By Our Correspondent

WASHINGTON – Nearly 50 nations gathered in Washington on Thursday for the inaugural meeting of President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace," pledging billions for Gaza's reconstruction and thousands of troops for a stabilization force. But one voice was conspicuously absent from the room: the Palestinians themselves.

As Trump outlined a glittering vision of a "Mediterranean Riviera" rising from the rubble of Gaza, analysts and human rights organizations delivered a stinging rebuke: you cannot decide the future of 2.1 million people without their consent.

The absence of Palestinian representation at the US Institute of Peace has raised fundamental questions about the board's legitimacy, its compliance with international law, and whether it represents a genuine peace initiative or a unilateral instrument of Washington's geopolitical ambitions.

- Who was in the room?

According to official lists released after the meeting, 27 countries have joined the Board of Peace as full members, with approximately 20 additional nations and the European Union attending as observers.

- Observers - 21 countries +EU

Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Poland, South Korea, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, and the European Union.

Notable absentees: included France, China, and Russia—permanent members of the UN Security Council—who declined to join .

- Billions of dollars pledged 

Trump opened the summit by declaring "the war in Gaza is over," making no mention of ongoing Israeli military operations and ceasefire violations that have killed hundreds since the October ceasefire. The president announced:

• $10 billion from the United States for Gaza reconstruction (though congressional approval remains uncertain) 

• More than $7 billion pledged by nine nations: Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, UAE, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, and Kuwait 

• Thousands of troops committed to an International Stabilization Force (ISF) by Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, and Albania, with Egypt and Jordan training Palestinian police 

• $75 million from FIFA for sports-related projects in Gaza 

• A future fundraising conference to be hosted by Japan 

"The Board of Peace is showing how a better future can be built, starting right here in this room," Trump told assembled diplomats.

But the celebrations masked a troubling reality: the estimated cost of rebuilding Gaza is $70 billion -- nearly five times the pledges announced. More critically, no mechanism was established for consulting the very people whose homes, hospitals, and schools will be rebuilt.

- The absence of Palestinian 

The exclusion of Palestinian representatives has drawn sharp criticism from analysts, human rights organizations, and civil society groups across the Muslim world.

"Peace cannot be imposed through ownership structures, enforced silence or economic dependency," read a joint statement from Malaysian political leaders and activists, according to Bernama. "Genuine peace requires justice, accountability, and the full recognition of Palestinian rights under international law".

Tarek Fahmy, a political science professor at Cairo University, told Xinhua that the absence of Palestinian representation "fuels skepticism and undermines the initiative's credibility from the start" .

Yousef Munayyer, head of the Israel-Palestine program at the Arab Center, Washington, DC, posed the fundamental question: "What exactly does Trump want to get out of this meeting?" His answer: Trump wants to demonstrate that "people believe in his project and in his vision," but the board's structure prevents genuine Palestinian participation, according to Al Jazeera. 

The Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq went further, condemning the entire framework as an "illegal occupation" imposed "without their consent, constituting a blatant violation of the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination" .

- International law vs Trump's vision 

Legal experts have raised serious concerns about whether the Board of Peace framework complies with established international law governing intervention and occupation.

Under international law, any deployment of foreign forces requires either:

1. A UN Security Council mandate under Chapter VII, or

2. The consent of the sovereign territory's legitimate representatives 

The Board of Peace claims UN backing through Resolution 2803, passed in November 2025. But critics argue this resolution was itself "imposed on the Palestinian people without their consent".

The question of who can lawfully consent to foreign deployment in Gaza is legally complex. While Israel claims it ended its occupation in 2005, it continues to exercise effective control over Gaza's airspace, maritime access, borders, and civil registry -- factors that, under international law, may still constitute occupation.

A further legal complication arises from the ISF's mandate to disarm Hamas. International law, including Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, "stipulates the right for a people to resist colonial domination and occupation".

By mandating disarmament as a precondition for reconstruction, the Board of Peace may be violating Palestinians' legal right to resist occupation -- a right recognized under international humanitarian law.

Even among countries that joined the board, concerns persist about its structure and longevity.

"The board is linked to a person more than it is linked to an international system," said Maged Botros, a political science professor at Helwan University in Egypt, according to Xinhua News.

He warned that this means "its continuity is tied to a single person rather than to an institutional framework".

Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group said, “If Trump uses his authority under the charter to order everyone around, block any proposals he doesn’t like, and run this in a completely personalistic fashion,” Gowan said, according to Al Jazeera. “I think even countries that want to make nice with Trump will wonder what they’re getting into.”

 - Gaza peace with Gazans not possible

Perhaps most troubling to critics is the vision being promoted for Gaza's future -- one developed entirely without Palestinian input.

Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, a member of the board's "Gaza executive board," unveiled a "master plan" in January featuring gleaming residential towers, data centers, seaside resorts, parks, and sports facilities -- all predicated on the complete disarmament of Hamas and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

"The central objective of the Board of Peace is to advance Trump's openly stated ambition to transform Gaza into a high-tech luxury destination -- the so-called 'Gaza Riviera,'" read the Malaysian civil society statement. "This framing reduces the reconstruction of a devastated territory with a right to Palestine statehood to a real-estate transaction".

Despite the fanfare in Washington, significant obstacles remain before any troops deploy or reconstruction begins.

Unresolved issues 

1. Disarmament: Hamas has shown no willingness to surrender its weapons. Its political leader abroad, Khaled Meshaal, recently rejected disarmament calls, arguing that stripping weapons from an occupied people would make them "an easy victim to be eliminated".

2. Security: "It's still an active warzone." Indonesia, despite pledging up to 8,000 troops, is unlikely to deploy "until the situation is stable".

3. Ceasefire violations: Israel continues daily operations in Gaza, with at least 603 Palestinians killed since the October ceasefire took effect.

4. Humanitarian access: One board member described the flow of humanitarian assistance as "disastrous" and in urgent need of expansion, with no clarity on who would distribute aid on the ground.

As Muslims around the world observe the first days of Ramadan, the Board of Peace's inaugural meeting has sent an unmistakable message: the future of Gaza is being decided in Washington, not in Gaza.

For the 2.1 million Palestinians living among the rubble -- many in tents, without adequate food, water, or medicine -- the glittering pledges and architectural renderings must seem like a mirage. Reconstruction cannot begin without the Gazans' participation, and throughout this chain of conditions, Palestinians themselves have no seat at the table.

"The board could turn into a 'one-man show' that disregards international law, overlooks Palestinian rights, and risks widening global divisions rather than providing a just resolution," Xinhua's analysis concluded.

Trump remains characteristically confident. "Someday I won't be here," he told the assembled delegates. "The United Nations will be. I think it is going to be much stronger, and the Board of Peace is going to almost be looking over the United Nations and making sure it runs properly".

But in the refugee camps of Gaza, in the mosques of Jakarta and Karachi, and in the corridors of international law, a simpler question echoes: How can you build peace for a people, without the people themselves?

*Reporting by The South Asia Times correspondents in Washington, Cairo, Islamabad, and Jakarta