Vatican won’t join Trump’s Board of Peace, says it undermines U.N.

The Vatican said it won’t accept an invitation to the Board of Peace, contending that it butts up against the United Nations.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, said Tuesday that the Holy See “will not participate in the Board of Peace because of [the Vatican’s] particular nature, which is evidently not that of other states,” according to the Vatican News website.

Cardinal Parolin also said that “one concern is that at the international level it should above all be the U.N. that manages these crisis situations. This is one of the points on which we have insisted.”

President Trump, who chairs the Board of Peace, said on his Truth Social platform Sunday that the states that have agreed to be members will be announcing a pledge of over $5 billion toward humanitarian aid and reconstruction in Gaza, which suffered heavy bombardment during the Israeli-Hamas war.

He also mentioned that member states will commit personnel on the ground to act as an “international stabilization force” and to perform local policing duties in Gaza. The Board of Peace is set to meet in the District of Columbia on Thursday.

Countries that have said they will join the Board of Peace include Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Egypt, El Salvador, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Mongolia, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, according to The Associated Press.

Last week, Indonesia’s army chief of staff, Gen. Maruli Simanjuntak, said the country plans to send 5,000 to 8,000 personnel to Gaza, primarily in medical and engineering units.

Hamas, the terrorist group that controls the government of the Gaza Strip, has called on the Board of Peace to intervene and stop alleged Israeli violations of the October ceasefire between the two sides.

Gaza health officials say Israel has killed about 600 Palestinians since the ceasefire was implemented, according to Al Jazeera. Israel’s military says four of its soldiers have been killed in that time.

The confrontation was perpetuated by Hamas’ slaughter of Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023.

“The war of genocide against the Strip is still ongoing — through killing, displacement, siege and starvation — which has not stopped until this very moment,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said.

Mr. Trump emphasized on Truth Social that “Hamas must uphold its commitment to Full and Immediate Demilitarization,” a demand matched by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mr. Netanyahu said Sunday that “Hamas must first be disarmed and then Gaza must be demilitarized,” according to The New York Times, and indicated that if the terrorists don’t disarm and Gaza doesn’t demilitarize, Israel would refuse to withdraw its forces any further from the area.