Gaza and the Board of Peace's unfulfilled promises
The Gaza Strip remains in limbo. While the war is not truly over, timid attempts to restore political normalcy have been made amid unresolved contradictions. Fatah held local elections in Deir el-Balah on 25 April, but Hamas maintains local networks. The Board's only funding came thus far from the United Arab Emirates and Morocco, invested on the future local police force. Meanwhile, 80 per cent of families still depend on water distributed by tankers.
Milan (AsiaNews) – In Gaza, elections were held even though the war is not truly over, in Deir el-Balah, on 25 April. The paradox is that timid attempts to restore political normalcy to the Palestinian territory are being made, despite its devastation and military fragmentation, in a sort of limbo, where daily survival is far from guaranteed.
The recent decision by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to transfer US$ 100 million to the Board of Peace, the international body established under UN Resolution 2803 to manage Gaza's post-war transition, has attracted media attention.
The funds will be used to train a new Palestinian police force, some 27,000 men slated to operate in the territory, after training in Egypt and Jordan under international supervision.
This is the largest contribution received so far by the Board since the donors' conference promoted by the US administration in February.
In fact, the numbers tell somethinginteresting. The UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait have each pledged at least US$ 1 billion to the Board of Peace, but so far, next to the UAE, only Morocco has provided funds, sending several million dollars to the international body. This shows how, behind the grand diplomatic statements, the reconstruction process remains fragile and largely incomplete.
During the war that broke out on between Israel and Hamas on 7 October 2023, the UAE was the main foreign donor to Gaza, covering almost half of the humanitarian aid that reached the territory.
This points to the ambiguous nature of the Board of Peace. It is not a UN mission, not a government, not even a simple diplomatic platform. It is a hybrid structure, political and financial, designed to manage the sovereignty vacuum left by the war.
It is well known that Donald Trump leads it, backed by real estate developers, businessmen, and lobbyists like Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, as well as veteran politicians like former British Prime Minister Tony Blair (who from 2007 to 2015 was the envoy of the so-called Middle East Quartet: the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, and Russia), surrounded by an international council that include Arab states, Palestinian technocrats, security officials, and major economic interests.
Many European governments are highly sceptical of this structure. The suspicion, far from unfounded, is that the Board represents a sort of parallel form of governance, built more around US and regional geopolitical relations than within a genuine multilateral framework.
Some diplomats openly see it as an alternative to the UN, centred on the leadership of the US president. The lack of real Palestinian representation at its highest decision-making levels weighs heavily as well.
The crucial issue remains sovereignty. Gaza today truly belongs to no one. Hamas no longer governs the territory in the centralised (and militarily invasive) form it had established in 2007, but still operates local networks, maintains an armed presence, and is still able to exert influence. Israel continues to maintain security control over large strategic areas and most of the access points.
A National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, the Palestinian technocratic committee supposed to manage the transition, has not yet fully established itself in the territory. The result is fragmented sovereignty.
Against this unclear background, municipal elections were held in Deir el-Balah on 25 April, the first vote in Gaza in 20 years. Although it was limited to only one city (the Palestinian government had initially announced a full-election round), it has symbolic significance.
Deir el-Balah was chosen because it is less destroyed than Gaza City or Rafah, and so it is one of the few areas where it was physically possible to set up polling stations, register voters, and conduct a limited political campaign, albeit under regular Israeli strikes and incursions.
The elections were promoted by the Palestinian Election Commission at the instigation of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) led by Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). This is where another paradox emerges. The Board of Peace had no part in organising the vote.
The initiative came from Fatah, the ruling party that has been trying for years to reaffirm the institutional link between the West Bank and Gaza. Hamas, greatly weakened but not entirely wiped out, allowed the elections to take place, calling this election an important step.
More than reconciliation, however, this appears to be forced coexistence, a tactical move aimed at avoiding exacerbating conflicts in a still-explosive situation.
The political significance of the vote is clear. After more than two years of war and nearly 20 years of internal Palestinian divisions, the PNA sought to gauge the true weight of the various forces in Gaza.
The results show lists close to Fatah in the lead, with candidates linked to Hamas losing ground, and a significant growth in independent civic lists.
But perhaps the most important finding is another: Palestinian politics, oppressed by the war and the total militarisation of the territory, is struggling to emerge from the rubble.
The extremely low turnout, around 22 per cent, speaks to the depth of the social divide. In Gaza today, more than 1.5 million people still live in temporary camps or makeshift structures.
Entire neighbourhoods lie in ruins. The healthcare system has nearly collapsed. According to a joint report by the World Bank, the United Nations, and the European Union, rebuilding the Strip would require over US$ 71 billion over the next five years.
More than 370,000 housing units have been damaged or destroyed; over 75 per cent of the residential stock has been affected by the war.
To be able to vote, people need confidence in the future. And this is the rarest commodity in the Gaza Strip today.
The numbers only capture the full extent of the catastrophe. Rebuilding the healthcare system will require more than US$ 10 billion. Billions more will be needed for energy infrastructure and water networks.
Today, most electricity comes from local generators and improvised solar panels, while nearly 80 per cent of households depend on water distributed by tankers.
More than a post-war phase, Gaza appears to be a society that has survived destruction but is still struggling to emerge from it. In the meantime, its social fabric has been completely wrecked.
This is where the Board of Peace shows all its limitations. Without an international structure capable of coordinating security, aid, and reconstruction, Gaza risks definitive collapse.
At the same time, having set aside the option of a full-fledged UN mission, the Board comes with major political contradictions: enormous economic resources, great diplomatic clout (both US and Arab), but a local legitimacy that still must be earned.
The new Palestinian police force, funded thanks to generous contributions from the UAE, is intended (according to Trump and his associates) to gradually replace both Hamas and Israel.
But recruitment is just beginning (those applying to join the new police force will have to undergo screening by Shin Bet, Israel's internal intelligence service), territorial control remains fragmented, and the issue of Hamas's disarmament is far from resolved.
At the same time, the Board is also seeking to build an International Stabilisation Force, a multinational force that should accompany the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces and ensure security in the areas administered by new Palestinian institutions.
Indonesia, Albania, Kazakhstan, and Kosovo have announced their willingness to participate in the mission, but so far no contingent has actually been deployed, not even the initial training phase.
The United States, however, continues to openly support the project. Trump recently signed an executive order authorising the sale of US defence articles and services to the Board of Peace, equipment likely intended for the future security forces of the Gaza transition.
Seemingly designed for peace, the body is thus becoming a useful tool in the hands of the US war industry.
Gaza, in short, is in a state of suspended animation. With the world focused on Iran, the Red Sea, the Strait of Hormuz, the global energy crisis, and the competition between regional powers, one of the largest contemporary humanitarian crises continues to unfold in the Strip.
Elections in Deir el-Balah are a dogged, if likely unrealistic, attempt to rebuild a minimal form of politics within a space where sovereignty does not yet exist. The post-war period in Gaza is not yet peace. Indeed, perhaps it has not even begun yet.
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