Trump's Board of Peace has several invited leaders trying to figure out how it'll work

The European Union's executive arm, Russia, Belarus and Thailand on Monday were the latest to be asked to join U.S. President Donald Trump's new Board of Peace that will supervise the next phase of the Gaza peace plan, as a top Israeli official said the initiative is “bad for Israel” and should be scrapped.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin received the invitation and that the Kremlin is now "studying the details" and would seek clarity of “all the nuances” in contacts with the U.S. The Thai Foreign Ministry said it was also invited and that it was reviewing the details.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has been invited and is ready to take part, according to the country’s Foreign Ministry.

European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill confirmed that Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the commission, received an invitation and would be speaking to other EU leaders about Gaza. Gill didn't say whether the invitation had been accepted, but that the commission wants "to contribute to a comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict.”

It's unclear how many leaders have been invited to join the board. But a Trump reference in the invitation letters that the body would “embark on a bold new approach to resolving global conflict" suggested it could act as a rival to the U.N. Security Council, the most powerful body of the global organization created in the wake of World War II.

France does not plan to join the Board of Peace “at this stage” despite receiving an invitation, a French official close to President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday.

The issue is raising questions, particularly with regard to respect for the principles and structure of the United Nations, said the official, speaking anonymously in line with the French presidency’s customary practices.

According to the World Bank’s Gaza and West Bank Interim Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (IRDNA) report released last year, it’ll take $53 billion to rebuild the strip.

Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Monday dismissed the Board of Peace as a raw deal for Israel and called for its dissolution.

“It is time to explain to the president that his plan is bad for the State of Israel and to cancel it," Smotrich said. "Gaza is ours, its future will affect our future more than anyone else’s. We will take responsibility for what happens there, impose military administration, and complete the mission.”

Smotrich, a hard-liner who opposed the Gaza ceasefire, even suggested that Israel renew a full-scale offensive on the territory to destroy Hamas if it doesn't abide by a “short ultimatum for real disarmament and exile.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said later on Monday that while there are differences with the U.S. about the composition of the advisory committee accompanying the next phase in Gaza, it would not harm his relationship with Trump.

“There will not be Turkish soldiers and Qatari soldiers in the (Gaza) Strip,” he said.

Netanyahu's office earlier said the formation of an executive board that will work to carry out the vision of the Board of Peace wasn’t coordinated with the Israeli government and “is contrary to its policy” without clarifying its objections. Israel hasn’t been invited to join the committee, unlike Turkey, a key regional rival.

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.

Board members will oversee an executive committee that will be in charge of implementing the tough second phase of the Gaza peace plan that includes the deployment of an international security force, disarmament of Hamas and reconstruction of the war-devastated territory.

A $1 billion contribution secures permanent membership on the board, with the money going to rebuild Gaza, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity about the charter as he wasn’t permitted to speak publicly about details of the board, which hasn't been made public. A three-year appointment has no contribution requirement.

Details of how this will also work remain murky. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday the United Kingdom is talking to allies about the Board of Peace. Although the U.K. hasn't said whether Starmer has been formally invited to join, he said it's necessary to proceed with the Gaza peace plan's second phase and that his country has "indicated willingness to play our part, and we will.”

Egypt’s top diplomat on Monday met with the leader of the newly appointed committee of Palestinian technocrats who will be running Gaza’s day-to-day affairs during the second phase of the peace plan.

Foreign Minister Bader Abdelatty met with Ali Shaath, a Palestinian engineer and former official with the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, who was named last week as chief commissioner of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.

Abdelatty expressed the Egyptian government’s “complete support” of the committee and affirmed its role in running Gaza’s daily affairs until the Palestinian Authority takes over the territory, said a statement from the Egyptian ministry.

He also underscored “the importance of preserving the unity of the Palestinian territories, ensuring geographical and administrative continuity between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.”

The U.N. World Food Program on Monday said it has “significantly expanded” its operations across Gaza 100 days into the ceasefire, reaching more than a million people each month with hot meals and food parcels. But it warned the situation remains “extremely fragile.”

It noted that malnutrition has been prevented for 200,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women, as well as children under 5.

Still, the most recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis in December indicated that 77% the population is facing crisis-level food insecurity.

Israeli military and security forces launched what they called a large-scale counterterrorism operation in the West Bank city of Hebron to dismantle “terrorist infrastructure, eliminating illegal weapons possession and strengthening security."

The Israeli military said Monday the operation is expected to continue for several days. Israeli armored vehicles and soldiers patrolled city streets and put up barriers where operations were being conducted.

Hebron Mayor Khaled Dudin said Israeli forces targeted the area that's home to 80,000 people because it obstructs the construction of additional Israeli settlements.

The West Bank has seen a surge in Israeli military activity since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack into Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.

Israeli forces on Monday killed three Palestinians, including a teenager, in southern Gaza, hospital authorities said.

Two men crossed into Israeli-controlled areas east of Khan Younis before being shot dead, while 17-year-old Hussein Tawfiq Abu Sabalah was shot and killed in the Muwasi area of Rafah, according to the Nasser hospital. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the teen had crossed into or came close to the Israeli-controlled area.

More than 460 people were killed by Israeli fire and their bodies brought to hospitals since the ceasefire went into effect just over three months ago, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts

Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and Grant Peck in Bangkok, Thailand contributed to this report.

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

Palestinians speak with an Israeli soldier during an army raid in the West Bank city of Hebron Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Ali Shaath, head of Palestinian National committee for administering the Gaza Strip, left, meets with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, at the foreign ministry headquarters in Egypt's New Administrative Capital, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Khaled Elfiqi)

Israeli soldiers take up positions during an army raid in the West Bank city of Hebron Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Israeli soldiers take up positions during an army raid in the West Bank city of Hebron Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Israeli soldiers take up positions during an army raid in the West Bank city of Hebron Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

U.S. President Donald Trump linked his aggressive stance on Greenland to last year’s decision not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize, telling Norway’s prime minister that he no longer felt “an obligation to think purely of Peace,” in a text message released on Monday.

Trump's message to Jonas Gahr Støre appears to ratchet up a standoff between Washington and its closest allies over his threats to take over Greenland, a self-governing territory of NATO member Denmark. On Saturday, Trump announced a 10% import tax starting in February on goods from eight nations that have rallied around Denmark and Greenland, including Norway.

Those countries issued a forceful rebuke.

The White House has not ruled taking control of the strategic Arctic island by force. Asked whether Trump could invade Greenland, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said on Monday that “you can’t leave anything out until the president himself has decided to leave anything out.”

Rasmussen, speaking to reporters following a meeting with his British counterpart Yvette Cooper in London, encouraged Washington to instead discuss solutions.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also sought to de-escalate tensions on Monday. "I think this can be resolved and should be resolved through calm discussion,” he said, adding that he did not believe military action would occur.

In a sign of how tensions have increased in recent days, thousands of Greenlanders marched over the weekend in protest of any effort to take over their island. Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a Facebook post Monday that the tariff threats would not change their stance.

“We will not be pressured,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland’s minister for business, minerals, energy, justice and equality, told The Associated Press that she was moved by the quick response of allies to the tariff threat and said it showed that countries realize “this is about more than Greenland.”

“I think a lot of countries are afraid that if they let Greenland go, what would be next?”

Trump's Sunday message to Gahr Støre, released by the Norwegian government, read in part: “Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.”

It concluded: “The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”

The Norwegian leader said Trump’s message was a reply to an earlier missive sent on behalf of himself and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, in which they conveyed their opposition to the tariff announcement, pointed to a need to de-escalate, and proposed a telephone conversation among the three leaders.

“Norway’s position on Greenland is clear. Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark on this matter,” the Norwegian leader said in a statement. “As regards the Nobel Peace Prize, I have clearly explained, including to President Trump what is well known, the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee and not the Norwegian Government.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee is an independent body whose five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the president’s approach in Greenland during a brief Q&A with reporters in Davos, Switzerland, which is hosting the World Economic Forum meeting this week.

“I think it’s a complete canard that the president would be doing this because of the Nobel,” Bessent said, immediately after saying he did not “know anything about the president’s letter to Norway.”

Bessent insisted Trump “is looking at Greenland as a strategic asset for the United States,” adding that “we are not going to outsource our hemispheric security to anyone else.”

Trump has openly coveted the peace prize, which the committee awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado last year. Last week, Machado presented her Nobel medal to Trump, who said he planned to keep it, though the committee said the prize can’t be revoked, transferred or shared with others.

In his latest threat of tariffs, Trump indicated they would be retaliation for last week’s deployment of symbolic numbers of troops from the European countries to Greenland — though he also suggested that he was using the tariffs as leverage to negotiate with Denmark.

European governments said that the troops traveled to the island to assess Arctic security, part of a response to Trump’s own concerns about interference from Russia and China.

Starmer on Monday called Trump’s threat of tariffs “completely wrong” and said that a trade war is in no one’s interest.

He added that “being pragmatic does not mean being passive and partnership does not mean abandoning principles.”

Six of the eight countries targeted are part of the 27-member European Union, which operates as a single economic zone in terms of trade. European Council President Antonio Costa said Sunday that the bloc’s leaders expressed “readiness to defend ourselves against any form of coercion.” He announced a summit for Thursday evening.

Starmer indicated that Britain, which is not part of the EU, is not planning to consider retaliatory tariffs.

“My focus is on making sure we don’t get to that stage,” he said.

Denmark’s defense minister and Greenland’s foreign minister are expected to meet NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Brussels on Monday, a meeting that was planned before the latest escalation.

Associated Press writers Josh Boak in West Palm Beach, Florida; Emma Burrows in Nuuk, Greenland; and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.

The Danish navy's inspection ship HDMS Vaedderen sails off Nuuk, Greenland, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Danish soldiers disembark at the harbor in Nuuk, Greenland, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Danish soldiers disembark at the harbor in Nuuk, Greenland, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)