Members of US President Donald Trump’s so-called Board of Peace have been in communication with the Emirati company DP World about reconstruction in Gaza.
According to people familiar with the matter speaking to the Financial Times, representatives for the US-backed group discussed DP World managing supply chains, humanitarian aid and other goods entering the besieged territory, including warehousing, tracking systems and security.
There was also discussion that DP World, a multi-national logistics company whose chairman recently resigned over publicised links to paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, could build a new port in either Gaza or on the nearby Egyptian coast, or develop a free trade zone in the enclave.
A draft proposal seen by the FT presented plans for DP World to establish a “secure and traceable supply chain system”, a “port-led economic ecosystem”, and “employment-generating trade platforms”.
Since taking office, Trump has repeatedly touted plans for redevelopment and privatisation in the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of Israel‘s genocide, which has left the majority of the enclave in ruins.
The Board of Peace, established in January, is made up of a range of heads of state allied to the US and aims to manage and coordinate the reconstruction of Gaza.
It has been widely criticised by governments around the world, most of whom have not signed up, for undermining the role of the UN in the occupied territory.
“You can’t rebuild Gaza like in their vision with 1,500 trucks a week being moved back-to-back through Israeli crossings,” one of the people familiar with the matter told the FT.
“You need bigger, more efficient and less bureaucratic entryways. Right now it’s like working through a straw.”
An official with the “Board of Peace” told the FT they were “speaking to multiple potential partners across multiple lines of effort.”
“We are conducting… market research focused on how to identify best-in-class operators and next-gen solutions,” they added.
Gaza reconstruction
In February, firms in the UK and Canada suspended future investments with DP World after it was revealed that Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the company’s chief executive, had exchanged thousands of emails with Jeffrey Epstein.
Quebec’s La Caisse pension fund – one of DP World’s largest financial partners, which holds a 45 percent stake in DP World Canada – said it had paused future investments until DP World took “necessary actions”.
British International Investment (BII), the UK government’s foreign investment arm, which co-owns Berbera port in Somaliland with DP World, also paused future capital over Sulayem’s links to Epstein.
DP World is wholly owned by a holding company controlled by the government of Dubai.
According to its website, it is responsible for contributing over 36 percent of Dubai’s GDP, and around 12 percent of the GDP of the UAE.
Despite a decision by the Israeli Supreme Court to freeze a government ban on dozens of organisations, foreign aid groups are struggling to operate in the occupied Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip.
Israel had announced restrictions on 37 non-governmental organisations unless they provided detailed information about Palestinian staff.
Alan Moseley, director of the Danish Refugee Council in occupied Palestine, told AFP international staff and supplies continue to be rejected.
“Staff continued to be rejected, supplies continued to be rejected,” he said, adding that almost no affected NGOs have been able to deliver aid into Gaza in recent months.
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