Israel blocks construction of key Gaza base for Trump peace board
Arkel contract for 150-troop outpost stalled two months as trucks wait at a closed border, board chaired for life by Trump counts a resolved war
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Trump, surrounded by key officials from other countries, shows his Board of Peace’s founding charter at a meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January. Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images
theguardian.com
Two months after Donald Trump's Board of Peace issued its first Gaza construction contract, Israel has still not let the work begin. Contractors and trucks are being barred from crossing into the territory, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. "Israel won't open the border," the person said.
The contract, awarded in early August to Louisiana-based Arkel International, covers a fortified "mission support site" of roughly 100 meters by 100 meters — a military outpost meant to host rotating deployments of 150 international troops, the vanguard of a larger stabilization force of 500 soldiers sent from Morocco and Kosovo. The site sits on land once used by the now-defunct Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the US-backed scheme that delivered aid under private contractor protection from May to October 2025.
Without the outpost, the rest of the program cannot launch, the source said: no security, no deliveries of construction equipment, no utilities or basic life support. "You can't get in without an international stabilization force. You can't rebuild."
The Board of Peace — an international organization authorized by the UN in 2025 and chaired by Trump, designated chair for life — was formed after the October 2025 Gaza ceasefire. Its executive board includes Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and real estate developer Steve Witkoff, and 28 countries joined as founding members. On 23 September the board unveiled a six-month, $2.45bn plan as the first step of a reconstruction effort with a ten-year estimated cost. Kushner has shown renderings of Gaza as a luxury waterfront resort city.
Trump listed the Gaza war as resolved last week in a social media post protesting that he had not won the Nobel peace prize.
The board believes Israel's government will allow the project to proceed after the Israeli elections scheduled for 27 October, according to the source. The board, the IDF and the Israeli government all declined to comment or did not respond.
The arrangement leaves one side holding contracts, charters and budgets, and the other holding the border crossing. The board's funding buys nothing that can be delivered; Israel's veto costs nothing to maintain. Every party involved has an incentive to keep the plan alive on paper — and no party has the means to make it real.