Feb. 7 (UPI) — The first meeting of the newly formed Board of Peace is planned in the nation’s capital on Feb. 19 after 26 member nations received invitations from U.S. officials on Friday.
The United States created the Board of Peace during the World Economic Forum last month in Davos, Switzerland, which is focused on promoting global peace.
Its first meeting would be on Feb. 19 at the White House, and four nations so far, plus the United States, plan to send representatives, Axios reported.
The date is problematic for some member states because it coincides with the state of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, which starts on Feb. 17 and runs through March 19.
The Board of Peace was formed to ensure a lasting cease-fire and peace in Gaza, which has been enduring violence between Hamas and Israeli forces as each accuses the other of cease-fire violations that led to retaliatory attacks.
Gaza mediators in Turkey, Egypt and Qatar have weighed disarming Hamas, but the Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday reported finding 110 mortar rounds, rockets and other military hardware wrapped in UNRWA blankets and hidden among humanitarian aid supplies in southern Gaza.
The IDF on Friday struck a residential building in Khan Yunis it said held a Hamas arms depot.
Before launching the strike, IDF officials warned civilians to leave and did not strike it until after determining all non-combatants had left.
Such incidents are among those that the Board of Peace is tasked with preventing while moving forward with the next phase of a peace agreement signed last year that is designed to permanently end the violence and fighting in Gaza and much of the Middle East.
Some have criticized the Board of Peace’s creation, saying it undercuts the United Nations and its mission of trying to ensure global peace.
President Donald Trump and others have said the United Nations is ineffective and has become more of a political organization instead of a peacemaker.
