(Adnkronos) – Amid growing international pressure achieve enduring peace in the Middle East, Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani has travelled to Washington DC to attend the inaugural meeting on Thursday of US president Donald Trump’s Board of Peace’ for Gaza.
At premier Giorgia Meloni’s request, Tajani is representing Italy as an observer on the Board of Peace, chaired by Trump, which has a UN mandate to oversee Gaza’s transition as part of Trump’s peace plan for the war-shattered Palestinian enclave.
“The first formal meeting of the Board will provide an opportunity for an update on the implementation of the US Administration’s 20-point peace plan and on investment and reconstruction projects in the Gaza Strip,” said a foreign ministry statement.
Palestinian National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) chair Ali Shaaath – the Board of Peace’s High Representative for Gaza Nickolay Mladenov and most of the panel’s members and observers were taking part in Thursday’s meeting, the statement said.
Participants at the meeting include representatives from Cyprus’ rotating EU presidence and the European Commission, the statement added.
“Italy’s participation confirms its commitment to every forum dedicated to the Middle East peace process, with the aim of promoting Hamas’ disarmament, the demilitarisation of the Gaza Strip and the launch of its reconstruction, in full compliance with international law and in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2803, which entrusts the Board of Peace with monitoring the stabilisation process in the area,” said the statement.
The statement underlined Italy’s “leading role” in efforts to stabilise the region and in getting humanitarian aid to civilians, especially through the government’s ‘Food for Gaza’ scheme launched by Tajani in March 2024, whose partners include the Rome-based UN agency World Food Programme, the Red Cross and the Red Crescent.
“The government is forging a national plan that brings together the best expertise and economic resources to rebuild Gaza, focusing especially on the health, education and food security sectors,” said the statement.
Also part of this framework is the recent mission to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi by Italy’s special envoy for the Reconstruction of Gaza, Bruno Archi, a foreign ministry diplomat.
