “diverse professional opportunities supporting the development of local talent not only on the field but across all areas that bring football to life.” FIFA committed to partnering with the Board of Peace to build 50 mini-pitches across Gaza at a cost of $2.5 million while constructing five full-size pitches at a cost of $1 million each and spending $15 million on a FIFA Academy. 

An additional aspect of the initiative involves the creation of a national football stadium that can hold 20,000-25,000 spectators at a cost of $50 million. 

In addition to announcing the money pledged to Gaza, Trump highlighted member countries for the Board of Peace’s military commitments to keeping the peace in the region. “Albania, Kosovo, Kazakhstan have all committed troops and police to stabilize Gaza. Egypt and Jordan are likewise providing very, very substantial help: troops, training and support for a very trustworthy Palestinian police force,” he explained.

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz shared statistics about the relief efforts in Gaza, stemming from partnerships between the Board of Peace, the UN and Israel. Over 4,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza each week for the past 13 weeks to provide food relief that has reached over 2.1 million people. 

Marc Rowan, a member of the Executive Board of the Board of Peace who spoke at the meeting, outlined plans for rebuilding the war-torn Gaza Strip. The plan calls for 100,000 homes to serve 500,000 residents along with $5 billion of infrastructure in the short term while working to build 400,000 homes for the entire 2 million people of Gaza with over $30 billion in infrastructure. 

“The United States and its partners, in coordination with the World Bank, are pledging billions of dollars to rebuild Gaza,” the narrator of a video that played at the event declared. “The Board of Peace will expand development across the entire strip, employing hundreds of thousands in reconstruction and business activity. Transportation, water and energy systems will be restored and a modern economy will begin to emerge.”

The meeting also touched upon plans for an Abrahamic Gateway, which will connect the Gaza Strip to Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The gateway will also extend to India and Europe. 

“By year 10, Gaza will be self-governed, integrated into the region with thriving industries and housing for all. This is the framework for Gaza’s rebirth: secure, prosperous and peaceful,” the video predicted. 

Thursday’s Board of Peace meeting also featured remarks from U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff. Witkoff detailed how “Every time a hostage family came to visit with us, they were not on the president’s schedule.”

“I would walk down to the Oval Office. I would tell the president that there was a hostage family here and he would say ‘Steve, bring them up.’ Every single time,” Witkoff recalled.

Witkoff discussed how “when we got the last 20 out, we had a celebration at the White House.” According to Witkoff, “I could see the emotion on the president’s face and he came up to me and he said to me ‘I have to tell you this is my fifth year in the Oval Office and I don’t know that I’ve ever had a more special time than this moment with these people seeing them come home.’” 

Leaders of member nations of the Board of Peace also outlined their plans to contribute to the Gaza relief efforts, with the president of Kazakhstan vowing to provide 500 scholarships to Palestinian students to pursue academic programs in his country’s universities over a five-year period. Meanwhile, the president of Indonesia promised to send at least 8,000 troops to Gaza. 

Authorized by the UN Security Council in Resolution 2803, the Board of Peace was officially unveiled last month at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. The Board of Peace was envisioned as a “transitional administration with international legal personality that will set the framework, and coordinate funding for, the redevelopment of Gaza pursuant” to the peace plan established by Trump to end the Israel-Hamas conflict. 

The Gaza Strip has been hit hard in the Israel-Hamas war, which began after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack on civilians and military targets in southern Israel. Israel responded with a military offensive designed to eradicate the terrorist organization and secure the release of hostages. 

Countries that have accepted Trump’s invitation to join the Board of Peace are Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Bulgaria, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Mongolia, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.