Trump announces $10B Gaza relief pledge at Board of Peace meeting
Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Kuwait collectively commit over $7B for Gaza relief.
US President Donald Trump announced billions of dollars in contributions for relief in Gaza at the inaugural meeting on Thursday of the Board of Peace in Washington.
Trump said the US is contributing $10 billion to the new body.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is raising an additional $2 billion, said Trump.
The US president noted Japan is committed to host a fundraiser, "which will be a very big one."
US Ambassador to the UN Michael Waltz said humanitarian flows into Gaza have improved significantly, with 4,200 aid trucks entering the territory each week for 13 consecutive weeks, “the longest stretch of high-volume assistance to Gaza in years.”
"Aid is up," he said, adding that it was now reaching the full 2.1 million Palestinians, up as much as five times from previous delivery levels.
Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Kuwait collectively pledged more than $7 billion, he added.
Speaking at the board’s first meeting in Washington, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said Doha “reaffirms its commitment to the Board of Peace as it was committed to the very first day of the mediation efforts.”
“In this spirit, Qatar pledges $1 billion in support of the board’s mission aimed at reaching a final resolution that fulfils Palestinian aspirations for statehood and recognition and Israeli aspirations for security and integration,” he said.
Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir also announced a $1 billion pledge over the coming years in support of the board’s objectives.
“We look forward to working with the Board of Peace to establish this noble objective,” Al-Jubeir said, adding that the kingdom “will pledge $1 billion over the next few years in order to achieve this objective” by alleviating the suffering of the Palestinians and bringing them peace, along with the whole region.
The Board of Peace was established within the framework of efforts toward a peaceful settlement in Gaza. It seeks to promote peacemaking around the world. Washington has said additional states have since joined the initiative.
Israel began its war in Gaza on October 8 2023, resulting in more than 72,000 Palestinian deaths and over 171,000 injuries, most of them women and children, and damage to 90 percent of civilian infrastructure.
Despite a ceasefire, the Israeli army continued its attacks, killing at least 611 Palestinians and injuring 1,630, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.