The Board of Peace Met on Thursday - Here Are Some Highlights

It's too common, when discussing peace initiatives in the Middle East, to add the caveat "If this all works," because, all too often, peace efforts in this part of the world come to naught. That's been true since the time of the Romans, and it's true today. Having spent some time in that arid, dusty, unpleasantly hot part of the world, I've often wondered if a big part of what makes people in the region so factious is that they have to live there.

On Thursday, however, President Trump chaired the first meeting of the Board of Peace, the main purpose of which is the rebuilding of Gaza, and we have to admit, there's a lot of horsepower in this gathering. Earlier on Thursday, RedState's own Jennifer Van Laar covered the opening of that inaugural meeting:

Now, let's look at a few highlights as to what happened next.

First, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Ambassador Mike Waltz, described the ongoing provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

.@USAmbUN: "Humanitarian aid has absolutely surged since the Gaza war ended... 4,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza each week for 13 consecutive weeks — the longest stretch of high volume assistance to Gaza in years. Diversion is down significantly from prior to the ceasefire." pic.twitter.com/uGG7pvlx53
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 19, 2026

4,200 aid trucks - that's a lot of aid, presumably mostly food, clean water, and medical supplies. And by "diversion is down," that means less of that aid is being stolen by Hamas, although it's a tacit admission that Hamas is still gleaning some of the aid. More on that in a moment. Oh, and Greta "Doom Pixie" Thunberg, that supposed champion of Gaza humanitarian aid, was unavailable for comment.

Next, the White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, announced that the President had, before the meeting, signed a document pledging financial integrity and transparency. Given the fact that funding for these kinds of efforts is all too often, shall we say, re-directed, this is probably a pretty good idea. The resolution passed a vote of the Board, unanimously.

WATCH: @POTUS signs the unanimously-passed resolution establishing the principles of financial integrity and transparency that will guide the @BoardOfPeace pic.twitter.com/3Q9Z83cVDW
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 19, 2026

The White House has put out a lengthy list of details as to how the reconstruction of Gaza will be carried out, which resources will go where, timelines, and more; you can see that here.

Ensuring a peaceful and prosperous Gaza. pic.twitter.com/o4YRgPNkK7
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 19, 2026

Trump: Board of Peace Has 'Unlimited Potential' for Gaza and Elsewhere

Finally, President Trump spoke for a few moments at the conclusion of the meeting, noting that the precedent set here may have regional application - perhaps in helping rebuild a post-theocracy Iran?

.@POTUS concludes the inaugural @BoardOfPeace meeting in Washington, D.C.: "I think this will maybe be one of, if not the most important day of our careers... We're going to straighten out Gaza. We're going to make Gaza very successful and safe." pic.twitter.com/lcRdAJwG02
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 19, 2026

The president said in part:

We're going to straighten out Gaza, we're going to make Gaza very successful and safe. And we're also maybe going to take it a step further, where we see hotspots around the world, we can probably do that very easily. This is a tremendous group of powerful people, and brilliant people. And, I think that we can do things that a lot of other people would not be able to even conceive of, think of. We will help Gaza, we will straighten it out, we'll make it successful, we'll make it peaceful, and we will do things like that in other spots.

The elephant in the room in Gaza remains Hamas. For there to be any lasting peace, for there to be any lasting reconstruction and restoration of Gaza, Hamas has to be removed from the board, permanently.

It's as I have been saying, and writing, ever since the October 7th, 2023, attacks on Israel: There will be no lasting peace in or near Gaza until Hamas is no longer a factor.

Editor's Note: President Trump is leading America into the "Golden Age" as Democrats try desperately to stop it.

Help us continue to report on President Trump's successes. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.