$1 billion gets a permanent seat on Trump's Board of Peace for Gaza, as India and others invited

At least eight more countries say the United States has invited them to join President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, a new body of world leaders meant to oversee next steps in Gaza that shows ambitions for a broader mandate in global affairs. Two of the countries, Hungary and Vietnam, said they have accepted.

A $1 billion contribution secures permanent membership on the Trump-led board instead of a three-year appointment, which has no contribution requirement, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity about the charter, which hasn’t been made public. The official said the money raised would go to rebuilding Gaza.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has accepted an invitation to join the board, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told state radio Sunday. Orbán is one of Trump’s most ardent supporters in Europe.

Vietnam’s Communist Party chief, To Lam, also has accepted, a foreign ministry statement said.

India has received an invitation, a senior government official with knowledge of the matter said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the information hadn’t been made public by authorities.

Australia has been invited and will talk it through with the U.S. “to properly understand what this means and what’s involved,” Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles told Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Monday.

Jordan, Greece, Cyprus and Pakistan said Sunday they had received invitations. Canada, Turkey, Egypt, Paraguay, Argentina and Albania have already said they were invited. It was not clear how many have been invited in all.

The U.S. is expected to announce its official list of members in the coming days, likely during the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

Those on the board will oversee next steps in Gaza as the ceasefire that took effect on Oct. 10 moves into its challenging second phase. It includes a new Palestinian committee in Gaza, the deployment of an international security force, disarmament of Hamas and reconstruction of the war-battered territory.

In letters sent Friday to world leaders inviting them to be “founding members,” Trump said the Board of Peace would “embark on a bold new approach to resolving global conflict.”

That could become a potential rival to the U.N. Security Council, the most powerful body of the global entity created in the wake of World War II. The 15-seat council has been blocked by U.S. vetoes from taking action to end the war in Gaza, while the U.N.'s clout has been diminished by major funding cuts by the Trump administration and other donors.

Trump’s invitation letters for the Board of Peace noted that the Security Council had endorsed the U.S. 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan, which includes the board’s creation. The letters were posted on social media by some invitees.

The White House last week also announced an executive committee of leaders who will carry out the Board of Peace’s vision, but Israel on Saturday objected that the committee “was not coordinated with Israel and is contrary to its policy,” without details. The statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office was rare criticism of its close ally in Washington.

The executive committee’s members include U.S. Secretary of State Rubio, Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, World Bank President Ajay Banga and Trump’s deputy national security adviser Robert Gabriel, along with an Israeli business owner, billionaire Yakir Gabay.

Members also include representatives of ceasefire monitors Qatar, Egypt and Turkey. Turkey has a strained relationship with Israel but good relations with Hamas and could play an important role in persuading the group to yield power in Gaza and disarm.

Boak reported from West Palm Beach, Florida. Associated Press writers Justin Spike in Budapest, Hungary, Rajesh Roy in New Delhi and Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, contributed to this report.

Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Displaced Palestinians cook and warm themselves around a fire at a tent camp in Gaza City, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Displaced Palestinians warm themselves around a fire at a tent camp in Gaza City, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Sewage overflowed parts of a makeshift tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

ISTANBUL (AP) — A Turkish court on Thursday issued a ruling that effectively removed the head of the country’s main opposition party by annulling a 2023 congress that elected him.

The move deals a serious blow to the beleaguered Republican People’s Party, or CHP, as it struggles under waves of legal cases targeting its members and elected officials.

An appeals court in Turkey’s capital Ankara declared the CHP congress that picked Ozgur Ozel as chairman to be null, ordering that he should be replaced by his predecessor, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

Last year, a lower court ruled against claims of irregularities and misconduct surrounding Ozel’s election but Thursday’s decision overturned the original verdict.

The ruling led to frantic meetings at the CHP’s Ankara headquarters, further threatening the opposition’s chances of unseating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after more than two decades in office. Large crowds gathered outside the office block and police erected barriers.

The next presidential election is due in 2028 but Erdogan can call for an early vote. His main challenger, the CHP mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu, has been imprisoned since March last year and is currently on trial on corruption charges.

The appeals court's decision suspends Ozel and members of the party’s executive board from their duties. They will be “provisionally” replaced by Kilicdaroglu and those who held office before the November 2023 congress.

In comments to broadcaster TV100, Kilicdaroglu called for party members to remain calm. “Our party is a very large party and it will solve its own problems internally,” he said. The 77-year-old was removed following a 13-year tenure as leader, during which the CHP failed to win any national elections.

Ozel, meanwhile, attempted to rally supporters.

“I am not promising you a path to power through a rose garden,” he posted on X following the ruling. “I am promising you the ability to endure suffering but never surrender. I am promising you honor, dignity, courage and struggle!”

The CHP is expected to challenge Thursday’s ruling in the Supreme Court in the coming days.

Justice Minister Akin Gurlek, who oversaw several cases against the CHP in his former role as Istanbul’s chief prosecutor, described the court’s ruling as one that “reinforces our citizens’ trust in democracy.”

Many observers have said that the legal cases against the CHP — mostly centered on corruption allegations — are politically motivated and aimed at neutralizing the party ahead of the next election. The government, however, insists that Turkey’s courts are impartial and act independently of political pressure.

Erdogan has ruled Turkey, first as prime minister and then as president, since 2003. His electoral record suffered a serious blow in 2019 when the CHP seized control of several major cities in local elections. In Istanbul, Imamoglu emerged as a popular and charismatic figure that many felt could successfully topple Erdogan.

FILE - Republican People's Party or (CHP) leader Ozgur Ozel gestures to party members during his speech during a CHP convention, in Ankara, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Unal, File)

FILE - Turkish CHP party leader and Nation Alliance's presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, center, joins legislators elected to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey as they attend their first parliamentary session, in Ankara, Turkey, June 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Ali Unal, File)