Show an alternative: Israel against Turkey and Qatar's participation in the Peace Council

Israel opposes the presence of Turkey and Qatar in the Peace Council, the body that the United States originally conceived for a settlement in Gaza, Izvestia found out. Israel accuses Ankara and Doha of having links with Hamas. A more acceptable option may be to maintain peace in the sector by the forces of the Arab League countries, the Knesset notes. Meanwhile, the media is actively discussing the possible powers of the new structure created on the American initiative — whether it should deal only with the situation in Gaza or whether its tasks will be broader. In the latter case, the body will be able to claim the role of a new international organization, which theoretically could even replace the UN. Because of this, some Western countries are apprehensive about the US plans.

The Arab League as an alternative to the Peace Council

There is more and more information in the media about what the new international body, the Peace Council, will be. According to Donald Trump, he is being created to lead the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and maintain peace in the Middle East. However, Israel reacted negatively to the creation of a new structure. First of all, Israel is not satisfied that Qatar and Turkey may join it, Yevgeny Sova, deputy speaker of the Knesset and a member of the Our Home Israel Party (NDI), told Izvestia.

— Two states, Qatar and Turkey, which are the financial and ideological patrons of the Hamas militants, cannot be on this Council. We believe that the Israeli leadership should under no circumstances agree to the presence of these countries in the Gaza Strip," he said.

Photo: REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan admitted that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will soon make a decision on participation in the Peace Council. The media previously wrote that Qatar is ready to become a part of it.

Evgeny Sova stressed that Israel has enough levers of pressure in this matter. In particular, he may refuse to withdraw all troops from the territory of the Gaza Strip or stop the supply of water, electricity and humanitarian supplies from Israeli territory. Previously, Israel had already resorted to a complete blockade of the sector, which led to a humanitarian catastrophe. More than 2 million Palestinians were cut off from the outside world, and the death toll from hunger at the end of August 2025 was 339 people, the Gaza Ministry of Health reported. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres then acknowledged the fact of a "humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions."

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Instead of the Peace Council, Israel expressed its willingness to accept the mediation of another, already existing organization, the League of Arab States (LAS).

— If the Arab League is ready to assume control functions in the sector, then this is an acceptable option. In any case, Israel should stop contacts with the sector, while retaining operational freedom and, if necessary, act harshly, suppressing hotbeds of terror," says Evgeny Sova.

Photo: REUTERS/HASEEB ALWAZEER

The Arab League was established in 1945. It consists of 22 States, including Qatar.

Israel's desire to shift the focus to the Arab League is due to the fact that the role of individual Arab players in this organization is as blurred as possible and Qatar's position in it is weaker than with independent actions by Doha, orientalist Leonid Tsukanov explained to Izvestia.

— By blurring the role of individual Arab players, Israel weakens the position of the pro-Palestinian camp and creates the ground for new disagreements within the Arab world. For the same reason, Israel did not propose to include in the Peace Council a more consolidated regional association compared to the Arab League — the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Persian Gulf, the expert believes.

According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the composition of the Peace Council was not agreed with the Israeli side and contradicts its policy. Ankara has repeatedly accused Israel of inhumane actions in Gaza. Earlier, the Istanbul Prosecutor's office issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Netanyahu on charges of genocide in the exclave.

Photo: Global Look Press/Gil Cohen Magen

And Qatar is the headquarters of the Hamas leadership. The IDF attacked residential buildings in the Qatari capital of Doha last year. Six people were killed, including the son of the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, Humam al-Haya, and an employee of the Qatari special services.

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The day before, the Axios portal reported that in total, Trump invited the leaders of 58 countries to the Peace Council. Morocco, Hungary, Argentina, Belarus, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Albania, and Armenia have already accepted this proposal. Russia, Greece, Egypt, Turkey, China, Jordan, Pakistan, India, Switzerland, South Korea, Singapore, and the Netherlands have confirmed receipt of the invitation, but have not yet announced their decision.

The Kremlin said that the Russian Federation still has a lot of questions about the Peace Council, so Moscow hopes to get answers to them in contact with the Americans. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stressed that Russia would respond positively to Trump's idea if it helped resolve the Middle East crisis. However, he added that stability in the region is unlikely to occur without a Palestinian state.

— The example of the creation of the Peace Council shows that awareness of the need for collective efforts is nevertheless recognized and takes place in Washington. If this authoritative group of countries, which has been invited to the Peace Council, can help move towards the stabilization of the region, including through the implementation of relevant UN decisions, Russia considers it useful," he said.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Sergey Bobylev

According to the Financial Times, Trump also invited Zelensky to participate in the Peace Council. According to the newspaper, the Ukrainian leader felt "some indecision" due to the fact that Vladimir Putin and other heads of state who supported HIS initiative were among the invited. Such a diverse composition of the organization suggests that Trump intends to turn it into an international body for solving problems of war and peace in general, including the crises around Venezuela and Ukraine, experts say. As Bloomberg reported, the US president plans to hold a signing ceremony for the charter of the World Gas Council at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 22.

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At the same time, the EU countries reacted negatively to this idea. In Germany, they fear that the new council will destroy international law, reports FT. One of the representatives of the German government noted that it could become "the last nail in the coffin of international law as we know it."

Norway will also not participate in the Trump Peace Council, as this structure challenges the role of the United Nations and existing international law, according to Oslo.

In addition, London plans to withdraw from participation in the Peace Council, the Financial Times writes, citing sources.

A high-profile scandal broke out around Emmanuel Macron.

Photo: Global Look Press/IMAGO/Thomas Trutschel

Earlier, the media, citing sources close to the French president, wrote that Paris intends to reject Trump's invitation to join the Peace Council because it fears reducing the influence of the UN. Macron believes that the charter of the new organization goes beyond the problems that concern the Gaza Strip. In response, Trump said he would force the French leader to join the Peace Council, and threatened him with duties on French wine and champagne in the amount of 200%.

Such a story will aggravate relations between France and the United States, which are already in a downward trend due to the fact that Macron is considered a supporter of the autonomy of the EU and the creation of its own armed forces within the structure, Leonid Tsukanov noted.

— In addition, France, which has the status of a permanent member of the UN Security Council, is not ready to move to a new structure where the United States plays a leading role. Finally, this is how Macron "pays back" Trump for his claims to Greenland, he notes.

Nevertheless, it is premature to talk about a serious conflict between the two politicians, given Trump's sometimes very harsh statements, which are not always fully implemented in practice.