Gaza’s future still under question ahead of Board of Peace charter signing

The signing of the Board of Peace charter is being closely watched, with attention focused on its key provisions and how its mandate will be implemented.

Central questions include Gaza’s future after two years of war, post-war governance in the territory and the disarmament of Hamas.

There is significant anxiety over how the initiative would work in practice, which helps explain why countries such as Norway and France have expressed scepticism about the board’s implementation.

They have said that, even if the board were mandated by the UN, there remains a lack of clarity over who would have jurisdiction over it. They have also argued that the UN should have a larger role in post-war governance in Gaza.

Davos won’t bring the West Bank relief amid rising settler, military attacks

Day in and day out, we see how Israeli settlers are becoming more and more empowered. They are attacking Palestinian villages and setting homes on fire, with no sort of accountability whatsoever.

On the other hand, the Palestinians who are suffering – and who are victims of these settler attacks – are the ones who are often intimidated, arrested and detained by Israeli forces.

Every day, we are seeing new military orders to confiscate more and more land. We see raids continuing all across the occupied West Bank. And just in this month, we remember that residents of three Palestinian refugee camps have been fully displaced for one whole year.

The Israeli forces are stationed there, trying to sabotage the infrastructure and change the infrastructure itself to make it less representative of Palestinian rights.

So, if you look at the status of Palestinians, there’s nothing they’re finding in this signing in Davos that will bring them any help.

The emperor has no clothes...

Trump says ‘everybody’ wants to be on Board of Peace

Trump has just started speaking in Davos, claiming “everybody” wants to be a part of his Board of Peace.

He says he will continue to “work with many others, including the United Nations”.

• The president said, “We are going to be very successful in Gaza,” adding that he would ensure Gaza was demilitarised and “beautifully rebuilt”.
• He also falsely claimed that the US “maintained the Gaza ceasefire, delivered record levels of humanitarian aid” and “you don’t hear” about Palestinians in Gaza starving any more. Israel has regularly violated the ceasefire, killing more than 480 Palestinians, and impedes aid delivery.
• He said the world was “richer, safer and much more peaceful” than it was before he began his second term, ticking off a list of world conflicts he claims to have successfully ended.
• Next up on Trump’s list is Hezbollah in Lebanon. “We have to do something about that,” he said.
• Trump also criticised the United Nations, joking that it has “tremendous potential” but that “I never spoke to the United Nations about any of” the eight conflicts he sought to fix.
• As the first year of his second term has just ended, the president returned to his refrain that “no administration in history has achieved such a sweeping turnaround in 12 months time” and bragged about the US economy.

_{US President Donald Trump, centre, signs the Board of Peace charter during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 22, 2026}

Trump claims 59 countries are involved in efforts to bring peace to Middle East. The statement by the US president suggests those 59 countries have expressed support for his proposed Board of Peace.

On the subject of Gaza, he said: “If Hamas doesn’t do what they promised they will do – I think they probably will – but they were born with rifles in their hands.”
Trump added: “They have to give up their weapons, and if they don’t do that, it is going to be the end of them.”

US President Donald Trump also repeated his claim that he has settled eight wars since returning to office.

Speaking in Davos about Iran, Trump pointed to US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites last June, claiming they had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capacity. He added that Tehran “does want to talk, and will talk”.

Trump also referred to US operations against ISIL (ISIS) in Syria, saying “many good things are happening,” and claimed that threats to Europe, the US and the Middle East “are really calming down”.

“Just one year ago, the world was actually on fire,” he said. “A lot of people didn’t know it.”

Rubio praises Trump’s ‘courage to dream the impossible’

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has spoken after Trump at the Board of Peace conference in Davos, as the US president sat at the centre of a gathering of representatives of 19 countries that have signed on to the charter.

Rubio said Trump is willing to speak to anyone in what he described as the pursuit of peace.

“We are here today because of President Trump’s vision,” Rubio said.

He added that “a few months ago, people thought it was impossible to solve”, referring to ongoing conflicts, and said that “all these hostages being held [in Gaza] – nobody thought that would come to a resolution”.

Rubio went on to argue that existing institutions had been unable to act, saying Trump instead had “the vision and the courage to dream the impossible”.

Peace is ‘a different deal than a business deal’: Kushner

Although everyone was “joyous and celebrating” after the initial Israel-Gaza ceasefire deal was signed, Kushner recalled that “[US special envoy] Steve [Witkoff] and I were panicking, saying, ‘What do we do next?’ How do we implement peace?

“As you guys know, peace is a different deal than a business deal, because you’re changing a mindset,” Kushner said, calling the Gaza peace efforts “very entrepreneurial”.

“We needed to think about what do we do next, how do we change the habits, how do we change the behaviours?”

Translation: How do we neutralize the population so we can profit from the location. It's classic colonization.


‘We need investments’ in Gaza, Kushner says, showing plan for high-rise towers

Jared Kushner has offered more details about the Board of Peace’s development plans in Gaza, without mentioning plans for a path towards a Palestinian state.

The “number one thing is going to be security – obviously we’re working very closely with the Israelis to figure out a way to de-escalation, and the next phase is working with Hamas on demilitarisation,” Kushner said.

“Without security, nobody’s going to make investments, nobody’s gonna come build there. We need investments in order to start giving jobs,” he said. The Board of Peace wants to use “free market principles” to shift Gaza’s dependence on foreign aid, Kushner said.

Trump’s son-in-law also showed a map of the Gaza Strip divided into “residential” and “coastal tourism mixed” zones. The plan includes building 100,000 housing units in Rafah, as well as “New Gaza”, Kushner said, showing a rendering of high-rise coastal towers.

Kushner, a real estate developer, has previously said Gaza has “very valuable” waterfront property. “In the Middle East, they build cities like this – two, three million people – in three years, so stuff like this is very doable if we make it happen,” Kushner said.

Trump says Gaza is ‘all about location’, echoes real estate comments

Trump’s final remarks at the Board of Peace signing ceremony have referenced the Gaza Strip in terms of its real estate value. “This is a great location,” Trump said. “I’m a real estate person at heart, and it’s all about location.”

Recalling early conversations about the Board of Peace, the president explained: “I said, look at this location on the sea, look at this beautiful piece of property – what it could be for so many people, it’ll be so great, people that are living so poorly are gonna be living so well.

“That’s the vision – they’ll look out on the waters, and very few places are like it,” he said.

Trump has previously said Gaza should be viewed as a “big real estate site”, describing the US’s role as one of redevelopment.

What’s happening in Gaza and the West Bank?

Israeli influencer wields pepper spray against West Bank activists

A far-right Israeli influencer has been captured on film raiding a house of activists and journalists in the occupied West Bank, according to The Jerusalem Post newspaper.

Roi Star, a 45-year-old social media personality, pepper-sprayed at least two people and verbally harassed the people living in the house, including threatening their relatives.

“I know your family. I know where your cousin, your grandma, your father, your uncle, I know where everyone lives,” he said. “Do you want to talk, or do you want to get physical with me and get sprayed in the face?”

Settler violence in the occupied West Bank is on the rise, with settlers rampaging in Palestinian agricultural lands, storming and destroying homes, and killing and beating Palestinian civilians.

Throughout 2025, Israeli settlers or soldiers killed 240 Palestinians in the West Bank, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said earlier this month. Israeli forces killed 225 people, while settlers killed at least nine.

Roi Star, an Israeli far-right TikToker, was filmed invading a house in the West Bank, harassing and threatening left-wing activists. https://t.co/oDD7s6efca

— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) January 22, 2026

Israeli minister approves gun licences for 18 illegal West Bank settlements

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has approved the issuance of gun licences to Israelis in 18 additional illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, as the right-wing government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushes to expand illegal outposts that undermine prospects for a two-state solution.

“The importance of the decision lies in the fact that these settlements will now be able to submit applications for a personal weapon licence,” Ben-Gvir, a far-right minister, wrote on Telegram on Wednesday, claiming that the efforts were to “enhance self-defence and increase personal security”.

Israeli settlers have been emboldened by a wide-scale armament programme spearheaded at the start of Israel’s genocidal war in the Gaza Strip by Ben-Gvir, and the near-total impunity they enjoy when carrying out attacks.

Israeli settlers, military storm more West Bank towns

Israeli forces stormed and arrested at least one Palestinian man east of the city of Jenin, the Wafa news agency reported, while carrying out separate raids in the towns of Yabad and Silat al-Harithiya to the west. They also arrested another man from Nablus after raiding several homes.

Meanwhile, Israeli settlers stormed the evacuated settlement of Tarsala, south of Jenin, under protection from the military. Sources told Wafa that the military closed off the Jenin-Nablus road before the settlers’ incursion, which saw buses and mobile homes pour into the former settlement.

Earlier dozens of settlers also raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, while Israeli forces were deployed overnight across the city of Tulkarem.

How Israel moved to shut down UNRWA in occupied East Jerusalem

Israel has steadily moved to dismantle the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in occupied East Jerusalem with Israeli forces now using bulldozers inside its headquarters compound.

According to UNRWA, here’s a timeline of key developments:

Journalists ‘paying the price’ as Israel keeps attacking Gaza

What we are learning about the killing of three journalists in Gaza yesterday is deeply troubling. These journalists were on assignment with the Egyptian Committee for Gaza Relief, and there is no evidence they were engaged in any military activity.

The Israeli military said they were operating a drone to gather intelligence on Israeli soldiers, while witnesses said the vehicle was entirely civilian.

We have also heard from the committee itself that the journalists were documenting activities being carried out by the committee in central Gaza, which has been responsible for providing shelters for displaced families.

Committee representatives said that, despite language around ceasefires and diplomatic frameworks, the reality on the ground has not shifted, as Israel continues to attack Palestinians without providing verifiable evidence. Journalists are paying the price.


_{Pictured from left are journalists Shaath Mohammad Qeshta, Abdul Ra’ouf Shaath and Anas Ghunaim}

Gaza death toll rises

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza has released new casualty figures, reporting additional deaths and injuries from Israeli attacks over the past two days.

In a statement issued today, the ministry said that 11 bodies and seven injured people were brought to hospitals across the enclave in the past 48 hours. It added that “a number of victims remain under the rubble and in the streets, as ambulance and civil defence teams have been unable to reach them at this time”.

According to the ministry, since the October 10 ceasefire, 477 Palestinians have been killed and 1,301 injured, while 713 bodies have been recovered. Cumulative figures since October 7, 2023, stand at 71,562 killed and 171,379 wounded, the ministry said.

Yesterday’s killings of three more journalists in an Israeli attack have brought the total death toll of media workers to 293 since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Infant dies in Gaza from hypothermia as Israeli shelling kills 4

The Palestinian Civil Defence has reported the death of an infant from hypothermia in the central Gaza Strip during an ongoing cold snap.

Meanwhile, a source at al-Shifa Hospital has told our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic that Israeli artillery shelling has killed at least four people in eastern Gaza City.

Rafah crossing to open next week in both directions, Gaza national committee chief says

Ali Shaath, the head of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza under Trump’s Board of Peace, has told the leaders at the signing ceremony for the board’s charter in Davos that the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt will reopen next week for two-way travel.

Shaath described Rafah as “a lifeline and symbol of opportunity”, adding in a video message that the reopening “signals that Gaza is no longer closed to the future”.

The White House announced on Friday the members of the Palestinian technocratic committee, which will oversee the transition of power in the Gaza Strip as part of Trump’s 20-point plan to end Israel’s genocidal war on the territory.

Shaath is a former deputy minister in the Palestinian Authority.

We've heard this many times before, December 3rd for example https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpwk7xen544o
Israel will find another way to delay and restrict access. 

EU-Palestinian officials discuss Gaza aid, reconstruction

Palestinian Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian has met the European Union’s special envoy for the Middle East peace process, Christophe Bigot, amid what she described as a worsening situation in Gaza.

According to a post on X from the Palestinian Authority’s top diplomat, Shahin praised EU efforts but called for them to be stepped up “during this critical phase”, citing “the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip”.

She stressed “the urgent need for the immediate and adequate delivery of humanitarian aid, ensuring a sustainable ceasefire, and coordinating efforts between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank”.

Bigot, for his part, reaffirmed “the European Union’s position of support for the Palestinian National Authority and the rights of the Palestinian people”, according to the Palestinian Foreign Ministry.

Rights group seeks investigation of Israeli economy minister at Davos

The human rights group Al-Haq says it has filed a criminal complaint in Switzerland against Israel’s Economy Minister Nir Barkat.

In a post on X, Al-Haq said it had submitted the complaint while Barkat, a former mayor of Jerusalem, is in Davos, adding that “the public prosecutor is obliged to examine it while he is present in the country”.

Al-Haq said Barkat is “responsible for unlawful Israeli colonisation of Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel’s actions in Gaza”, and accused him of arguing that the Israeli army “was too lenient during its ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people”.

The group said Barkat was also “individually responsible for illegal Israeli settlement related international crimes, including apartheid” during his time as Jerusalem mayor.

“Davos cannot be a safe haven for war criminals,” Al-Haq said, adding that the legal action is based on Switzerland’s laws allowing prosecution of international crimes when suspects are present in the country.

Lol Davos is a convention of war criminals...

“Open the Borders Now”, Palestinian PM Exposes World's Hypocrisy on Gaza at WEF

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, calling for urgent action on Gaza, border openings, temporary shelters, and a revived two-state solution. He accused Israel of violating ceasefire terms and withholding Palestinian funds while outlining a roadmap for Gaza’s recovery and Palestinian unity.

"And what hurts the most is this: The trucks are ready. The food exists. The doctors are waiting. People are not dying because help doesn’t exist. They are dying because someone is choosing to block it."

‘Pregnant during the famine’: Gaza women face perilous journey to childbirth

Once a joyous occasion marked by celebrations, pregnancy in Gaza has become a long and difficult journey through extremely harsh conditions and with little to no access to medical healthcare.

As a result, the strip has seen a decline in birth rates and a stark increase in premature births, difficulties at birth and stillbirths.

“I found out I was pregnant during the famine … I was very afraid, especially during the famine, about how the foetus would be nourished, how it would get vitamins, because there was no meat or vegetables, which are essential for pregnant women,” says 28-year-old Yasmine Abou Halima, who gave birth on her eighth month.

https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.1_Convention%20on%20the%20Prevention%20and%20Punishment%20of%20the%20Crime%20of%20Genocide.pdf

II (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

Trump aide reveals secret about Iran sanctions; IDF man hounded out of New York

In a remarkable development, the treasury secretary in the Trump administration, has finally confessed to his country’s hidden motive behind imposing biting sanctions on Iran. Scott Bessent said that the purpose was to hurt Iranians so that they could rise against the Islamic Republic. Meanwhile, Donald Trump claimed that he has struck a deal with the NATO Secretary General on Greenland.

Elsewhere, in a stunning development, a group of protesters managed to have a show cancelled after it emerged that an IDF man posing as a comedian was scheduled to perform there. Rifat Jawaid looks at the Europe’s capitulation as he praises NYPD for upholding the rule of law.

General sanctions are collective punishment, always have been. The human rights council is against them https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/08/1097562 hence Trump making his own alternative lawless UN..

European doubts grow over joining Board of Peace

A number of US’s traditional allies in Europe have either not responded to the invitation or have outright declined.

There are a few reasons for this. Some, like France, say that the remit of this board has been broadened so much that it could overshadow the United Nations.

Then there’s the fact that Putin has been invited to sit on this board, and that is unpalatable to many Europeans because of the war in Ukraine.

The United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said that the UK had reservations about Putin being part of an institution trying to achieve peace when, in her words, he has shown little commitment to achieving peace in Ukraine.

But there are political reasons, too. It costs about a billion dollars to join this board. This is something that these leaders would have to sell to their taxpayers back home. This would be difficult, particularly in nations that have a slowing economy.

EU top diplomat says ‘Board of Peace’ should focus on Gaza

If Trump’s “Board of Peace” is narrowed down to focus on Gaza, European ⁠leaders can work with ​the plan, EU foreign ‍policy chief Kaja Kallas has said.

“We want to work ‍for the ⁠peace in the Middle East, and we want this Board of Peace to be limited to the UN ​Security Council resolution as ‌it was foreseen,” Kallas said before a summit of EU leaders where ‌Trump’s proposal was among items ‌to be discussed.

“So if ⁠we narrow it down to Gaza like it was meant ‌to be, then we can work with it.”

Kallas couldn't care less about Gaza and Palestinians in general. Just keep Trump's band of war criminals playing in that sandbox.

Board of Peace lays bare a brazen disregard for international law and human rights’

The “establishment of the so-called global ‘Board of Peace’ lays bare a brazen disregard for international law and human rights”, says Amnesty International.

“It also represents a stark new manifestation of the escalating assault on United Nations mechanisms, international justice institutions and universal norms,” it added in a statement.

“It is a slap in the face of decades of efforts to strengthen global governance through adherence to universal values and greater equality between member states and derails legitimate efforts to address the current system’s limitations and gaps.”

Today’s ceremony marking the establishment of the so-called global ‘Board of Peace’ lays bare a brazen disregard for international law and human rights.

It also represents a stark new manifestation of the escalating assault on United Nations mechanisms, international justice…

— Amnesty International (@amnesty) January 22, 2026

France confirms it will not join Trump’s Board of Peace

France has confirmed it will not join Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace” for now, citing concerns that its charter does not align with UN resolutions on Gaza.

A Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the document does not correspond with a UN-backed framework to resolve the war in Gaza and includes provisions that conflict with the UN Charter.

“It was not corresponding on the one hand with the pure Gaza mandate, which is not even mentioned, and on the other hand, there are elements of this charter which are contrary to the United Nations charter,” spokesperson Pascal Confavreux said.

The comments follow remarks by Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, who said Paris supports the US peace plan but opposes the creation of a new organisation outside existing multilateral structures.

‘Very serious red flags’ with Board of Peace, says Ireland’s deputy PM

There are very serious red flags with Trump’s “Board of Peace”, Ireland’s deputy premier has said, adding that he could not see a scenario in which Ireland takes part in the group as it is currently constructed.

The board was initially expected to be a small group of figures overseeing the ceasefire in the Middle East, but appears to have evolved into something more wide-reaching, in which dozens of countries have been invited to participate.

Simon Harris said that the proposal has very serious red flags, including no mention of Gaza and the involvement of Putin. He said the original plan was to create a board to oversee a peace plan for Gaza, which was endorsed by the UN in November.

“Let me also be very clear, what we are seeing today at this signing ceremony could not be further removed from that original conversation,” he said.

“An Abomination”: Yanis Varoufakis on Trump’s “Board of Peace” & Threat to Democratic World Order

We speak to Greek economist Yanis Varoufakis about the United States under Donald Trump and its attempts to reshape the post-World War II international consensus. “Trump has all his work done for him by placid European centrists who went along with the policy of trashing international law and creating the circumstances for him to create his private company and say, 'Right, I'm taking over the world,’” laments Varoufakis as he draws a connection between Trump’s pay-to-play diplomacy and the mercantalist policies of European colonial powers.

Varoufakis comments on plans for the reoccupation of Gaza by the U.S.-led “Board of Peace,” which signed its founding charter this week; Trump’s designs on the Danish territory of Greenland; and European leaders’ ineffectual, largely symbolic resistance to Trump’s assertion of U.S. supremacy on the world stage.