Translated material
Trump announces billions in contributions to Peace Council for Gaza Strip
The US President said that Azerbaijan and eight other countries contributed more than seven billion dollars to the Peace Council budget for the Gaza Strip. Donald Trump announced this while speaking at the first meeting of the organization in Washington.
"I am pleased to announce that Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Kuwait have collectively contributed more than seven billion dollars to the relief program. This is wonderful. Thank you, friends," Trump said.
According to the US President, Washington will send another 10 billion dollars to the Peace Council. In addition, the UN will allocate two billion dollars to support Gaza, and FIFA will allocate $75 million to football projects in the region. Also, as Trump said, Japan will organize a fundraiser to help Gaza with the participation of South Korea, the Philippines and Singapore.
The “Peace Council” was proposed by Trump as a structure to resolve the situation in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, the White House did not informally exclude the possibility that in the future the organization could partially perform the functions of an alternative to the UN. Trump himself said that the UN has enormous potential, but the organization has not realized it.
International Stabilization Force in Gaza
At the meeting of the Peace Council, the composition of the International Stabilization Force (ISF) was announced. According to Trump, Indonesia, Morocco, Albania, Kosovo and Kazakhstan will send military and police officers to maintain order in Gaza. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan during the meeting announced Ankara’s readiness to join the mission, despite Israel’s previous objections.
The contingent will be led by American Major General Jasper Jeffers. The total strength of the ISF will be 20 thousand military personnel and 12 thousand police officers. Indonesia will be a key participant, sending up to eight thousand troops to the region.
According to the US peace plan, the ISF will train and support "vetted Palestinian police forces in the Gaza Strip" and provide security jointly with Israel and Egypt. The mission will begin work from Rafah, on the Gaza Strip border with Egypt. The Guardian reported that in the south of the sector the United States plans to place a military base with an area of about 140 hectares, designed for five thousand troops.
Israeli reaction
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said at a meeting of the Peace Council that the Hamas group, designated a terrorist group by the United States, Israel and the European Union, forcibly seized Gaza in 2007. “She built the world’s largest terrorist state - with a huge terrorist infrastructure above and below the ground. October 7, 2023 was only the peak of the ongoing terrorist campaign,” Saar emphasized, recalling the jihadist attack on southern Israel.
"At the heart of President Trump's comprehensive plan is the disarmament of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the demilitarization and deradicalization of Palestinian society. This is the first plan that goes to the root of the problems," Saar said.
Possible Russian participation
The United States, according to Bloomberg, offers countries wishing to obtain a permanent seat on the Peace Council to contribute at least one billion dollars.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, after receiving an invitation to join the Peace Council, announced his readiness to send one billion dollars from Russian funds frozen in the United States. Trump called the idea interesting, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had not yet received an answer about the possibility of using frozen assets for such a contribution.
Trump said he learned to pronounce the name of Azerbaijan
During his speech, Trump boasted that he had learned to pronounce “the beautiful word Azerbaijan.”
"Ilham Aliyev is the president of Azerbaijan. I like this name, at first it was difficult for me to pronounce it, but now I like it. It is a very beautiful name," Trump said.
Previously, the US President made reservations several times, calling Azerbaijan “Aberbaijan”, and also confused the country with Cambodia, and Armenia with Albania.
- The “Peace Council” was proposed by Trump as a structure to resolve the situation in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, the White House did not informally exclude the possibility that in the future the organization could partially perform the functions of an alternative to the UN. Trump himself said that the UN has enormous potential, but the organization has not realized it. At the first meeting, Trump noted that the Peace Council would not be a replacement for the UN.
Trump announces billions in contributions to Peace Council for Gaza Strip