Should EU leaders sit on Trump's 'Board of Peace' for Gaza?

"It's been called everything from a "neo-colonialist sham" to "an affront to international law." Yet despite all that, some European leaders still say they want a seat on Gaza's new Board of Peace (BoP), an administrative body that will play an integral part in the next phase of the peace plan meant to resolve the long-running conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. According to the 20-point Gaza peace plan, proposed by US President Donald Trump last year, the Board of Peace will oversee aid and reconstruction and supervise a technocratic Palestinian administration in Gaza."

"So far, the main arguments made against the BoP is that it doesn't allow Palestinians a say in their own future, that it doesn't have an end date, might, therefore, only facilitate the continuation of what the UN classifies as Israel's illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories, and that it contravenes international law in a number of ways. For example, contrary to the 2024 opinion on the conflict issued by the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands, the BoP turns what the court called the Palestinian people's "inalienable right to self-determination" into a "conditional privilege," legal researcher Safia Southey wrote in a text for the American Society of International Law last month."

The Board of Peace (BoP) is a 15-member administrative body created under a 20-point Gaza peace plan to oversee aid, reconstruction and supervise a technocratic Palestinian administration in Gaza. The plan was formalized by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803, and US President Donald Trump stated he will chair the BoP. Critics label the BoP a neo-colonialist construct and an affront to international law, arguing it denies Palestinians input, lacks a clear end date, and could perpetuate Israel's occupation. The International Court of Justice's 2024 opinion affirmed Palestinian self-determination, and legal analysts warn the BoP could make that right conditional. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Nickolay Mladenov as director, who previously served as the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process.

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