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Trump to host first Gaza peace board meeting Thursday with $5bn pledged

Trump to host first Gaza peace board meeting Thursday with $5bn pledged
By Nils Adler, Edna Mohamed, Joseph Stepansky and Fiona Kelliher
Published On 19 Feb 2026

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19 Feb 2026 - 22:55
 (22:55 GMT)

Thanks for joining us

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To learn the Board of Peace’s plans for the Gaza International Stabilization Force, watch this.

For more on why a new UN report says Israel is stoking “ethnic cleansing” fears in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, read this.

And you can always find all our coverage of Gaza and the West Bank here.

19 Feb 2026 - 22:50
 (22:50 GMT)

Here’s what happened today

We will be closing this live page shortly. But before we do, here’s a recap of the day’s major developments:

  • United States President Donald Trump hosted the inaugural meeting of his Board of Peace, where he committed $10bn for Gaza’s reconstruction and said countries had pledged $7bn more, plus troops for an eventual 20,000-troop International Stabilization Force (ISF).
  • ISF forces will first deploy to Rafah, General Jasper Jeffers said, and later fan out across five different “sectors”.
  • The board plans to build 100,000 homes in Rafah, with $5bn dedicated to infrastructure, before expanding to a total of 400,000 homes.
  • Demonstrators in Washington, DC, rallied against Israel’s participation and Palestine’s exclusion from the board, as critics pointed out the scant details for key parts of the plan.
  • Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, at least two Palestinians were wounded by Israeli fire.
  • Israeli forces and settlers also carried out raids across various parts of the occupied West Bank, shooting at least one man, arresting Palestinians and storming homes, amid a widely-condemned formal bid to effectively annex large areas of Palestinian territory.
19 Feb 2026 - 22:45
 (22:45 GMT)

Without Palestinian voices, Board of Peace is ‘control architecture’

The key question facing the Board of Peace is whether it legitimately engages with Palestinian self-determination, a Washington, DC-based expert has told Al Jazeera.

Hady Amr, the former US special representative for Palestinian affairs, laid out a litany of problems with the board as it currently stands, including its deriving legitimacy from the UN “while at the same time undermining it”, the lifetime appointment of Trump as chairman and the notable absence of democratic states or elected members.

“It’s more control architecture than peace architecture,” he said.

But the crux of the matter is the relationship between the Gaza Committee and the Palestinian Authority.

“Peace requires justice, and until the underlying injustices are addressed, we’ll clearly never get to peace,” Amr said. Achieving that, he added, will require reuniting “Palestinian governance under one Palestinian self-determination – which is what the Palestinian people want.”

19 Feb 2026 - 22:30
 (22:30 GMT)

Israeli forces shoot, arrest Palestinian man as West Bank raids continue

The Israeli military has shot and wounded a young Palestinian man near occupied East Jerusalem before arresting him, the Wafa news agency reports.

Local sources told Wafa the incident unfolded in the town of ar-Ram. There were no further details about the man’s condition.

Across other parts of the occupied West Bank, raids, arrests and seizures of property continued apace throughout the evening.

A group of Israeli settlers took over two buildings containing multiple apartments near Hebron, where they raised the Israeli flag and the Star of David on them, Wafa reported.

Israeli forces also stormed several neighbourhoods in the el-Bireh area, where they patrolled the streets and fired stun grenades.

And in Tuqu, southeast of Bethlehem, soldiers raided at least one home, though no arrests were reported.

19 Feb 2026 - 22:15
 (22:15 GMT)

Israel releases four detainees to Gaza

The four arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital in central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah, after Israeli authorities released them at the Karem Abu Salem border crossing, also known as Kerem Shalom.

Wafa news agency quoted a spokesperson for the Red Cross, Amani al-Naouq, who said that the organisation, along with the Palestine Red Crescent Society, facilitated the release of the detainees as well as their reunion with their families.

Released Palestinian detainees frequently report experiencing an array of horrifying abuse at the hands of their Israeli jailers. A report out earlier this week from the Committee to Protect Journalists cites testimony from dozens of journalists detained by Israel since October 7, 2023, nearly all of whom had experienced torture, threats, or even rape.

19 Feb 2026 - 22:00
 (22:00 GMT)

‘True test’ for Board of Peace is enforcing ceasefire, Hamas says

We now have a response from Hamas regarding today’s inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace.

In a statement, spokesperson Hazem Qassem said the board members’ true test “is their ability to compel the occupation to cease its violations of the ceasefire, to fulfill its obligations, and to initiate a genuine relief effort and reconstruction”.

“The experience of the past months since the ceasefire came into effect confirms that the occupation disregards such positions as long as they are not accompanied by real pressure,” he added.

Any genuine effort to achieve stability in Gaza, the statement concluded, “must address the root cause of the problem: the occupation, ending its aggressive policies, and enabling our Palestinian people to attain their full and undiminished rights”.

19 Feb 2026 - 21:45
 (21:45 GMT)

Palestinians wounded by Israeli fire in north Gaza, Khan Younis

Al Jazeera’s team on the ground in the Gaza Strip, citing a source at al-Shifa Hospital, reports that a Palestinian was wounded by Israeli drone fire beyond the boundaries of the yellow line, which separates areas of the Strip still under Israeli military control.

In Khan Younis, Wafa news agency reports, one person was shot by Israeli forces. The news agency cited sources at Nasser Hospital.

Israel’s daily attacks on Palestinians in Gaza have not stopped, even as countries assembled today in Washington, DC, to decide the fate of a “post-war” Strip.

19 Feb 2026 - 21:30
 (21:30 GMT)

Israel continues to deny, impede humanitarian missions: UN

The UN’s humanitarian arm has reported that Israel denied 16 facilitation requests for humanitarian missions since February 1, putting it on track to reject a similar number of requests as it did in January, when the total came to 32.

Seventy-five requests were accepted and went ahead on the ground, OCHA said, while another 34 were impeded – meaning they were blocked or delayed on the ground.

Israel has also been systematically preventing thousands of Palestinians who are looking to exit Gaza via the Rafah crossing to Egypt for medical care, with just 260 patients leaving Gaza since the first day of reopening two and a half weeks ago – a small fraction of the roughly 18,500 people who desperately require evacuation.

Humanitarian aid trucks await permission on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, August 3, 2025 [AFP]
19 Feb 2026 - 21:15
 (21:15 GMT)

Israeli forces kill three Palestinians in West Bank so far in February: UN

The Israeli military killed three Palestinians in the occupied West Bank between February 3 and 16, bringing the total killings since the start of the year to nine, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said.

Two of the nine were children, the office reported in its latest update.

Most recently, Israeli forces shot and killed two men in Qalqilya governorate, and one in Jericho. Palestinian security forces also killed a 15-year-old Palestinian boy and wounded his sister and father in Tubas governorate; the five-year-old girl was later declared clinically dead, the office said.

Another 137 Palestinians – including 11 children – have been wounded over the same timeframe, 78 by Israeli forces and 59 by Israelis from illegal settlements.

OCHA documented at least 86 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians across 60 communities, leading to the displacement of 146 people and the vandalisation of more than 800 olive trees and saplings.

Most incidents were recorded in Nablus governorate, particularly Qusra and Talfit villages, followed by Ramallah governorate.

Overall, the hardest-hit area in the West Bank for displacement in 2026 is the Jordan Valley, which accounts for 90 percent of Palestinians displaced so far.

A Palestinian man checks wounded sheep after settlers attacked a Bedouin community in the Jordan Valley, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, July 18, 2025 [Ali Sawafta/Reuters]
19 Feb 2026 - 21:00
 (21:00 GMT)

WATCH: Trump claims ‘war in Gaza is over’ despite repeated ceasefire violations

US President Donald Trump has presided over the first meeting of his controversial “Board of Peace” in Washington, DC, with the focus on the Gaza Strip.

Those attending promised a bright future for Gaza, pledging money, peacekeeping troops, and investment – but with few political details.

Watch our video report below:

19 Feb 2026 - 20:45
 (20:45 GMT)

What’s been happening in the occupied West Bank?

  • The Israeli military sprayed dozens of Palestinians with tear gas and fired stun grenades during a raid on the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, Wafa news agency reports.
  • Meanwhile, near Jenin, forces set up a checkpoint in the centre of town, where they fired live ammunition and prevented residents and vehicles from passing.
  • Three young Palestinian men were arrested in al-Mughayyir, a village of about 4,000 residents north of Ramallah, while they were installing solar panels for a shop.
  • Multiple Israeli military vehicles and soldiers positioned themselves outside Birzeit University. In January, a military invasion of the campus wounded 41 people and left 11 hospitalised.
  • Soldiers arrested a man tending livestock in the northern Jordan Valley after settlers attempted to forcibly remove him from the area, a local official said.
  • Israeli forces carried out overnight raids Thursday in multiple parts of Hebron governorate, detaining dozens of people and smashing the contents of homes.
  • Soldiers also raided three refugee camps – Arroub in Hebron, New Askar near Nablus and Qalandiya north of occupied East Jerusalem – and arrested several people. More than a dozen Palestinians were separately arrested during a concurrent raid on the village of Qalandiya.
19 Feb 2026 - 20:30
 (20:30 GMT)

Senior US official says work on Gaza stabilisation force ongoing ‘for months’

Josh Gruenbaum, who has been working under US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff on Middle East policy, tells Al Jazeera that the US is currently in talks with several countries to engage Hamas in direct negotiations over its disarmament.

The disarmament of Hamas is at the core of phase two of the so-called “ceasefire” in Gaza, under which Israel is supposed to have ceased its attacks, which it has not. Greunbaum said that the disarmament of Hamas is a prerequisite for any work reconstructing the decimated Gaza Strip.

Many countries at today’s Board of Peace meeting made this point during remarks in which they pledged funding to the board’s Gaza initiatives.

Greunbaum told Al Jazeera that the US has a good framework in place and hopes Hamas will abide by it, making the transition process in Gaza as smooth as possible.

“The important thing now is to deliver aid and rebuild Gaza”, he said.

He also said that work on the International Stabilization Force in Gaza has been ongoing for months. Countries present at today’s meeting outlined plans for a 20,000-strong force to eventually deploy to Gaza.

19 Feb 2026 - 20:15
 (20:15 GMT)

Photos: Protesters outside Trump’s Board of Peace meeting

Demonstrators protest outside of the US Institute of Peace as President Donald Trump hosts the inaugural meeting of the ‘Board of Peace’ in Washington, DC, on February 19, 2026 [AFP]
[AFP]
[AFP]
Demonstrators hold banners as an effigy of US President Donald Trump lies on the ground near the US Institute of Peace building [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]

19 Feb 2026 - 20:00
 (20:00 GMT)

Palestine is ‘not for sale’: Foreign Ministry

Palestine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has pushed back on Israel’s “expansionist plans” in response to comments from Israel’s top diplomat, Gideon Saar.

“The Palestinian people remain on their land, and those who must leave are the racist settler invaders”, the ministry wrote on X. “The time has come for the world to reject a rogue state that violates international law and practices ethnic cleansing daily, and to stand up and confront gangs of terrorist settlers who believe they can erase the Palestinian reality and impose their expansionist plans on the Palestinian people.”

Palestine is “not for sale, and Israel will not succeed,” the ministry added.

The statement came after Saar’s explosive speech yesterday at a United Nations Security Council meeting, in which he rejected criticism of Israel’s plans to effectively annex the occupied West Bank and claimed that “No other nation … has a stronger right than our historical and documented right to the land of the Bible”.

As we reported earlier, Saar praised Trump’s Board of Peace and said Israel “will work toward its success”.

Gideon Saar speaks at the UNSC meeting on February 18, 2026 [Charly Triballeau/AFP]
19 Feb 2026 - 19:45
 (19:45 GMT)

WATCH: Gaza ‘Stabilization Force’ commander outlines security plans

US Major General Jasper Jeffers said the Gaza “International Stabilization Force” will first deploy to Rafah and hopes to eventually have 20,000 soldiers.

Indonesia, which has pledged 8,000 troops, will serve as deputy commander of the force.

Watch below:

19 Feb 2026 - 19:30
 (19:30 GMT)

NCAG posts recruitment ad for Gaza police force

The technocratic committee empaneled by Trump’s Board of Peace to oversee daily operations in Gaza has posted a recruitment advertisement for a “transitional police force that is professional, accountable, transparent, and merit-based”.

“This recruitment process is open to qualified candidates seeking to serve in the police force”, the committee said in a post on X in both Arabic and English. “With a ceasefire now in place and the Committee about to take on its responsibilities in Gaza, it is time to give an opportunity to those prepared to carry responsibility and uphold the rule of law.”

The post links to an application page, which says applicants must be residents of Gaza who are 18 to 35 years of age, have no criminal record and are in good physical fitness.

Speaking earlier today, US General Jasper Jeffers said the Board of Peace aims to build a 12,000-person police and 20,000 troop International Stabilization Force to be deployed to Gaza. He added that Egypt and Jordan have agreed to train police.

19 Feb 2026 - 19:15
 (19:15 GMT)
Infographic

In numbers: How many times has Israel violated the Gaza ceasefire?

Since the declaration of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on October 10, 2025, Israel has violated the agreement with near-daily attacks, killing hundreds of people.

Israel violated the ceasefire agreement at least 1,620 times from October 10, 2025 to February 10, 2026, through the continuation of attacks by air, artillery and direct shootings, the Government Media Office in Gaza reports.

The office said Israel shot at civilians 560 times, raided residential areas beyond the “yellow line” 79 times, bombed and shelled Gaza 749 times, and demolished people’s properties on 232 occasions. It added that Israel had also detained 50 Palestinians from Gaza.

Al Jazeera has tracked the ceasefire violations to date. Read more here.

19 Feb 2026 - 19:00
 (19:00 GMT)
Analysis

‘Trump avoids US role in hampering UN Security Council peace actions’

Sultan Barakat, a senior professor of public policy at Qatar’s Hamad Bin Khalifa University, has noted that Trump’s condemnation of pre-existing global peace-making mechanisms avoided Washington’s role in hampering their progress.

“By presenting the board as they did, what they’re doing effectively is bypassing 80 years of UN resolutions and saying that, as Trump put it, the orthodoxy way did not work, so now we have to do it another way”, Barakat told Al Jazeera.

“He has ignored on purpose that it was the United States who crippled that orthodoxy,” he said. “The United Nation and its resolutions. There’s nothing wrong with them. They’re legal. It’s the implementation that was always hampered by the United States and its veto power.”

19 Feb 2026 - 18:45
 (18:45 GMT)

What are the board’s real estate plans for Gaza?

Trump has often invoked the Gaza Strip as a lucrative real estate opportunity, but we now have more details about what the executive board envisions for the enclave – and the estimated monetary value they are placing on it.

  • The board refers to the plans as “New Gaza” and “New Rafah”, pledging to first build 100,000 homes in Rafah for 500,000 people and dedicate $5bn to infrastructure.
  • In the longer term, housing will expand to encompass 400,000 homes “for the entirety of the population”, Apollo Global Management CEO Mark Rowan said, with more than $30bn in infrastructure investments.
  • Apparent AI renderings for the projects – publicised by a promotional video at the end of the meeting – included sparkling towers, manmade waterways and suburban-looking roads and houses.
  • Gaza will be “connected to the world through an Abrahamic gateway”, the video promised, showing a rendering of a road “linking it with Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and extending to India and Europe”.
  • In total, Rowan valued the coastline, future housing stock and infrastructure at $115bn. “It just needs to be unlocked and financed,” he said.
  • There was no mention of where Palestinians would live during construction, nor how new properties would be allocated. The board has previously said development will also include tourism and industrial zones, but have provided no further details.
19 Feb 2026 - 18:30
 (18:30 GMT)
Infographic

Which countries sent representatives to the meeting?

More than 40 countries are expected to send representatives to take part in the meeting in Washington, DC today.