Overview
- The gathering, tentatively planned at the U.S. Institute of Peace, would serve as the board’s first session and a fundraising conference for Gaza reconstruction, according to officials and invitations circulated late Friday.
- Plans remain preliminary and could change, with the White House declining to comment on logistics or participation.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is slated to meet Trump on Feb. 18 and has accepted an invitation for Israel to join, though he has not signed the charter.
- Hungary’s Viktor Orbán says he will attend as membership stands at roughly 27 countries, while many Western allies have withheld participation over concerns about the board’s broad mandate and a chairman’s veto.
- The board’s UN‑authorized Gaza role centers on implementing the ceasefire’s next phase, but progress depends on a still‑nascent demilitarization deal with Hamas and mechanisms for an international stabilization force that Israel views as prerequisites for withdrawal and reconstruction.