Trump’s behaviour does not entitle him to Nobel Peace Prize

Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania have pledged to provide troops for Gaza's 20,000-strong International Stabilization Force (ISF) which has been mandated to take over security in the half-Israeli-occupied and half-Hamas held Palestinian territory. Indonesia has pledged to dispatch 8,000 soldiers as peacekeepers in the expectation they would not have to fight either Hamas fighters or the Israeli army. However, Hamas has vowed to retain its weapons until Israel withdraws and Israel has argued its forces will remain in Gaza until Hamas is disarmed and its tunnel system destroyed. So far, stalemate prevails.

The participation of troops from these contributor countries was announced last week by US Major General Jasper Jeffers who commands the ISF although Washington has not committed troops. An Indonesian general is to be his deputy. The five ISF brigades are set to deploy across five sectors, starting in Rafah and expanding sector by sector.

The ISF is meant to provide security in Gaza to enable civilian governance by a Palestinian body established by the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza. Egypt and Jordan are to recruit and train a local police force of 12,000.

The pledges were obtained on Thursday during US President Donald Trump's inaugural meeting of his signature Board of Peace, which was originally meant to deal with the Gaza crisis and expanded its reach to embrace other global unrest. Trump said the US would contribute $10 billion to the Board of Peace, without suggesting how the money would be accessed or where employed and whether or not he would need to secure authorisation from Congress which holds the purse strings.

Following the gathering, without revealing each country's contributions, Trump announced nine participating countries have promised a combined total of $7 billion for relief in Gaza. This is for addressing the urgent existential needs of Gaza's 1.9 million displaced and deprived Palestinians of the 2.2 million Gazans and falls far short of the $70 billion the UN has estimated is required to rebuild Israeli-devastated Gaza.

A week ago, Israel gave Hamas 60 days to disarm and threatened to resume the war if it fails to comply. The October 10th, 2025, ceasefire diminished but did not end Israel's full-scale onslaught on Gaza. Israel has continued daily attacks, killing more than 600 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since then. Instead of exerting political and economic pressure on Israel to desist, the US has carried on with arms shipments to Israel and has extended full political backing.

The first phase of Trump's peace plan was completed with the release of the last Israeli captives held by Hamas and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The disarmament of Hamas is mandated in the second phase of the plan, which was launched in January. This phase also includes Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the start of reconstruction, the unimpeded entry of humanitarian aid and the inauguration of an administrative committee to manage the territory.

The Guardian reported that the Trump administration plans to build a military base in Gaza covering more than 350 acres and initially housing 5,000 US troops. This base would accommodate the ISF once its brigades are formed. Encircled by barbed wire and "26 trailer-mounted watchtowers," the base will contain "a small-arms (firing) range, bunkers, and a warehouse for military equipment for operations," The Guardian said in an exclusive report.

While the Gaza pacification plan is the first to be tackled by Trump's 22-member Board of Peace, it is not clear what influence it will have or what crisis would be next on his agenda. The board's members include Pakistan, Indonesia, Bahrain, Israel, Jordan and Morocco, but not Palestine. Six states, including Egypt and Kuwait in this region and nine plus the European Union, are still considering the invitation. Sixteen major global actors, including Australia, Brazil, India, Japan, and Russia, have not responded; a dozen have rejected, among which were heavyweight NATO-members Britain, Germany, and France. Absentees deprive the board of both muscle and credibility.

Trump's current dedication to the cause of peace between Hamas and Israel in the heavily reported Gaza war is fuelled by his desire for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for which he has been nominated. Considering himself cheated by denial of the prize last year, he is more than ever determined to secure the individual award this year when, according to the media, he faces 13 worthy competitors. The prize is set to be announced on October 9th and presented on December 10th in Oslo, Norway.

Trump has vioced his displeasure over the 1961 award of the prize to Barack Obama who was the fourth presidential laureate. He followed Jimmy Carter in 2002 for post-White House humanitarian work. Woodrow Wilson received the prize in 1919 for proposing the League of Nations which the US did not join and Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 for mediating an end to the Russo-Japanese war.

Trump claimed he had resolved eight disputes although several of those he tackled simmer on. He has also undermined his bid with negative actions and policies. He has used tariffs on US imports which harm exporters, disrupt global trade and raise consumer costs. He has also employed tariffs to exert pressure on governments which resist his demands. He has threatened to seize Greenland from Denmark, risking a major rift with the European Union, NATO and the UN. Trump has sent a naval armada to the Arabian Sea to threaten Iran with war if Tehran and Washington fail to reach agreement over Iran's nuclear programme within two weeks. He ignores the fact that Tehran deeply mistrusts the US and Trump because in 2018 during his first term he withdrew the US from the successful 2015 agreement which limited Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. After the US pulled out, sanctions were reimposed and strengthened, harming Iran's economy and Iran was isolated on the world stage. Trump cannot expect to win the Nobel Peace Prize while behaving badly.