WHY TRUMP’S BOARD OF PEACE FOR GAZA IS POLITICALLY DANGEROUS AHEAD OF ISRAEL’S ELECTIONS
Trump’s Board of Peace for Gaza is presented as reconstruction, but in practice it undermines Palestinian sovereignty and weakens any real path to a Palestinian state. The board is chaired by Trump and dominated by external actors, while Palestinians are reduced to a technocratic committee operating under international supervision. Control over security, borders and political direction is removed from Palestinians themselves. Reuters, 17 January 2026.
A central contradiction remains unresolved. Even under this board, Israel will continue to control crossings, starve Gaza through restrictions on aid and keep Rafah largely closed. A state that erased Gaza’s infrastructure and continues to control food, medicine and movement is positioned as a member of a board supervising Gaza’s rebuilding and governance. This enables Israel to use reconstruction language while maintaining collective punishment. Associated Press reporting throughout 2025 documented the continuation of starvation, displacement and medical collapse in Gaza.
This criticism does not deny the immediate and urgent need for humanitarian assistance. Palestinians in Gaza have endured more than two years of genocide, mass killing, displacement and deprivation. Emergency aid is essential. But aid without sovereignty, and rebuilding without political rights, risks being used to end the Palestinian cause politically rather than resolve it.
There is also a deeper strategic dimension. Israel continues to operate from a realism school of international relations, prioritising power, security and domination. The international community responds using liberal language about institutions, norms and peace building. This mismatch is destructive. Realist theory, articulated by Hans Morgenthau and later by John Mearsheimer in The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, published in 2001, explains how states pursue power while instrumentalising institutions. When realism is practiced and liberalism is only spoken, international law and institutions weaken.
This is unfolding while Netanyahu advances his own agenda ahead of Israel’s elections. From now until June, the focus remains on escalation with Lebanon, preparing the Iran file, and hosting Trump in Israel in May to give Netanyahu political support ahead of the Israeli elections in June. Palestinians are left outside this timeline, treated as a humanitarian issue rather than a political people with rights.
UN human rights experts warned that externally controlled governance arrangements risk entrenching domination rather than enabling self determination. UN Security Council Resolution 2803, adopted 17 November 2025, was criticised for weakening Palestinian agency by transferring authority over governance and security to international mechanisms.
This is not peace. It is managed control. Reconstruction without sovereignty creates dependency. Security without rights creates domination. Normalising this model will damage the Palestinian cause and will also backfire on the global order by further weakening international law and international institutions.
At a minimum, if this trajectory continues regardless, and while the PLO and Palestinian political representation are being ignored, Arab countries must act with extreme caution. Any country that Israel rejected when it offered to send forces to Gaza should insist on doing so, including Turkey, Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Allowing Gaza to be governed and secured without meaningful Palestinian or regional presence will only deepen the political erasure of the Palestinian cause.
The curse of the thousands of Palestinians murdered in Gaza is shaking the entire world order.
Mike
Trump’s Board of Peace for Gaza is presented as reconstruction, but in practice it undermines Palestinian sovereignty and weakens any real path to a Palestinian state. The board is chaired by Trump and dominated by external actors, while Palestinians are reduced to a technocratic committee operating under international supervision. Control over security, borders and political direction is removed from Palestinians themselves. Reuters, 17 January 2026.
A central contradiction remains unresolved. Even under this board, Israel will continue to control crossings, starve Gaza through restrictions on aid and keep Rafah largely closed. A state that erased Gaza’s infrastructure and continues to control food, medicine and movement is positioned as a member of a board supervising Gaza’s rebuilding and governance. This enables Israel to use reconstruction language while maintaining collective punishment. Associated Press reporting throughout 2025 documented the continuation of starvation, displacement and medical collapse in Gaza.
This criticism does not deny the immediate and urgent need for humanitarian assistance. Palestinians in Gaza have endured more than two years of genocide, mass killing, displacement and deprivation. Emergency aid is essential. But aid without sovereignty, and rebuilding without political rights, risks being used to end the Palestinian cause politically rather than resolve it.
There is also a deeper strategic dimension. Israel continues to operate from a realism school of international relations, prioritising power, security and domination. The international community responds using liberal language about institutions, norms and peace building. This mismatch is destructive. Realist theory, articulated by Hans Morgenthau and later by John Mearsheimer in The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, published in 2001, explains how states pursue power while instrumentalising institutions. When realism is practiced and liberalism is only spoken, international law and institutions weaken.
This is unfolding while Netanyahu advances his own agenda ahead of Israel’s elections. From now until June, the focus remains on escalation with Lebanon, preparing the Iran file, and hosting Trump in Israel in May to give Netanyahu political support ahead of the Israeli elections in June. Palestinians are left outside this timeline, treated as a humanitarian issue rather than a political people with rights.
UN human rights experts warned that externally controlled governance arrangements risk entrenching domination rather than enabling self determination. UN Security Council Resolution 2803, adopted 17 November 2025, was criticised for weakening Palestinian agency by transferring authority over governance and security to international mechanisms.
This is not peace. It is managed control. Reconstruction without sovereignty creates dependency. Security without rights creates domination. Normalising this model will damage the Palestinian cause and will also backfire on the global order by further weakening international law and international institutions.
At a minimum, if this trajectory continues regardless, and while the PLO and Palestinian political representation are being ignored, Arab countries must act with extreme caution. Any country that Israel rejected when it offered to send forces to Gaza should insist on doing so, including Turkey, Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Allowing Gaza to be governed and secured without meaningful Palestinian or regional presence will only deepen the political erasure of the Palestinian cause.
The curse of the thousands of Palestinians murdered in Gaza is shaking the entire world order.
Mike
️JUST IN:
Albania
Armenia
Argentina
Azerbaijan
Bahrain
Belarus
Egypt
Hungary
Indonesia
Israel
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kuwait
Kosovo
Morocco
Pakistan
Paraguay
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Türkiye
UAE
Uzbekistan
Vietnam
JUST IN: U.S President Trump:
JUST IN: U.S President Trump on Canada and Mark Carney:
