Displaced Palestinians warm up by the fire after their homes are destroyed following heavy rain in Gaza City.
Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images
- Israel objected to the composition of the Gaza executive board.
- Israel has repeatedly opposed any Turkish role in Gaza.
- The White House said more members will be announced over the coming weeks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday that this week’s Trump administration announcement on the composition of a Gaza executive board was not coordinated with Israel and ran counter to government policy.
It said Foreign Minister Gideon Saar would raise the issue with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The statement did not specify what part of the board’s composition contradicted Israeli policy. An Israeli government spokesperson declined to comment.
The board, unveiled by the White House on Friday, includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Israel has repeatedly opposed any Turkish role in Gaza.
Other members of the executive board include Sigrid Kaag, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process; an Israeli‑Cypriot billionaire; and a minister from the United Arab Emirates, which established relations with Israel in 2020.
READ | US envoy announces phase 2 of Gaza peace plan, warns Hamas to return last Israel hostage
Washington this week also announced the start of the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan, announced in September, to end the war in Gaza.
This includes creating a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in the enclave.
Displaced Palestinians struggle carrying on with daily life amid the rubble left by Israeli attacks in Jabalia, Gaza.
Khames Alrefi/Anadolu via Getty Images
The first members of the so-called Board of Peace – to be chaired by Trump and tasked with supervising Gaza’s temporary governance – were also named.
Members include Rubio, billionaire developer Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Al Jazeera reported that a Turkish presidential spokesperson posted on social media on Saturday that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received an invitation from Trump a day earlier to “become a founding member” of the board.
Separately, Egypt’s foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, said at a news conference on Saturday that the country was reviewing a separate invitation from Trump to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to join the board.
Many rights experts and advocates have said that Trump overseeing a board to supervise a foreign territory’s governance resembled a colonial structure, while the prospect of Tony Blair’s involvement was criticised in 2025 due to his role in the Iraq war and the history of British imperialism in the Middle East.
The Prime Minister’s Office:
The announcement regarding the composition of the Gaza Executive Board, which is subordinate to the Board of Peace, was not coordinated with Israel and runs contrary to its policy.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) January 17, 2026
The White House did not detail the responsibilities of each member of the “founding executive board”.
It said more members will be announced over the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, also slammed the Trump administration’s plans in Gaza, saying Palestinians should be forced out of the enclave in line with Trump’s “original plan”.
Ben-Gvir called on Netanyahu to order the Israeli military “to return to war with tremendous force in the Strip, in order to achieve the main goal of the war: the destruction of Hamas”.
