Qatar, Saudi Arabia among eight countries joining Trump’s ‘board of peace’

Countries say board aims to support reconstruction in the Gaza Strip and advance a ‘just and lasting peace’.

Eight countries across the Middle East and Asia have announced plans to join United States President Donald Trump’s so-called “board of peace” in the Gaza Strip, stressing the need to secure a “permanent ceasefire” in the bombarded Palestinian enclave.

The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar said they would be joining the Trump-led board in a joint statement on Wednesday.

“The Ministers reiterate their countries’ support for the peace efforts led by President Trump,” the statement said.

It added that the board’s mission is aimed at “consolidating a permanent ceasefire, supporting the reconstruction of Gaza, and advancing a just and lasting peace grounded in the Palestinian right to self-determination and statehood in accordance with international law, thereby paving the way for security and stability for all countries and peoples of the region”.

The announcement comes just days after the White House unveiled the makeup of the “board of peace”, which is part of Trump’s 20-point plan to end Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza.

The board, which includes senior Trump advisers Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, as well as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, will oversee a Palestinian technocratic committee tasked with managing day-to-day affairs in the Strip.

On Wednesday, the office of Netanyahu, who faces an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes committed in Gaza, said he would take part in the mechanism.

Gaza resident Abu Ramzi al-Sandawi rejected Netanyahu, denouncing the Israeli prime minister as “the leader of the war on Gaza”.

“He destroyed our whole world,” al-Sandawi told media in Gaza City. “It’s known that Netanyahu is the cause of this war.”

At least 466 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since a US-brokered ceasefire came into effect in October, according to the latest figures from the Palestinian Health Ministry in the territory.