Trump's Board of Peace serves private interests more than public good - The News-Item

In Gaza, aid still trickles in at levels relief agencies say are far below what is required. Temporary shelters are scarce. Reconstruction materials are restricted by Israel’s controls on goods entering the territory. Conditions, say the U.N., remain “dire.” The violence has not stopped: Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed about 600 people since the ceasefire began. The announcement that the U.S. would transfer $10 billion to President Donald Trump’s newly convened Board of Peace is hard to reconcile with the reality on the ground. Even worse is that Washington has paid only a fraction of its U.N. arrears — $160 million against more than $4 billion owed.

This raises the obvious question: Why is a private initiative being capitalised so heavily while existing U.N. mechanisms remain severely cash-strapped? Funnelling state funds into a body chaired by Trump suggests foreign policy is serving private interests, not the public good. The board has ambitious plans. Rafah is to be rebuilt within three years with skyscrapers. Gaza is to become self-governing within a decade. An International Stabilization Force is expected to begin deployment, eventually numbering 20,000 troops. These are dramatic claims. But their delivery is largely notional.

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