Trump’s Board of Peace Warns of Funding Gap for Gaza Reconstruction

A body established by U.S. President Donald Trump to oversee the administration and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip has reported a shortfall in funds needed to advance those efforts.

Trump’s Board of Peace has warned of a significant gap between funds disbursed and the $17bn pledged to the organization, according to media reports Tuesday.

“Funds committed but not yet disbursed represent the difference between a framework that exists on paper and one that delivers on the ground for the people of Gaza,” a May 15 report to the United Nations Security Council cited by news outlets said.

The funding shortfalls underscore concerns about the Board of Peace, already viewed skeptically by critics as a means of sidestepping traditional international organizations and aid groups that Israel does not want involved in shaping the future of the devastated Palestinian territory.

Reuters reported in April that the board had received only a small portion of the $17bn in pledged funds, a report the body rejected at the time, stating there were “no funding constraints”.

The cost of reconstructing Gaza, large swathes of which have been completely leveled during the war and subsequent demolition efforts, has been estimated at $70bn.

The board estimated in its report that 85 percent of Gaza’s buildings and infrastructure have been destroyed and that 70 million tonnes of rubble need to be cleared.

The May 15 report before the UNSC said that funding gaps must be closed “with urgency,” without offering details of how big the gap was.

The Board of Peace was approved by the UN as part of a peace plan between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas, but many countries have declined to participate. Countries such as the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar have pledged funds, along with Morocco, Uzbekistan and Kuwait.

Israel has continued to restrict humanitarian access to Gaza and to carry out frequent strikes that have killed more than 800 Palestinians there since the ceasefire took effect in October.

The board laid blame on Hamas for the shortcomings of the ceasefire, stating that the group has refused to relinquish control in the Gaza Strip. Hamas released a statement slamming what it says are “fallacies” in the report.

The United States has frequently shielded Israel from criticism and avoided blaming it for setbacks to negotiations since the October 2023 beginning of the war.