Illustrative: Hamas police officers in the streets of the Gaza Strip, as seen in footage published by the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, March 2026. (Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Trump signs order promoting sale of US arms to Peace Board

UAE sends Board of Peace $100 million for training of new Gaza police force — officials

Transfer is largest sum US-led oversight body has received to date after $17 billion in pledges, indicating Abu Dhabi’s commitment to initiative even as Iran war has forced countries to reprioritize spending

by · The Times of Israel

The United Arab Emirates transferred $100 million to the Board of Peace in recent days to fund a contract for the training of a new Palestinian police force for Gaza, a US official and a Middle Eastern diplomat told The Times of Israel this week.

The transfer is the largest that the Board of Peace has received to date, after announcing $17 billion in pledges at a donor conference hosted by US President Donald Trump in February.

Although less than one percent of that figure has been transferred, the Board of Peace has denied having funding issues, and a source familiar with the matter said the US-led international body tasked with overseeing the postwar management of Gaza is not looking to immediately collect all of the pledges, and instead wants to cash in on an as-needed basis.

The standing up of a Palestinian police force is seen as a top priority for the Board of Peace, as it seeks to install new governing and security bodies to phase Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces out of Gaza.

The police force is slated to fall under the umbrella of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), the panel of Palestinian technocrats tasked with governing the postwar Strip.

The NCAG has yet to enter Gaza, some three months since its establishment, as the Board of Peace appears determined to first coax Hamas into accepting a framework for the decommissioning of its weapons.

Ali Shaath, the top official of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, signs the committee’s mission statement in a photo posted to his X account on January 17, 2026. (Ali Shaath/X)

The proposal envisions the new Gaza police force taking part in the collection of weapons in Gaza. But talks on the matter have stalled as Hamas argues that Israel must adhere to the phase one terms of the ceasefire that ended two years of war in the enclave.

In February, the NCAG began recruiting for the new police force, and the Board of Peace’s Gaza envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, has said several thousand Palestinians quickly submitted applications.

Palestinians who previously served as Hamas civil servants have been allowed to apply to the new police force, but they will have to undergo Shin Bet vetting to be approved, an Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel in March.

Recruits are slated to be trained in Egypt and Jordan, with an Emirati security firm tasked with building a force of some 27,000 officers, the US official and Middle Eastern diplomat said.

Read more: Board of Peace won’t hold Israel to truce terms if Hamas doesn’t okay disarmament offer

The Board of Peace declined a request for comment on the record.

The decision by Abu Dhabi to move ahead with the transfer indicates that it remains committed to involvement in the postwar management of Gaza, even as its national priorities are almost certain to change in light of the recent Iran war, which saw it sustain the majority of Tehran’s attacks against Israel and its Gulf neighbors.

Palestinians collect humanitarian aid packages from the United Arab Emirates after they were airdropped into Zawaida, in the central Gaza Strip, July 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait each pledged at least $1 billion to the Board of Peace. Other than Abu Dhabi, only Morocco has followed through on its pledge, sending several million dollars to the Board of Peace, according to the US official and the Middle Eastern diplomat.

The UAE was the largest foreign donor of humanitarian aid to Gaza during the war, covering nearly half of the assistance that entered the Strip.

Another body that the Board of Peace is working to stand up is the International Stabilization Force (ISF), which is tasked with phasing the IDF out of Gaza and securing the Strip.

Indonesia, Albania, Kazakhstan and Kosovo have each pledged troops to the mission, but so far, none have been deployed, even just to begin training.

The US still appears committed to the initiative, though, with Trump recently signing an order backing the sale of American-made “defense articles and defense services” to the Board of Peace — weapons that would ostensibly go toward arming the ISF.