US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced the formation of the Gaza Board of Peace and issued a new warning to Hamas that it must quickly disarm.
The board, part of Mr Trump's 20-point peace plan for Gaza following two years of war between Hamas and Israel, will oversee reconstruction in the Palestinian enclave.
“The Members of the Board will be announced shortly, but I can say with certainty that it is the Greatest and Most Prestigious Board ever assembled at any time, any place,” Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
In a subsequent post, the President said Hamas must immediately return the remains of the last remaining deceased Israeli hostage and move quickly to full demilitarisation.
"As I have said before, they can do this the easy way, or the hard way," he said.
Mr Trump has said he will be the chairman of the board. Israel said this week that UAE-based Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov will serve as its director.
It is unclear who the members might be, but Mr Trump has said that “kings, presidents and prime ministers” are eager to be on the board.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is believed to have been offered a post.
The announcement comes after the US announced the launch of the second phase of the Gaza peace plan this week.
The second phase establishes a “transitional technocratic Palestinian administration” – the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza – and begins the full demilitarisation and reconstruction of the enclave.
A ceasefire in October halted two years of conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The war began when Hamas and other groups launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and resulted in about 240 being taken hostage.
In retaliation, Israel began a large-scale campaign in Gaza that levelled most of the coastal enclave and killed at least 71,000 people. The UN and several countries have called Israel's actions in Gaza a genocide.
