Three men are at the center of Donald Trump’s Gaza peace initiative: Trump himself as self-appointed chairman of the Board of Peace, son-in-law Jared Kushner as the architect of the reconstruction vision, and envoy Steve Witkoff as the operational diplomat. Together they represent an unconventional team managing one of the world’s most intractable conflicts.
Witkoff has been the frontline negotiator, managing day-to-day engagement with regional partners and maintaining the communication channels that keep the ceasefire alive. His role requires constant attention to the details of implementation — a task that has exposed all the ways the ceasefire agreement’s ambiguities are creating friction on the ground.
Kushner has been the visionary, articulating a reconstructed Gaza that would attract international investment and transform the territory’s economic prospects. His Davos presentation showed a coastal tourism strip, data centers, and industrial zones — a picture of prosperity that depends on preconditions that do not currently exist. Critics have noted that Kushner’s three-year reconstruction timeline dramatically underestimates the complexity of the task.
Trump sets the political direction and provides the institutional momentum. He named himself chairman of the board, claimed $5 billion in pledges from member countries, and called the initiative potentially the most consequential board ever assembled. His involvement gives the initiative political weight — but his tendency toward contradictory signals creates uncertainty about the consistency of US policy.
As the Board of Peace held its first meeting Thursday, the trio’s complementary roles were being tested by reality: an unrealized reconstruction vision, a governance committee stranded in Egypt, an unresolved disarmament question, and a coalition of member nations with competing demands. Whether their combination of political muscle, diplomatic engagement, and economic vision can navigate these obstacles remains the defining question of their Gaza initiative.