Trump had described the Board as one of the "most significant" international organizations ever created, with permanent membership tied to a USD 1 billion fee per country. Member states pledged USD 7 billion in aid for Gaza, and Trump promised an additional USD 10 billion in U.S. funds.
"Not a single dollar has come in", one source familiar with the matter told the FT, which cited four people with knowledge of the situation.
Rather than using the World Bank-managed fund backed by the United Nations, the Board has been accepting donations directly into a JPMorgan bank account, according to a Board spokesman and another source. Unlike the World Bank mechanism, the JPMorgan account carries no independent transparency requirements.
A Board spokesman told the FT that "a range of funding options have been established" and that donors "have chosen to utilize other options at this time", adding that the Board would present financial reports to its own board — comprising Trump administration officials and advisers — "in due course".
Morocco's roughly USD 20 million contribution has helped fund the office of Nikolai Mladenov, the high representative for post-war Gaza, and salaries for a Palestinian technocratic commission the Board appointed to govern the territory. The UAE recently allocated USD 100 million to train new Gaza police forces, but the program has not begun and the funds remain frozen.
The U.S. State Department intends to direct approximately USD 1.2 billion in aid funds toward Board-aligned projects, though none has been disbursed. A further USD 50 million earmarked for direct Board operations also remains unallocated.
The Board has launched tenders for security and reconstruction work in Gaza but has awarded no contracts, the spokesman said, citing Hamas's continued failure to disarm as the primary obstacle to the Board’s operations on the ground.
(jh)
Source: PAP