'Board of Peace': Who's attending the inaugural meeting and what's on the agenda?

Members of the controversial US-led Board of Peace will gather in Washington, DC, on Thursday for an inaugural summit aimed at pushing ahead with the Trump administration's vision for post-war Gaza.

The meeting, which comes a month after the signing of the organisation's charter at Davos, is expected to focus on financing the vast reconstruction effort of the destroyed enclave, assembling a multinational security force, and holding together a ceasefire for Gaza, which has been ignored by Israel with almost daily bombings.

Who's attending?

More than two dozen countries have agreed to join the Board of Peace since its launch in January, including several Arab and Muslim-majority states such as Bahrain, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the UAE.

Israel joined the board earlier this month and will be represented at the meeting by Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.

Others have declined to become full members but have joined as observers, such as Italy, Greece and Cyprus. All three countries have dispatched senior diplomats to Washington for the meeting.

The EU also has observer status and will be represented at the talks by its Mediterranean Commissioner, Dubravka Šuica.

Who's not?

Mexico and the Vatican on Tuesday were the latest countries to rule out joining the board, after more than a dozen Western nations - including France, Canada, Germany and the UK - declined to participate in the organisation.

Other global powers, such as China, Russia, and India, have not responded to invitations.

What is being discussed?

How to finance and plan the multi-decade-long reconstruction process and the establishment of an international security force are among the Trump administration's two biggest priorities heading into the meeting.

The US president is expected to announce that member states have pledged $5 billion towards rebuilding the devastated territory.

The identities of the donors have yet to be disclosed, but the charter for the organisation invites countries to donate at least $1 billion to become permanent board members.

The figure is a drop in the ocean of what will be needed to rebuild the territory, which has been almost entirely razed to the ground by Israeli forces.

Due to the scale of devastation in Gaza, the UN now estimates that reconstruction will cost more than $70 billion and that the time needed to clear just the rubble will be measured in decades, not years.

It appears the reconstruction will be led by Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Israeli-Cypriot billionaire Yakir Gabay.

Kushner, who has long eyed Gaza as "very valuable …  waterfront property", in Davos outlined a futuristic vision of Gaza dominated by skyscrapers, luxury apartments, data centres and advanced manufacturing zones.

The Trump administration is also searching for progress in the long-stalled negotiations over the proposed multinational peacekeeping force that would replace Hamas's security apparatus in Gaza.

Arab and Muslim states have been reticent to put boots on the ground in Gaza amid uncertainty over the scope of the mission and constant Israeli attacks in the area.

Indonesia is the only country to publicly commit troops, saying this week that it could deploy 8,000 soldiers inside the strip by June.

Trump claimed last week that board members have committed "thousands of personnel" to the force and to local police, though he didn't provide further details.

Will any progress be made?

Reconstruction is unlikely to move forward absent a political solution that ends Israel's constant attacks in Gaza and paves the way for Hamas's disarmament.

The Palestinian group has indicated it is willing to discuss the future of its arms, provided Israel ends its attacks and withdraws from Gaza.

Israel has faced little international pressure to respect the terms of the October ceasefire, during which it has killed and injured more than 2,000 Palestinians.

It is also blocking members of the Board of Peace-appointed Palestinian-led Gaza committee from entering the territory, effectively keeping Hamas in power.

Instead, the Trump administration is trying to pressure Hamas to unconditionally surrender its arms without concessions being made by Israel in return.

Israel has threatened to return to full-scale war if Hamas does not hand over its arms within 60 days.

Why is the Board of Peace controversial?

Trump's initiative drew global criticism after its charter appeared to expand the organisation's scope beyond Gaza to any conflict it sees fit.

The board's focus on what Trump describes as "world peace" has raised fears that the aim of the administration, at best, is to sidestep core functions of the UN, and worst still, could overturn the whole post-Second World War international order.

The charter centralises almost all power in the hands of the US president, giving him veto power over the board's decisions and allowing him to arbitrarily hire and fire member states and officials on the executive committee.

The document also names Trump as lifetime chairman for life and grants him sole control over his successor.

The executive board is staffed almost entirely by Trump-linked officials, including Kushner, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and White House adviser Robert Gabriel.