Trump's Gaza Board of Peace Faces Funding Shortfall Amid Controversy

The Funding Crisis

The Board of Peace, which was founded by United States President Donald Trump in January to oversee the administration and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, is facing a crippling cash crunch that threatens to derail its ambitious $70bn reconstruction plan for the devastated enclave.

The US-led board recently reported a critical gap between its financial commitments and actual disbursements, warning of an urgent liquidity crisis, according to the Reuters news agency.

The Structure of the Board

However, experts tracking international aid to Palestinians said the funding shortfall is neither surprising nor purely administrative. Instead, they argued that the reluctance of Arab and European donors stems from the board’s controversial structure, a lack of a viable political horizon for a Palestinian state and Israel’s ongoing military expansion across the besieged enclave.

Moath al-Amoudi, an expert in international aid to Palestinians, told Al Jazeera that the heavily publicised pledges are closer to a “talk show” than a genuine humanitarian effort.

A History of Empty Promises

“Out of the $17bn pledged, the actual liquidity that has reached the ground is zero,” al-Amoudi said. “Donors are terrified of engaging with a board that carries no political vision and treats Gaza merely as an American security protectorate.”

The gap between pledges and actual disbursements is a historical constant in the Palestinian context, but the US has a particularly poor track record, al-Amoudi noted.

Commercial Guardianship and the $1bn Seats

Much of the international hesitation is rooted in the architecture of the Board of Peace itself.

Previous Al Jazeera reporting revealed that the board operates as a complex three-tiered governing structure heavily stacked with American billionaires and pro-Israel figures, such as billionaire Marc Rowan, US envoy Steve Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Humanitarian Aid as Political Blackmail

The board’s funding crisis is deeply intertwined with its strict political and security conditions. The three-phased US plan for Gaza explicitly demands the full disarmament of Hamas and all allied Palestinian factions as a prerequisite for reconstruction funds and the opening of border crossings while Israel has continued to violate the terms of an October “ceasefire”.

The Yellow Line and Modern Ghettos

Beyond the political and structural flaws of the board, the volatile reality on the ground makes meaningful reconstruction nearly impossible.

Despite a nominal “ceasefire”, Israeli forces have continued their near-daily violations. According to local medical sources, 828 Palestinians have been killed since the “truce” went into effect.