GENEVA/TEL AVIV (Reuters) – The gap between funding pledges and disbursement for Donald Trump’s Gaza rebuilding plan must be closed urgently, the US president’s “Board of Peace” has said in a report, identifying a potential cash crunch in a plan estimated to cost $70 billion.
Trump set up the Board of Peace to oversee his ambitious plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza and rebuild the shattered territory. Trump has said it would also tackle other conflicts.
The UN Security Council has recognised the board, though many major powers have not joined Washington’s main Middle Eastern allies and some middling and smaller states in signing up.
Reuters reported in April that the board had only received a small fraction of the $17 billion pledged by members for Gaza, preventing the president from moving ahead with his plan.
The board denied that report, saying in a statement it was an “execution-focused organisation that calls capital as needed” and that there “are no funding constraints.” The money is meant to pay for reconstruction and fund the activities of a new U.S.-backed transitional Gaza government.
In a May 15 report to the United Nations Security Council, viewed by Reuters on Tuesday, the board said that “the gap between commitment and disbursement must be closed with urgency”.
It added: “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.”
The board called on countries that signed up for Trump’s board and others to make contributions without delay, and urged “those Member States that have made pledges to accelerate disbursement processes.”
The report did not say how much money it had received or how big the gap was, though it said that the amount pledged remained $17 billion. The Board of Peace did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
