The Gaza Strip is waiting for reconstruction. The Peace Council takes the initiative from the UN
The council was initially established to oversee the ceasefire plan negotiated by the United States between Israel and Hamas last October. The UN Security Council endorsed the plan a month later. However, the Peace Council's mission expanded; its statute makes no mention of the Gaza Strip and aims to resolve conflicts around the world.
This is happening while most Palestinians in the Gaza Strip continue to live in tents surrounded by rubble and unexploded ordnance from Israeli bombings that followed Hamas' attack on Israel in 2023. Despite a nominal ceasefire, violations continue – today Israeli forces killed at least 11 people in the enclave.
Asked about the timeline for rebuilding the Gaza Strip and disarming Hamas, a senior US official told us that both the Peace Council and the technocratic committee of Palestinian administrators that will run the enclave will “consider various ideas and concepts on how to proceed.”
The establishment of the Peace Council comes as the United States and Israel are moving away from traditional global organizations. This month, the United States withdrew from 66 international bodies. Echoing this move, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar announced the severance of relations with three UN organizations. On Tuesday, Israel bulldozed the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in Jerusalem, drawing condemnation from the UN Secretary-General.
Dozens of other organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, the Danish Refugee Council and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), say Israel denied them licenses because they failed to comply with new registration rules or were deemed too critical of Israeli authorities.
What new countries joined the Peace Council?
What was the original purpose of establishing the Peace Council?
What did a US official say about the timeline for rebuilding the Gaza Strip?
What organizations refused to join the Peace Council?
Kerri Kennedy of AFSC says: “We are seeing the politicization of aid and the disregard of humanitarian principles by the Peace Council. This is dangerous and takes us away from almost 80 years of multilateral agreements on respect for human rights.
A spokesman for the Israeli prime minister did not respond to a request for comment.
The cumulative effect is that U.S.-led aid efforts become more important than ever, says Bishara Bahbah, a Palestinian-American who has served as an informal intermediary in talks between the U.S. and Hamas. “It's the only option,” he adds. — UN involvement would be important and beneficial, but ultimately the people of Gaza don't care whether aid comes from the UN or the Peace Council.
Meanwhile, previous U.S. attempts to establish alternative structures in Gaza have yielded uneven results. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation ceased operations in November after Palestinians reported that hundreds of aid seekers had been killed near its facilities.
For now, the Peace Council's expanded mission divides world leaders. Norway, Sweden and France refused to join. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Tuesday in Davos that he had doubts about participating in the initiative. “We would cash checks and provide in-kind aid to improve the well-being of the people of Palestine, but we want that aid to go directly to causes that promote peace,” he added.
