World will know if Iran peace possible in next 10 days, Donald Trump tells Board of Peace

The president said that he would “find out about Iran in about 10 days,” Trump added. “We do have some work to do in Iran. They can’t have a nuclear weapon.”

Trump also said that it seems to him that Hamas will disarm.

“Hamas has been, I think they’re going to give up their weapons, which is what they promised,” he said. “If they don’t, it’ll be, you know, they’ll be harshly met, very harshly met. They don’t want that.”

Trump said that various US allies have contributed over $7 billion to relief efforts in Gaza, and that the US would contribute around $10 billion.

He went on to say that the Board of Peace will be “looking over” the United Nations, which he referred to as having “great potential.”

He also made a point to note that he “doesn’t care” about winning any awards for his efforts.

“I don’t care about Nobel prizes,” he said. “I care about saving lives.”

Addressing the various dignitaries in attendance, Trump called out Qatari PM Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani by name, saying he is “a great man, highly respected.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio added  that there was “no plan B” for Gaza other than President Donald Trump’s peace effort, as the new body met for the first time in Washington to discuss ways to build on a fragile ceasefire that began in October.

Trump addressed the group at the Donald J Trump US Institute of Peace – a building in Washington, the president recently renamed for himself – and announced that participating nations have raised $5 billion for the reconstruction fund.

The money is expected to be a down payment on a fund that will likely need many more billions. Included in the $5 billion is an expected $1.2 billion from each of Washington’s Gulf Arab allies, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, a US official told Reuters.

Senior US officials said Trump will also announce that several nations are planning to send thousands of troops to participate in an International Stabilization Force that will help keep the peace in Gaza.

Disarming Hamas terrorists in order for the peacekeepers to begin their mission remains a major sticking point, and the force is not expected to deploy for weeks or months.

Hamas, fearful of Israeli reprisals, has been reluctant to hand over weaponry as part of Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan that brought about a ceasefire last October in the two-year Israel-Hamas War.

Delegations from 47 countries, including the European Union, are expected to attend the event, US officials said. The list includes Israel and a wide array of countries from Albania to Vietnam.

It does not, however, include permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, such as France, Britain, Russia, and China.

Speakers at the event are expected to include Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, former British prime minister Tony Blair, who is expected to have a senior role on the board, US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, and High Representative for Gaza Nickolay Mladenov, among other attendees.

The official added that a key unresolved question is who would negotiate with Hamas. The peace board’s representatives could do so with countries that have influence over Hamas – notably Qatar and Turkey – but Israel is deeply skeptical of both.

Another major issue is the flow of aid, which the official described as “disastrous” and in urgent need of scaling up. Even if aid surges in, it remains unclear who will distribute it, the official said.

The bank has discussed providing services such as facilitating payments to and from the board, the report added.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The White House and JPMorgan did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

ISF aims to facilitate the demilitarization of Hamas and maintain the ceasefire between Israel and the terror group, and includes countries such as Indonesia, Morocco, Greece, and Albania, the latter three having joined earlier this week.