When U.S. President Donald Trump announced his 20-point Gaza peace plan in October 2025 and brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, many observers cautiously hoped it might be different from decades of failed diplomacy. Six months later — on 10 April 2026 — the ceasefire marks its first major milestone. The assessment from the ground is difficult to read: the most intense fighting has stopped, all Israeli hostages have been returned, and an internationally mandated Board of Peace has been established. But Gaza’s more than two million residents remain in limbo, humanitarian conditions have deteriorated further since the Iran war began in February 2026, and the Board of Peace itself has not met since its inaugural session on 18 February.
This article explains what the Board of Peace is, what it has accomplished, where it has stalled, and what it means for the future of Gaza — and for Pakistan, which has been formally invited to join the board.
The Ceasefire: What Was Agreed
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect on 10 October 2025, brokered by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt. It was underpinned by a UN Security Council resolution — Resolution 2803 — adopted on 17 November 2025, which formally mandated a Stabilization Force and established the Board of Peace as an international oversight mechanism.
The agreement had two phases. Phase one, which ran from October 2025 to January 2026, stipulated an immediate ceasefire, a gradual Israeli military withdrawal to pre-designated lines, and the release of all remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. On 14 January 2026, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff announced the start of phase two after Israel confirmed that Hamas had returned the remains of the last hostage, fulfilling the agreed terms of phase one.
Phase two is significantly more complex. It involves the full demilitarisation of Hamas, the deployment of an International Stabilisation Force (ISF) to replace Israeli troops in Gaza, comprehensive reconstruction, and a transition of governance toward a reformed Palestinian Authority. These are the hardest components of any Gaza peace process — and progress on all of them has been limited.
What Is the Board of Peace?
The Board of Peace is a U.S.-created international body established under UNSC Resolution 2803 to oversee Gaza’s transition from conflict to stability. It is not a traditional UN peacekeeping operation or a negotiating forum — it is designed to be an action-oriented governance and reconstruction oversight mechanism.
Trump announced the board publicly during his appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2026. The board held its first meeting in Washington on 18 February 2026, attended by 27 member countries and envoys from nearly 50 nations in total.
At that inaugural meeting, Trump — who chairs the board — committed $10 billion from the United States, bringing total pledges to $7 billion from other members, for a combined announced commitment of approximately $17 billion for Gaza’s reconstruction and stabilisation. The board also established two subsidiary bodies: the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza to manage day-to-day administration, and the Office of the High Representative for Gaza.
Notably, most U.S. NATO allies declined to join the board, citing concerns about the scope of its charter and the inclusion of countries whose leaders face outstanding arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court — a reference to Russia’s participation.
Key members of the board include Qatar, Egypt, Turkey, Bahrain, and — significantly for Pakistani readers — Pakistan, which was formally named as a member in the UN Security Council proceedings. The inclusion of Pakistan reflects its standing in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and its diplomatic relationships across the Muslim world.
Six Months On: What Has Actually Happened
The Ceasefire Is Holding — But Barely
Six months after the ceasefire agreement was signed on 10 October 2025, the reality on the ground in Gaza remains fragile, oscillating between relative calm and recurring escalation, with no tangible improvement in humanitarian or security conditions for Palestinian civilians.
The Gaza Government Media Office documented more than 2,073 ceasefire violations between October 2025 and March 2026, including Israeli air strikes, gunfire, and incursions. In the first weeks of the truce alone, approximately 497 violations were recorded, resulting in 342 Palestinian deaths. By April 2026, the total death toll since the start of the ceasefire has exceeded 700 Palestinians, according to official sources.
Israel established a so-called “Yellow Line” as a separation boundary, effectively dividing Gaza into zones of control. According to UN-linked analyses, Israel maintains effective control over roughly 50 to 55 percent of the Strip — meaning the full withdrawal stipulated in the agreement has not been implemented.
Humanitarian Conditions Have Worsened
Five major international humanitarian organisations released a scorecard on 9 April 2026 concluding that the U.S. 20-point ceasefire plan is largely failing on the humanitarian front. Their findings are stark: during the first two weeks of March 2026, trucks entering Gaza declined by 80%, and the price of basic goods increased dramatically. Medical evacuations have stalled. Gaza residents are currently limited to a single Israeli-controlled border post for aid entry.
Conditions have deteriorated further since the U.S.–Iran war began on 28 February 2026. As Al Jazeera reported, global attention has shifted dramatically toward the Iran conflict, reducing international media coverage of Gaza even as conditions there remain unchanged. Key mediators Egypt and Qatar are now focused on the Iran war’s effects on their own economies.
The Board of Peace Has Stalled
The Board of Peace kicked off with $7 billion in pledges and sweeping intentions of resolving not only Gaza but other conflicts around the world. Nine days after the board’s initial meeting, the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran. The Board of Peace has not met again, and it is still waiting for Hamas to respond to its proposal on disarming — a major concession and perhaps the hardest step.
The Iran conflict has absorbed the diplomatic bandwidth of virtually every actor involved in Gaza — the United States, Israel, Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey. With the added uncertainty over Israel’s renewed conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, interest from potential troop-contributing countries in deploying to a Gaza stabilisation force has further declined.
Pakistan’s Role in the Board of Peace
Pakistan’s inclusion in the Board of Peace is a significant moment in its international diplomatic positioning. During the UN Security Council proceedings, the U.S. delegate specifically thanked Bahrain and Pakistan as Council members who had committed to joining the board.
Pakistan’s potential contributions to the board are real. It has one of the world’s largest Muslim-majority populations, longstanding diplomatic relationships across the Arab world and the broader Muslim world, and prior experience in UN peacekeeping operations. Its participation signals to the broader Muslim world that the board has genuine Islamic-country backing beyond just the Gulf states.
However, Pakistan’s government faces its own pressures. The Iran conflict has directly affected Pakistan’s economy through rising fuel prices, and the country is navigating a difficult security environment on its western border with Iran. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government has also been engaged in brokering the U.S.–Iran talks in Islamabad — a separate diplomatic track that has added to Pakistan’s regional prominence but also its diplomatic burden.
What Phase Two Requires — And Why It Is Hard
The Council on Foreign Relations, in its February 2026 guide to the Gaza peace deal, outlined the critical components of phase two that remain unresolved.
Hamas disarmament is the central challenge. The Board of Peace has submitted a proposal to Hamas on disarming, but as of April 2026, Hamas has not responded. Disarmament is described by analysts as “perhaps the hardest step” — it would require Hamas to surrender the military capability that has been the basis of its political and physical survival for two decades.
Israeli troop withdrawal to pre-war lines has also not occurred. Israeli forces remain at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, which reopened in February 2026. The Israeli military has not announced a timeline for withdrawal from the large portions of Gaza it currently controls.
The deployment of an International Stabilisation Force — intended to replace Israeli troops as the primary security presence in Gaza — requires troop contributions from member states. Indonesia is one of the few confirmed contributors, but three Indonesian peacekeepers have already been killed in southern Lebanon in recent weeks, raising questions about continued participation.
Reconstruction has not meaningfully begun. The $17 billion in pledged funds remains uncommitted pending security and governance benchmarks. No major infrastructure projects have started.
What Supporters and Critics Say
Supporters of the Board of Peace point to genuine achievements in phase one: a ceasefire that ended the most intensive phase of a two-year war, the return of all Israeli hostages, the release of Palestinian prisoners, and the establishment of an international framework for Gaza’s future that did not exist before. Several countries, including Argentina and Bosnia and Herzegovina, have nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in securing the ceasefire.
At the UN Security Council in January 2026, the U.S. delegate argued that phase one’s results “speak for themselves” and that the board “is acting, and not just talking.” Qatar reaffirmed the board’s mandate as an interim mechanism. Egypt called for continued active American engagement.
Critics raise substantive concerns. The most persistent is that Palestinians have had minimal input into a framework that will determine their governance and future. The ceasefire has not produced a meaningful improvement in living conditions for the 2.3 million people in Gaza. The board’s stalling after the Iran war began demonstrates the fragility of any peace architecture dependent on U.S. attention and diplomatic bandwidth — which is now spread across multiple simultaneous crises.
Human rights organisations note that over 72,000 Palestinians died in the two-year war before the ceasefire, and that the pace of reconstruction and humanitarian access remains far below what is needed.
What Happens Next
The immediate diplomatic focus as of April 2026 has shifted to the U.S.–Iran talks in Islamabad, brokered by Pakistan, which aim to turn the fragile two-week Iran ceasefire into a lasting agreement. If those talks succeed, they could redirect U.S. and regional attention back to Gaza. If they fail, the Iran conflict could further destabilise the entire Middle East peace architecture, including the Gaza process.
For the Board of Peace to regain momentum, analysts say three things need to happen: Hamas must engage seriously with the disarmament proposal, Israel must implement meaningful withdrawal from Gaza, and the U.S. must re-engage diplomatically at the level of sustained pressure — which five humanitarian organisations say has been absent. The humanitarian groups’ scorecard noted that any forward movement on aid issues in Gaza has “generally required sustained diplomatic pressure at the highest levels, particularly from the United States. That pressure, however, has not been applied consistently or at the scale needed to secure full implementation.”
Conclusion
Trump’s Board of Peace for Gaza represents a genuine departure from the failed diplomacy of the past three decades. It has achieved a ceasefire, returned hostages, secured a UN mandate, assembled an international coalition, and pledged significant reconstruction funds. These are real accomplishments that should not be dismissed.
But six months in, the gap between the board’s ambitions and the reality on the ground in Gaza is wide. The Iran war has absorbed the diplomatic energy of every key actor. Hamas has not responded to the disarmament proposal. Reconstruction has not started. More than 700 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire began. And two million people remain in conditions that humanitarian organisations describe as a continuing crisis.
The Board of Peace is neither the breakthrough its supporters claim nor the failure its critics insist. It is, at this point, an unfinished project in a region where unfinished projects have a long and painful history.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Trump’s Board of Peace for Gaza?
The Board of Peace is a U.S.-created international body established under UN Security Council Resolution 2803 in November 2025. It is designed to oversee Gaza’s security, reconstruction, and governance transition. It held its inaugural meeting in Washington on 18 February 2026, with 27 member countries present.
Has the Board of Peace achieved anything?
Phase one of the broader peace plan secured a ceasefire in October 2025 and the return of all Israeli hostages by January 2026. The board itself has pledged approximately $17 billion in reconstruction funding. However, it has not met again since its first session, and progress on phase two — Hamas disarmament, Israeli withdrawal, and reconstruction — has been very limited.
Is Pakistan part of the Board of Peace?
Yes. Pakistan was formally named as a board member during UN Security Council proceedings in January 2026. The U.S. delegate specifically thanked Pakistan and Bahrain as Council members who committed to joining the board.
Why has the Board of Peace stalled?
The U.S.–Israel war on Iran, which began nine days after the board’s inaugural meeting, absorbed the diplomatic attention of virtually every major actor involved in Gaza. Hamas has also not responded to the board’s disarmament proposal, which is the central requirement for phase two to progress.
What is the current humanitarian situation in Gaza?
As of April 2026, five international humanitarian organisations described the U.S. 20-point ceasefire plan as largely failing on the humanitarian front. Aid truck entries declined by 80% in the first two weeks of March 2026. Medical evacuations have stalled. Over 700 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire began in October 2025.
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