US ambassador to Israel offers new details about BoP
In an interview with the Israeli Broadcasting Authority, Mike Huckabee has pushed back at rumours that participating countries would have to pay a $1bn entry fee, but said they would be expected to contribute to Gaza’s reconstruction efforts.
He also said he believed Israel would open the Rafah crossing – which connects the Gaza Strip and Egypt – “soon”. The crossing has remained closed despite the October 2025 ceasefire calling for it to open in both directions.
Israeli settlements in northern Gaza – which Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz pledged to create late last year before walking back his comments – are not part of Trump’s plan, Huckabee added.
The Rafah crossing has been opening "soon" for months while the IDF keeps moving the "yellow line" and destroying more houses in Gaza.
UK will not sign BoP, citing concerns over Russian involvement
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has said the UK will opt out of signing the Board of Peace in Davos today, joining a growing list of refusals that includes France, Norway, Sweden and Slovenia.
Speaking from Davos, Cooper told the BBC that she was worried about Russia’s role in formulating peace plans for other conflicts amid its war on Ukraine.
“We won’t be one of the signatories today, because this is about a legal treaty that raises much broader issues, and we do also have concerns about President Putin being part of something which is talking about peace,” Cooper said.
Concerned about Putin, but not about Trump heading the board nor Netanyahu joining?
Tony Blair is part of the board...
Who are the 7 members of the Board of Peace executive board?
The “founding executive council” – with Trump as chairman – sits at the top of the Board of Peace. Its members are:
- Tony Blair, former British prime minister
- Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
- US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff
- Marc Rowan, CEO of financial firm Apollo Global Management
- Ajay Banga, World Bank Group president
- Robert Gabriel, a US deputy national security adviser.
Multiple Arab and Muslim states have objected to Blair’s involvement after his institute was involved in developing “day-after” plans for Gaza, alongside Israeli business figures, that included a coastal “Trump Riviera” resort.
Kushner’s family also has close links to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said in 2024 that Gaza has “very valuable” waterfront property. Israel, he added, should “move the people out and then clean it up”.
