Trump is quietly seeking allies to fix Gaza, says Norway [View all]

Source: Politico (EU)

April 20, 2026 9:22 pm CET


Donald Trump’s Board of Peace is quietly engaging with international partners including the EU and the Palestinian Authority to stabilize Gaza and prepare for post-conflict governance, Norway’s foreign minister told POLITICO. The U.S. president set up the Washington-led Board of Peace, which held its first meeting in February, as the main vehicle for overseeing reconstruction and governance of the Gaza Strip.

But Norway’s Espen Barth Eide, who was in Brussels on Monday for back-to-back events focused on the Israeli-Hamas conflict, said the Board of Peace is increasingly liaising with international institutions that have long experience in Gaza — including the Palestinian Authority. “The Americans who have been tasked with the Board of Peace … are also discovering that the established institutions are quite useful. The World Bank, the [United Nations], different agencies actually have a lot of experience,” he said in an interview at Norway’s representation to the EU.

Trump’s administration has kept the Palestinian Authority somewhat at arm’s length in plans to govern Gaza, notably denying entry to the United States to anyone holding a Palestinian Authority passport. But chief EU diplomat Kaja Kallas welcomed Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in Brussels as a special guest — and Eide said that relations between Mustafa and the Board of Peace were better than they publicly appeared.

“The prime minister of the Palestinian Authority tells me that the conversation with the U.S. has been going much better, and that there is practical cooperation,” he said, adding that Trump’s plan for the governance of Gaza includes a long-term role for the Palestinian Authority after it has carried out reforms.

Read more: https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-quietly-seeking-allies-to-fix-gaza-says-norway/