Trump's Board of Peace pledges $17bn for Gaza reconstruction

US President Donald Trump's 'Board of Peace' has committed to spending $17 billion as part of efforts to rebuild Gaza following the inaugural meeting of the board on Thursday.

Trump committed $10 billion from the US for the plans, which, alongside reconstruction in the enclave, includes the training of a Palestinian police force and the deployment of an International Stabilisation Force.

Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE all pledged at least $1 billion to the initiative.

During the meeting, which took place in Washington D.C., five countries, including Indonesia, Morocco, Albania, Kosovo and Kazakhstan, announced they would deploy soldiers to the force.

Indonesia is committing 8,000 of the 20,000 soldiers sought after, and taking over the role as deputy of the force, while Morocco pledged that it would send soldiers and police officers to Gaza.

According to Nickolay Mladenov, who was named high representative for Gaza by the US, said that 2,000 Palestinians have applied to join Gaza's police force, which is expected to number 12,000.

Trump said during the meeting that "we will help Gaza. We will straighten it out. We'll make it successful."

Following the meeting, Hamas put out a statement saying, "Any political process or any arrangement under discussion concerning the Gaza Strip and the future of our Palestinian people must start with the total halt of aggression, the lifting of the blockade, and the guarantee of our people's legitimate national rights, first and foremost their right to freedom and self-determination."

The group also called on the international community to "take practical steps that compel the occupation to halt its aggression, open the crossings, allow the unimpeded entry of humanitarian aid, and immediately start the reconstruction [of Gaza]".

Since the start of the ceasefire, Israel has killed 611 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, and has continued applying restrictions to the entry of aid, as well as the flow of people through the Rafah border crossing.

On Thursday evening, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that a man was injured by Israeli gunfire from a drone in Khan Younis and had been taken to the Nasser Medical Complex.

Further Israeli ceasefire violations were also recorded on Friday morning, with The New Arab's sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reporting that the Israeli navy fired into the sea off Khan Younis, with the Israeli army firing east of the Al-Bureij refugee camp, where homes were also blown up.

Israel has also clamped down on the presence of humanitarian workers in Gaza through new regulations, which have been refused by several aid groups who now may lose access to humanitarian work in the enclave.

According to the UN's agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) on Wednesday, 1.4 million of the enclave's 2.1 million residents are living in displacement sites, with the agency reporting a shortage of oil lubricants needed for waste management operations and water well generators.

On Thursday evening, Israeli far-right Knesset Member Limor Son Har-Melech of Jewish Power breached into Gaza with a group of settler activists calling for the establishment of settlements in the enclave, saying "Gaza will always be ours."

A report from the UN's OHCHR said that Israel's policy in Gaza "appeared to aim at a permanent demographic shift in Gaza", stoking fears of ethnic cleansing in the enclave.