Financial Times: Gaza’s Peace Council has no funding!
The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that the so-called Peace Council formed by US President Donald Trump, primarily to oversee the reconstruction of the devastated Gaza Strip, is facing legal problems and has no funding in its own fund despite receiving financial promises of billions of dollars.
The Peace Council was established in January, as part of the American proposal that resulted in a ceasefire agreement in the war between Israel and Hamas last October.
The council’s initial purpose was to oversee the ceasefire and the reconstruction of the sector, but its goal expanded to include settling various international disputes, raising concerns that it might become a parallel entity to the United Nations.
The newspaper quoted four sources familiar with the issue as saying that the council, which Trump personally chairs even after the end of his presidential term, hasn’t yet received any money in its special fund, which is managed by the World Bank and supported by the United Nations.
According to the Financial Times, one of the sources said, “Not a single dollar has been deposited.”
Instead, the council received funds that were deposited directly into an account set up at JPMorgan Chase, the newspaper quoted its spokesman as saying.
The Financial Times noted that there were no independent requirements for transparency with regard to this account.
The major European countries have distanced themselves from the council, which is mainly composed of historic US partners in the Middle East, ideological allies of Trump, and smaller countries seeking to appease him.
France and Britain refused to join it, as Trump had announced that the United States would contribute $10 billion to the council, while Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates each promised to contribute at least $1 billion.
According to the Council’s charter, countries wishing to obtain a permanent seat in it must pay a fee of one billion dollars.
The United Nations and the European Union estimated in April that the cost of reconstruction for the next ten years in the Gaza Strip would be $71.4 billion, according to a study conducted jointly with the World Bank.
Last week, the representative of the Peace Council in Gaza, Bulgarian diplomat Nikolay Mladenov, warned of the dangers of the current status quo, in which a fragile ceasefire prevails in the devastated sector, becoming a permanent situation.
Three non-governmental organizations on Thursday denounced the still catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, pointing to a significant discrepancy between declared commitments and their practical implementation.
