Diplomats are preparing to attend the inaugural meeting of US President Donald Trump's controversial Board of Peace, despite growing international condemnation of Israel's expanding annexation of the occupied West Bank.
The first meeting will take place in Washington on Thursday at the newly renamed Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, located next to the State Department, with more than 20 countries expected to participate, according to the White House.
Several states have announced their intention to join the board since it was unveiled at the Davos summit in January, including Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the UAE.
Israel will also attend, represented by Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.
Kosovo and Kazakhstan are the latest countries to signal interest in joining the proposed stabilisation force, according to Israel's Channel 12.
The meeting is expected to focus on reconstruction efforts in the largely devastated Gaza Strip.
Trump, who will chair the opening segment before travelling to Georgia, is expected to announce that member states have pledged more than $5 billion towards reconstruction and humanitarian efforts.
Critics, however, are voicing their concerns with the body looking to challenge the authority of the United Nations while bypassing Palestinian representation.
"The reconstruction plan is disconnected from reality, due to its unclear purpose and scope, confusing multilayer leadership and structure, and unsecured funding sources," Khalil E. Jahshan, Executive Director of the Arab Center Washington DC, said.
Member states had previously committed to contributing thousands of personnel to form what has been described as an international stabilisation force in Gaza.
Israel continues to violate Gaza ceasefire
Despite a ceasefire in Gaza, Israeli violations are continuing daily in the besieged territory.
Aircraft were reported to be flying at low altitude over Gaza City overnight, with Israeli forces firing flares in the Shujaiya neighbourhood.
Palestinian media reported heavy gunfire in northern Gaza, including in Beit Lahia, in addition to artillery shelling in the Khan Younis area.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) called the humanitarian situation in Gaza "catastrophic", exacerbated by persisting restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid and medical supplies.
The UN body highlighted that the scale of the needs of Gaza’s largely displaced population far exceeds current levels entering the territory.
The UN office for humanitarian affairs said that since the opening of the southern Rafah crossing with Egypt, about 260 patients out of the 18,500 who need evacuations to receive medical treatment have left Gaza.
Although evacuations are continuing daily, the UN agency said, only limited numbers of Palestinians can leave.
Condemnation of West Bank 'de facto annexation'
More than 80 countries have expressed their concern with Israel's expansion of occupation in the West Bank.
UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo said that Israel’s steps to tighten control of areas of the West Bank under administration of the Palestinian Authority amount to "gradual de facto annexation of the West Bank, as unilateral Israeli steps steadily transform the landscape".
"If implemented, these measures will constitute a dangerous expansion of Israeli civil authority in the occupied West Bank, including in sensitive areas like Hebron", DiCarlo told the UN Security Council on a Wednesday meeting pushed forward due to Trump’s Board of Peace meeting taking place on the same day.
As Israel looks to change the demographic of the West Bank in favour of settlers, so too do Palestinians report an increase in settler violence.
The Jerusalem Governorate announced on Thursday the death of a 19-year-old resident from the town of Mikhmas after he sustained critical gunshot wounds from Israeli settlers on Wednesday.
Several other residents were arrested in the latest set of incursions by the Israeli military, including two Palestinians detained in raids across the Hebron Governorate and Masafer Yatta. and two others in Nablus.