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https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/26/world/middleeast/trump-middle-east-peace-deals.htmlThe negotiations between the United States and Iran to end their war are following President Trump’s familiar playbook for resolving a Middle East crisis: agree to a cease-fire and deal with the toughest problems later.
Analysts say the approach has had mixed results in the Gaza Strip, where Mr. Trump brokered a truce last year between Israel and Hamas, the Iranian-backed militant group. Plans for a so-called Phase 2 agreement — under which Hamas was to lay down its arms and Israel would allow Gaza to be rebuilt after a devastating war — have stalled. A similar approach in U.S. talks with Iran would run the same risks.
(snip)
In Gaza, U.S. negotiators initially made good progress. The first part of the agreement last October secured the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas, a partial Israeli military withdrawal, and a surge in shipments of food and medicine into the territory for desperate Palestinians.
But the Trump administration has hit a wall in resolving the tougher questions that were delayed to the second phase of discussions. Hamas has not laid down its weapons, an international force is not about to be deployed to Gaza, and a new Palestinian administration has not taken charge of rebuilding the enclave’s devastated cities.
Instead, Israel continues to bombard Gaza on a near-daily basis, and Hamas is consolidating its power in the half of the territory that it controls. A committee of Palestinian technocrats that was supposed to take charge of governing the territory has remained in Egypt. And rather than rebuilding Gaza, aid groups say many Palestinians there are still living in rat-infested tent camps amid rubble.
EXCERPT
So how are things going in Gaza anyway these days?
Oh...
Trump’s Board of Peace has ‘zero dollars’https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/27/trump-board-peace-zero-dollars-gaza-world-bank-palestine/Donald Trump’s Board of Peace has “zero dollars” in its official fund, with donors instead sending money directly to the United States, sources have said.
The body, set up to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza, was championed by the US president and backed by more than 25 countries with pledges of billions of dollars.
However, those donors are bypassing the board’s World Bank-administered account, which was endorsed by the United Nations, and are sending funds directly to the US, an official from the board told The Telegraph.
Mr Trump launched the Board of Peace in January, describing it as one of the most consequential international organisations ever created. Member states committed about $7bn (£5.2bn) while Mr Trump promised a further $10bn in US support.
Now, more than four months later, the World Bank fund established for the project remains empty and has not spent a single dollar on rebuilding the war-ravaged enclave, according to the Financial Times.
“Zero dollars have been deposited,” one source told the publication.
Sources familiar with the arrangements said contributions had instead been channelled through accounts the board controls directly.
Plans for the Gaza International Stabilization Force are in question as troop pledges stallhttps://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-gaza-trump-indonesia-stabilization-force-a5e1d4a894746104c1335b6962c0ab69The International Stabilization Force for Gaza was announced with great aplomb at the inaugural meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace in February. The American general tapped to lead the 20,000-strong force said it would ensure “future prosperity and enduring peace” after the devastating Israel-Hamas war.
Three months on, he still has no force to lead as none of the five countries that pledged troops have come through with any significant contributions.
Efforts to shore up the fragile ceasefire have stalled as Hamas has refused to disarm and Israel has seized more territory while continuing to strike what it says are militant targets, often killing civilians.
The Iran war has meanwhile made it more difficult for Arab and Muslim leaders to openly cooperate with the United States and Israel, which many in the region view as aggressors, and the resulting global energy crisis has sapped their resources.
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