BOARD OF PEACE CHARTER SIGNED BY TRUMP, OTHER WORLD LEADERS

Thu 22 January 2026:

Trump has been joined at a table next to the podium by leaders from Bahrain and Morocco to kick off the signing.

“What we’re doing is so important,” Trump said. “This is something I really wanted to be here and do, and I could think of no better place.”

Trump took out a pen, signed a sheath of documents and held them out to the camera with a smile. Other world leaders then began walking over in pairs to sign.

The statement by the US president suggests those 59 countries have expressed support for his proposed Board of Peace.

On the subject of Gaza, he said: “If Hamas doesn’t do what they promised they will do – I think they probably will – but they were born with rifles in their hands.”

Trump added: “They have to give up their weapons, and if they don’t do that, it is going to be the end of them.”

Trump says Gaza is ‘all about location’, echoes real estate comments

Trump’s final remarks at the Board of Peace signing ceremony have referenced the Gaza Strip in terms of its real estate value.

“This is a great location,” Trump said. “I’m a real estate person at heart, and it’s all about location.”

Recalling early conversations about the Board of Peace, the president explained: “I said, look at this location on the sea, look at this beautiful piece of property – what it could be for so many people, it’ll be so great, people that are living so poorly are gonna be living so well.

“That’s the vision – they’ll look out on the waters, and very few places are like it,” he said.

Trump has previously said Gaza should be viewed as a “big real estate site”, describing the US’s role as one of redevelopment.

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Rubio praises Trump’s ‘courage to dream the impossible’

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has spoken after Trump at the Board of Peace conference in Davos, as the US president sat at the centre of a gathering of representatives of 19 countries that have signed on to the charter.

Rubio said Trump is willing to speak to anyone in what he described as the pursuit of peace.

“We are here today because of President Trump’s vision,” Rubio said.

He added that “a few months ago, people thought it was impossible to solve”, referring to ongoing conflicts, and said that “all these hostages being held [in Gaza] – nobody thought that would come to a resolution”.

Rubio went on to argue that existing institutions had been unable to act, saying Trump instead had “the vision and the courage to dream the impossible”.

Peace is ‘a different deal than a business deal’: Kushner

Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is speaking after the signing ceremony.

Although everyone was “joyous and celebrating” after the initial Israel-Gaza ceasefire deal was signed, Kushner recalled that “[US special envoy] Steve [Witkoff] and I were panicking, saying, ‘What do we do next?’ How do we implement peace?

“As you guys know, peace is a different deal than a business deal, because you’re changing a mindset,” Kushner said, calling the Gaza peace efforts “very entrepreneurial”.

“We needed to think about what do we do next, how do we change the habits, how do we change the behaviours?”

‘We need investments’ in Gaza, Kushner says, showing plan for high-rise towers

Jared Kushner has offered more details about the Board of Peace’s development plans in Gaza, without mentioning plans for a path towards a Palestinian state.

The “number one thing is going to be security – obviously we’re working very closely with the Israelis to figure out a way to de-escalation, and the next phase is working with Hamas on demilitarisation,” Kushner said.

“Without security, nobody’s going to make investments, nobody’s gonna come build there. We need investments in order to start giving jobs,” he said.

The Board of Peace wants to use “free market principles” to shift Gaza’s dependence on foreign aid, Kushner said.

Trump’s son-in-law also showed a map of the Gaza Strip divided into “residential” and “coastal tourism mixed” zones.

The plan includes building 100,000 housing units in Rafah, as well as “New Gaza”, Kushner said, showing a rendering of high-rise coastal towers.

Kushner, a real estate developer, has previously said Gaza has “very valuable” waterfront property.

“In the Middle East, they build cities like this – two, three million people – in three years, so stuff like this is very doable if we make it happen,” Kushner said.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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