Trump announces billions pledged for Gaza at Board of Peace meeting

US President Donald Trump announced billions of dollars in contributions for relief in the Gaza Strip at the inaugural meeting Thursday of the Board of Peace in Washington.

Trump said the US is contributing $10 billion to the new body.

Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Kuwait collectively pledged more than $7 billion, he added.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is raising an additional $2 billion, said Trump.

The US president noted Japan is committed to host a fundraiser, "which will be a very big one."

US Ambassador to the UN Michael Waltz said humanitarian flows into Gaza have improved significantly, with 4,200 aid trucks entering the territory each week for 13 consecutive weeks, "the longest stretch of high-volume assistance to Gaza in years."

"Aid is up," he said, adding that it was now reaching the full 2.1 million Gazans, up as much as five times from previous delivery levels.

Israel began its war in Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023, resulting in more than 72,000 Palestinian deaths and over 171,000 injuries, most of them women and children, and damage to 90% of civilian infrastructure.

Despite a ceasefire, the Israeli army continued its attacks, killing at least 611 Palestinians and injuring 1,630, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.