US President Donald Trump has invited Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to join a proposed international “Board of Peace”, as the White House pushes ahead with its plans to oversee the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire and the enclave’s reconstruction.
Draft documents for the new body, first reported by Bloomberg, have been circulated to a number of world leaders, including Canada’s Mark Carney, Türkiye’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Argentina’s Javier Milei. While the exact number of invitations remains unclear, reports suggest dozens of countries have been approached.
Under the draft charter, the board would be chaired by Trump and made up of serving national leaders, each holding a term of no more than three years. Membership could be extended beyond that period through a cash contribution of $US1 billion. A US official confirmed to Bloomberg that while countries could initially join without charge, the contribution would secure permanent membership and fund the board’s work.
A federal government spokesperson said Canberra welcomed US efforts towards a durable peace in Gaza and looked forward to discussions with the Trump administration on the proposal, adding that Australia would continue working with international partners to support the implementation of Washington’s Middle East peace plan.
India has also received a formal invitation. The US ambassador to India said Modi had been asked to participate in the board, describing it as a mechanism aimed at supporting effective governance and long-term stability in Gaza.
The charter describes the Board of Peace as an international organisation intended to “promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict”. Decisions would be taken by a majority vote of member states, but all would require the approval of the chair.
Beneath the board would sit an executive panel tasked with day-to-day oversight of Gaza’s transition. That group is expected to include US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, former British prime minister Tony Blair and World Bank president Ajay Banga. Former United Nations official Nickolay Mladenov has been nominated to serve as High Representative for Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said elements of the plan had been announced without coordination with his government, objecting in particular to the inclusion of officials from Türkiye and Qatar, both of which have been outspoken critics of Israel’s conduct during the war.
The White House says the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire has begun and that the Board of Peace would play a central role in overseeing reconstruction and governance in the war-ravaged territory, where much of the infrastructure was destroyed following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack and Israel’s subsequent bombardment.
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