WASHINGTON: The US administration is expected to announce a reconstruction plan for Gaza and clarify plans for an international stabilizati...
WASHINGTON: The US administration is expected to announce a reconstruction plan for Gaza and clarify plans for an international stabilization force for the enclave at a Board of Peace meeting set for February 19, Reuters reported.
According to Washington officials, a central part of the meeting will be US President Donald Trump’s announcement of "a multi-billion-dollar fund" for Gaza, which will include monetary contributions from participating board members. One official described the offers as "generous" but noted that the US had not made any explicit requests for donations. "People have come to us offering," the official said, as cited by the news agency.
The US will also announce that a number of countries plan to provide several thousand troops to the stabilization force that is expected to deploy in Gaza in the months ahead, the officials said.
According to Reuters, delegations from at least 20 countries, including many heads of state, are expected to attend the meeting.
On January 22, 19 countries signed the Charter of the Board of Peace on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The body was created as part of efforts to resolve the situation in the Gaza Strip. The Board of Peace was established based on an agreement between Israel and the radical Palestinian movement Hamas to govern the Gaza Strip, but it is also supposed to prevent and settle conflicts in other regions.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier that Moscow was working to develop a position on the Board of Peace, taking into account the cautious approach that many countries in the West and the East had adopted to the initiative. President Vladimir Putin stated earlier that Russia was ready to spend $1 billion from its assets frozen in the US on the Board of Peace. He said Moscow was willing to do so even before it decided whether or not it would join the initiative.
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