Trump’s peace board plan doesn’t mention Gaza, raising fears of UN rival

US President Donald Trump’s vision for an international “board of peace” chaired by him appears to extend far beyond Gaza to other conflict zones, complicating Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s calculus as he considers whether to accept an invitation to join the initiative.

Trump started inviting world leaders to join his anticipated peace board on Sunday, after announcing the body in October to oversee the post-war transition in Gaza. However, the draft charter does not mention Gaza, raising fears that he could use it to set up a rival to the United Nations.

Albanese said on Monday he will consider whether to accept an invitation to join the body, as tensions flare between Israel and the US over its composition.

He told ABC radio on Monday morning he had received correspondence from the White House on Sunday night: “We will consider all of these approaches respectfully, and through our proper processes.”

Albanese added that he had been focused on the early return of parliament to pay tribute to the victims of the Bondi terror attack and introduce legislation on gun control and tackling antisemitism.

Trump has invited the leaders of Egypt, Turkey and Jordan to join the board of peace, which was created as part of his 20-point Gaza peace plan unveiled last October.

Other world leaders, including Argentina’s President Javier Milei and Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney, have also been asked to join the board. It is unclear exactly how many world leaders have been invited, but dozens appear to be on the list.

Trump has described the grouping as the “greatest and most prestigious board ever assembled, at any time, any place” and said it is “going to, in my opinion, start with Gaza and then do conflicts as they arise”.

A leaked copy of the charter, published by The Times of Israel, describes it as “an international organisation that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict”.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said on Monday that Australia welcomed the invitation from Trump and would talk about it with the United States.

“That invitation has just come in,” Marles told the ABC. “We certainly welcome the invitation, as we do welcome all the efforts of the Trump administration to bring about peace in the Middle East.

“We really need to see an end to the conflict there for humanitarian assistance to flow and for that part of the world to be rebuilt. In terms of the specific request, we’ll continue to talk that through with America to properly understand what this means and what’s involved, but we very much welcome the invitation.”

The Trump administration has asked countries to contribute $1 billion each to become permanent members of the peace board, while a non-permanent membership would remain free.

The Israeli government has complained that some of the prospective appointments were “not co-ordinated with Israel and were contrary to its policy”.

Dan Shapiro, who served as US ambassador to Israel under Barack Obama, described Trump’s idea as crazy on social media.

“The draft Board of Peace charter doesn’t even mention Gaza,” he said in a post on X. “It seems to be a play to set up an alternative international structure to the UN – with ‘guess who’ as the permanent Chair (King), with full veto powers, appointing his successor, and sucking up $$ from other countries.”

The mandate of the board, approved in November by the United Nations Security Council is limited to Gaza and only until the end of 2027.

Separately, Trump has also announced a “founding executive board” that he will chair, to focus on investment and foreign relations. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will sit on the seven-member board, along with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and former British prime minister Tony Blair.

A separate National Committee for the Administration of Gaza will oversee day-to-day affairs in Gaza.

Trump’s evolving peace plan has been greeted with scepticism, including by those who initially cautiously welcomed his vision.

Palestinian-American commentator Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said on X that the Board of Peace had come from a brilliant idea that “could have been the beginning of a new republic”.

But he said it was instead a “vanity project that’ll ensure Hamas’ survival and create a playfield for crony capitalism despite the Palestinian technocrats being well-intentioned”.

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