U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace unveiled a $2.45 billion Gaza recovery plan during the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, outlining preparations to rebuild the territory’s economy and establish a Palestinian civilian administration to replace Hamas.
The six-month plan would comprise 66 separate programs covering housing, infrastructure, health, education, economic development and security. International troops would provide security for the territory after Hamas, which won elections in 2006 and which the United States and European Union designate a terrorist group, relinquishes its control.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a member of the board’s executive committee, said the plan would require the destruction of hundreds of miles of Hamas tunnels beneath Gaza, as well as the group’s weapons depots.
“This new government cannot govern unless that infrastructure is systematically destroyed,” Blair told the event. “Hamas have agreed in principle that it should be, and that was a landmark agreement. But our most urgent challenge now is to turn this agreement into a credible stage-by-stage plan, as we are doing.”
He said the focus of the next year would now “move from preparation to implementation,” adding that Gazans “don’t need a slogan, they need a solution.”
At a briefing hosted by U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, board officials appealed for further donor support but offered no firm timetable, and Israel has yet to accept the phased withdrawals central to the plan, leaving its feasibility uncertain.
Witkoff, who is also a member of the board’s executive committee, defended the board’s progress so far, and said that the group remained committed despite the difficulties they had faced.
“There is a ceasefire, imperfect as it may be, but it still exists,” he said. “We have no plan B, and therefore, we will all work together to have this plan succeed.”
The recovery program builds on Trump’s Gaza peace framework, unveiled last year, which calls for the disarmament of Hamas, Israeli withdrawals from the territory and reconstruction under a Palestinian civilian government.
Officials speaking at the event said that months of work had gone into creating financial controls and formal procurement procedures to show donors how their money would be used. The Board of Peace’s chief financial officer said that the group had already secured $18 billion in long-term commitments for Gaza.
Ali Shaath, who heads the U.N.-mandated National Committee for the Administration of Gaza—intended to succeed the Hamas government in Gaza—said that multiple institutions, including the Palestinian Authority, the current Hamas government, municipal authorities, U.N. aid agencies and other aid groups were providing a patchwork of overlapping services and must be coordinated. Palestinians should help lead the effort, he added.
“We want them to stay and live in Gaza with hope and prosperity,” he said. “We want them to design and create their future by their own hands.”
The initial six-month proposal includes repairing electricity and water networks, and providing temporary shelters, waste removal, health services and support for businesses. Preparations for winter are an immediate priority, Shaath said.
An international military force would provide security arrangements sector by sector, beginning in Rafah in the south before advancing to central Gaza, Gaza City and the north, officials said.
Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers, commander of the United Nations International Stabilization Force in Gaza, said an initial contingent of 500 troops from Kosovo and Morocco had been trained for deployment. More forces from Albania, Kazakhstan and other countries would follow, he said.
Jeffers said international troops would enter each sector of Gaza first, followed by the dismantling of Hamas weapons and military infrastructure. The new Palestinian administration and its vetted security forces would then take control, allowing Israeli troops to withdraw.
Asked whether Hamas’s weapons would be destroyed or stored, Jeffers said planning was still underway to decide what to do with Hamas’s arsenals.
“The intent is to neutralize and decommission,” Jeffers said.
The phased-sector approach remains a point of disagreement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said in August that Israel would not withdraw until Hamas had fully disarmed. The proposed transition depends on Israeli cooperation at every stage, from allowing international troops into Gaza to facilitating the arrival of reconstruction supplies and withdrawing its own troops.
In response to Netanyahu’s objections, a Board of Peace official told MBN at the time that the group remained committed to a process of verified and reciprocal steps and proposed an “International Verification Committee” to monitor compliance with the plan. Israel has not agreed to that, either.
Nickolay Mladenov, the board’s high representative for Gaza, acknowledged Israel’s approaching Oct. 27 election was complicating talks. “Our discussions with Israel right now are not easy because of the elections there,” Mladenov said. “Everything is a little bit more emotional, a little bit more politically sensitive.”
The goal remained a demilitarized Gaza “under civilian control, which allows full reconstruction to take place and for Israeli pullback to also take place,” he said.
However, he declined to set a firm timeline.
“We’re not bound by a calendar or dates. We’re bound by verification,” he said. “Each step has to be earned, checked before the next one begins.”
Hamas’s agreement to relinquish its weapons has not yet begun, but Kushner said he hoped the phased process could begin soon.
“Even as there’s different delays on different things for whatever reason, we’re still working every day and we’re just refining, sharpening the axe, getting ready for when we get the time to cut the tree,” Kushner said.
“Hopefully that will be very, very soon,” he added. “When we do it, we’ll move with real certainty and speed, and we’ll be able to make a big, big impact.”
