Israel agrees to join Trump's Gaza truce council
JAKARTA - Israeli Prime Minister (PM) Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, January 21, said he agreed to join the Gaza Peace Council formed by US President Donald Trump.
Netanyahu previously objected to the composition of the executive council members who would fill the Gaza Peace Council.
The Trump-led council was originally designed to be filled with a small group of world leaders overseeing the Gaza ceasefire plan.
But Trump's ambitions evolved into a broader concept, sending invitations to dozens of countries and hinting that they would soon become mediators in the Gaza and global conflicts.
Netanyahu was then upset with the US, especially Trump, on Monday, January 19. Netanyahu felt that he should be invited to discuss first before the council was formed, but the reality was not.
Netanyahu also disagreed if Turkey and Qatar were included in Trump's Gaza Peace Council.
The right-wing Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, on the same day as Netanyahu, criticized the council and called on Israel to take unilateral responsibility for Gaza's future.
The arrangement of
The countries that have joined the council include the UAE, Morocco, Vietnam, Belarus, Hungary, Kazakhstan, and Argentina.
Other countries, including Britain, Russia, and the EU executive, have said they have received invitations but have not responded.
Meanwhile, members of the executive council in the Gaza Peace Council include US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan, World Bank President Ajay Banga, and Trump's deputy national security adviser, Robert Gabriel.
The White House also announced another council member, the Gaza Executive Council, which according to the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas regarding Gaza will be responsible for implementing the second phase.
The second phase includes deploying international security forces, disarming Hamas, and rebuilding areas destroyed by the war.
The council will also oversee a newly appointed Palestinian technocratic committee that will run Gaza's day-to-day affairs.
Bulgarian politician and UN envoy for the Middle East, Nickolay Mladenov, was appointed as the representative of the Gaza Executive Council, which oversees the council's daily affairs.
Additional members include: Witkoff, Kushner, Blair, Rowan, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan; Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi; Hassan Rashad, director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Agency; United Arab Emirates minister Reem Al-Hashimy; Israeli businessman Yakir Gabay; and Sigrid Kaag, former Dutch deputy prime minister and Middle East expert.
Controversy
The Gaza Peace Council was formed by Trump. When asked by a reporter on Tuesday, January 20, whether the council should replace the United Nations, Trump said, "Maybe." He stressed that the world body "has not been very helpful" and "has never fulfilled its potential" but also said the United Nations must continue "because its potential is very great."
The statement caused controversy, with some parties confirming that Trump was planning to try to replace the UN. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said: "Yes, to implement the peace plan proposed by the president of the United States, which we fully support, but not to create an organization as he has proposed, which will replace the United Nations."