Trump: ‘Gaza close to being perfected’; Board of Peace to ‘cover’ many countries

“I hope Your Highness will be on the board,” Trump said to bin Salman.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

President Donald Trump claimed the Gaza Strip has nearly been “perfected” just a day after the passage of a United Nations Security Council resolution granting a mandate for an international military force to police Gaza and establishing the Board of Peace to temporarily administer the coastal enclave.

The president spoke Tuesday evening at a dinner at the White House with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, during which Trump touted the strong ties between the two countries and suggested Riyadh would play a major role on the yet-to-be-formed Board of Peace.

“I hope Your Highness will be on the board,” Trump said to bin Salman.

While the Board of Peace ostensibly will be limited to temporarily administering the Gaza Strip, Trump said it would eventually be expanded to “covering” many other countries without elaborating where, how, or for what purpose.

“The Board of Peace will be something that has never even been thought of before, and it is covering Gaza, but it will end up covering large portions of the world.”

“Everybody wants to be on the board, and it’ll end up being quite a large board because it’ll be the heads of every major country,” Trump said of the Board of Peace, which he will chair.

Noting the return of residents to parts of northern Gaza, Trump claimed the enclave is now enjoying the highest degree of security ever, and claimed it has nearly been “perfected,” despite Hamas control over close to half of Gaza and the widespread destruction in the Strip.

“The residents of Gaza… have begun to move back to their homes, and a lot more safety, they said today – a lot more safety than they’ve ever had before. It was a rough neighborhood, to put it mildly, and a lot of progress has been made with respect to Gaza and just about everything else that we’ve touched.”

“Gaza, while it looks a little bit messy – it has for many, many years, I will tell you – many decades – but it is getting very close to being perfected, and people are shocked. Even the great experts…they are all saying that what is taking place in the Middle East is a miracle,” Trump continued, claiming the Strip was already benefiting from the “transformational peace deal.”

Trump touted the return of 45 of the 48 hostages held in Gaza at the time of the October ceasefire, expressing hope that the three remaining bodies, which he incorrectly listed as two, will be returned soon.

“A lot of work has been done by Hamas, and a lot of a lot of people said they wouldn’t be doing that.”