Trump's Board of Peace painted a rosy picture of Gaza's future. On the ground, there is only despair

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — At the inaugural meeting of his Board of Peace in Washington, President Donald Trump spoke of billions of dollars pledged to rebuild the Gaza Strip and a “new and harmonious” Middle East rising from the ashes of war. Videos aired at the meeting showed a future of gleaming high-rises and new soccer pitches.

There was no sign of such optimism in Gaza, where Palestinians who have spent months or even years in squalid displacement camps or the rubble of their homes hold out little hope for change.

“Since the beginning of the war, we’ve been hearing about conferences and meetings. They say there’s a solution and peace, but it’s all a joke. They’re all liars,” said Faraj Abu Anze, who is among tens of thousands of Palestinians living in a sprawling tent camp on the Mediterranean coast.

“We see nothing of that on the ground. There is no hope. Education and health care are gone. There is no life,” he said.

Pledges but no timeline

Trump announced that member countries of his ambitious board had pledged $7 billion for reconstruction and would send thousands of troops to take part in an International Stabilization Force.

But no timeline was given, and reconstruction has yet to begin.

Israel says Gaza will not be rebuilt until Hamas has laid down its weapons, an aspect of the October ceasefire deal that has emerged as a major sticking point.

The United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank have estimated the price of reconstruction at $70 billion — up to 10 times the amounts pledged Thursday. It could take several years just to clear away massive drifts of rubble laced with unexploded ordnance.

More than 72,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack into Israel, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Part of the Hamas-run government, its statistics are seen as generally reliable by the United Nations and independent experts.

Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the initial attack and took another 251 hostage. The ceasefire deal ended major military operations and led to the release of all remaining captives but left major questions about Gaza's future unanswered.

‘We see nothing’

“There are meetings every day, but we see nothing," said Ahmad Abu Selme, who has been displaced twice during the war. "There are tents everywhere and people are frustrated. We are tired.”

“I hope a real peace takes place and that we can go back to our homes," he added. "I know there are no homes anymore, but we still want to return.”

The U.S. hopes to begin reconstruction in Rafah, on Gaza's border with Egypt. The city was largely destroyed and mostly depopulated during the war, and is now in the half of Gaza that is under full Israeli control.

Ruwayda Dheir, who was among tens of thousands of people displaced from Rafah, has little hope that she or other residents will see any of the pledged money.

“The most important thing is that they put the money where it belongs and give it to the people," she said. "They’ll say they spent it on infrastructure, but we won’t see it.”

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Associated Press reporter Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed.