Trump's Board of Peace struggles to progress beyond far-from-perfect ceasefire in Gaza

think back Donald Trump's " room of public security"? The lynchpin of the U.S. President's 20-point contrive for conclusion Israel's war in Gaza and rebuilding the decimated territory with a vague nod toward eventual Palestinian statehood?

Critics won't be surprised to hear it's in trouble.

On Thursday, in a report to the United Nations Security Council, which backs the plan, the board's high representative for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, said a "deteriorating status quo" in the territory threatened to become permanent, with "Hamas holding military and administrative control over two million people across less than half the territory."

Inaction, Mladenov warned by video link, would lead to "another generation of children growing up in tents in fear, with despair as the most rational thing for them to feel — no security for Israel and no viable pathway to Palestinian self-determination."

In a written report submitted to the Security Council on May 15, the board called Hamas's refusal to disarm "the principal obstacle" to progress.

It was fulsome in its praise of Trump, whose initiative led to an October ceasefire after two years of brutal conflict.

Israel was rarely mentioned by name in the report, but it did note that Mladenov had repeatedly warned that "every violation, from whatever quarter" risked unravelling a deal many critics have already labelled a ceasefire in name only.

More than 800 Palestinians, including over 200 children, have been killed since the ceasefire began, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health.

After Mladenov's briefing to the UN, aid agencies Oxfam, Refugees International and Save the Children US accused Israel of continuing to obstruct the entry of aid into Gaza, despite obligations laid out in the Trump plan.

At a news conference in New York, they said medical equipment — including ultrasound machines and incubators — have not been allowed into Gaza and that medical evacuations remain severely restricted by Israel.

UNICEF's Salim Oweis, currently in Gaza on a mission, said he has seen a greater volume of aid entering the Gaza Strip since his last visit in February, but it's still not enough.

Oweis also said there's been no change to the way in which aid agencies are negotiating access to Gaza with Israel since the creation of the Board of Peace.

"We're still doing the same thing, with the same clearances, with the same waiting times and all that comes with the process."

The UN has estimated that the cost of rebuilding Gaza will top $70 billion (US).

Oweis said it will be an overwhelming task.

"The majority of the Gaza Strip is destroyed, and to be able to rebuild, we need to clear things out first. That's not something [Gazans] are able to do, both because of resources but also because of the scale of the destruction." 

In its May 15 report, the Board of Peace called for the urgent distribution of funds "committed but not yet disbursed" to the project.

"Many of us, I think, were concerned about [the Board of Peace] from the beginning because it was very vague in its aims and objectives for Gaza in particular," said Julie Norman, a professor of international relations who co-ordinates the Israel-Palestine Initiative at University College London.

"I think we're seeing the results of that now in that it has become increasingly an irrelevance on the ground."

Part of the skepticism comes with the structure of the board itself, a top-down affair with 28 founding members and Trump, who installed himself as the permanent chairman.

Board layers below that include several Trump loyalists and former British prime minister Tony Blair in an endeavour the U.S. President has said could "spread out to other things."

The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) is the only layer made up of Palestinians — about 15 technocrats forming a transitional body to oversee Gaza's recovery and its governance until the Palestinian Authority can take over.

"They are the one body within the Board of Peace that had Palestinian representation," said Norman, who believes the NCAG should already be on the ground in Gaza.

Several media reports have suggested the board members are cooling their heels in Cairo until they're given permission to enter the Gaza Strip.

"It was really important, I think, for Palestinians to see the NCAG having some autonomy, some legitimacy, and instead we've seen them exactly the opposite," Norman said.

Board of Peace envoy urges UN Security Council to push Hamas to disarm

But there are those who say it would be a mistake for the NCAG to move before conditions on the ground in Gaza have improved, including more substantial funding for reconstruction and the presence of a stabilization force.

It's by no means clear how it would work before Hamas has ceded control and its weapons decommissioned.

Analysts say the Iran war has taken attention away from Gaza, particularly in Gulf states concerned with their own security.

Norman said the distraction of the Iran war has enabled both Israel and Hamas to double down on their positions without much pressure.

But she said she doesn’t think it's changed the course of what's happening now.

"I think the positions that they both have taken are ones that we would have expected anyway. Hamas was not and is not looking to disarm. Israel is not willing to withdraw, especially with elections later this year."

Senior International Correspondent

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