Italy on the board for Gaza, debut in Davos where Meloni will see Trump again

Tomorrow will come the official announcement by Donald Trump, but the games are played. Italy will be part of the Board of peace that will oversee the transitional administration of the Gaza Strip. The news, which filtered through the Arab media yesterday, was confirmed by the head of the 'Arab Americans for Peace' committee and mediator in Gaza, Bishara Bahbah, to the pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat. It was a success for Giorgia Melon: the Prime Minister had immediately given Italy's willingness and hoped for entry into the Council.

"The Board of peace has been formed," Trump told the press aboard Air Force One on Sunday. "Basically, it's the most important leaders of the most important nations." It should be 15 countries in all: along with Italy, the UK, Germany, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey are expected to join. Among the rumours is one that would have the former UN envoy for the Middle East, Nickolay Mladenov, as the board's representative on the ground. According to Bahbah, moreover, 'there is talk of the possibility of adding the head of the International Monetary Fund, the president of the World Bank and another figure presiding over an international institution to the board'.

The Board will meet for the first time on the sidelines of the Davos Economic Forum, scheduled from 19 to 25 January in the well-known Swiss ski resort. And for the first time, in view of Trump's presence, the Italian Prime Minister will also be among the 2,500 business, political, scientific and cultural leaders attending and the approximately 300 heads of state and government.

Meloni has woven a tight web since Trump proposed the peace plan for Gaza. The Prime Minister has moved in several directions: she has never failed to support Trump in the complicated negotiations; she has reinforced the already solid axis with the President of the Palestinian National Authority, Abu Mazen, received at Palazzo Chigi twice in recent months (on 7 November and 12 December) and then as guest of honour at Atreju; she has tightened relations with Arab countries, being the only leader invited last December to the annual summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council, in Manama.

As he recalled at the press conference at the beginning of the year, 'Italy can play an absolutely unique and fundamental role in this delicate and very important path, because we are respected by all the players in the field, by all the players in the region: by Israel, but also by the Palestinian National Authority, as the presence of President Abu Mazen at Atreju and not only that, the Gulf countries, as the fact that Italy has been invited - the first time for our country - to the Gulf Cooperation Council as guest of honour has shown. I think that this respect we enjoy should be used positively to the maximum'. Meloni also reiterated the possibility of Italian participation in a possible multinational force, under UN auspices. 'Unlike Ukraine, in this case it can really make a big difference. But clearly it will depend on the security conditions and on what parliament will say'. The goal, for Rome, remains one: to build the two-state perspective.