Exclusive documents reveal plan to shield officials, contractors and military forces from prosecution in Gaza as humanitarian groups warn of deadly precedent
The UN-sanctioned Board of Peace announced by Donald Trump earlier this year to govern Gaza is planning a sweeping grant of legal immunity for itself, according to a draft resolution obtained by the Guardian. The four-page document, labeled “sensitive but unclassified”, would also allow the organisation to obtain public property in Gaza “free of charge”.
The draft resolution, titled “RESOLUTION NO 2026/3”, extends broad protections to every member of the Board of Peace and its administrative affiliate, the Office of the High Representative (OHR), as well as to Palestinian technocrats, international military forces and nonresident contractors lined up to perform work in Gaza. It defines the legal processes from which they would have immunity as “any arrest, detention or legal proceedings in the courts or other entities in Gaza”.
It is unclear if the document is attempting to relieve the Board of Peace and its affiliates from prosecution in international courts, in addition to potential claims in Gaza.
The seven-member executive board that leads the Board of Peace includes Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner; special envoy Steve Witkoff; the president’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles; and his national security adviser, Marco Rubio. Though countries have pledged billions, most have not yet transferred funds to support its work in Gaza and no major contracts have been issued. Trump, as board chair, would have the right to waive someone’s legal immunity, pending majority support from his peace board, the June 2026 draft resolution states.
‘No external oversight’
Six lawyers specialising in US contracting law and international armed conflict reviewed the draft resolution for the Guardian. If the resolution goes into force, they said, it is unclear how Board of Peace officials, soldiers and contractors would be held accountable if there are shootings or accidents affecting Gaza residents, or even how the group might resolve routine disputes over business or land use.
“It looks like an attempt to exempt the board, and all of its personnel, from accountability for potential legal violations,” said Emily Schaeffer Omer-Man, an expert in litigating international humanitarian law in Israeli, American and foreign courts.
Several lawyers pointed to the specific risks associated with Section 7 of the draft resolution, entitled “Third Party Liability/Claims”, which lays out a system for the Board of Peace to consider and adjudicate any claims for “property loss or damage and for personal injury, illness or death” arising from its work in Gaza.
“They are basically saying there’s no external oversight, including applicable international law regarding occupation,” said Noura Erakat, an international law professor at Rutgers University. “It’s creating a legal system unto itself.”
Contractors have also pressed for clarity about the legal protections afforded for potential work in Gaza, where the Trump-backed peace board has solicited bids for rubble removal, security work and a vast reconstruction effort envisaged there. Kushner has described transforming the coastal territory into a site of luxury resorts, hi-tech cities and regional business hubs.
Laws governing international contractors and military forces are usually outlined in “status of forces agreements” between countries, but there is no such document for Gaza. American contractors can be subject to US law for certain crimes even if they operate overseas.
“I would think any company would want a very clear legal framework,” said Doug Brooks, president emeritus of the International Stability Operations Association. “There are liability issues any serious American company would want to be clear about.”
Israeli officials don’t want to negotiate a status of forces agreement in Gaza because Israel doesn’t want to recognise Gaza as a state, one American security contractor said. “It’s pretty important for political and legal cover and insurance,” the contractor said. “It gives the people of Gaza clarity and comfort around how they’ll be treated and dealt with by contractors they may engage with.”
Property seizure fears
The final section of the draft resolution, entitled “Premises of the Board of Peace, OHR, and ISF”, says that the group “shall be provided, free of charge, public premises and facilities needed for the accomplishment of the missions in Gaza”.
Legal experts cautioned that this provision could open the door to illegal confiscation of Palestinian property. It is not clear which group – Israel, Hamas or the Palestinian Authority – would be responsible for providing the Board of Peace with facilities, and under what terms.
The Board of Peace plans to build a base for an international military force, as well as logistics hubs to power its operations there, according to contractors involved in the process. The international force is intended to assist with disarming Hamas, which is a crucial step in Trump’s peace plan. Israel has refused to proceed with steps outlined by a November 2025 ceasefire agreement if Hamas continues to bear arms.
“By unilaterally declaring the power to seize Palestinian land, property and buildings for their own use without consent, compensation or redress, the Board of Peace is taking a page out of Israel’s repressive playbook,” said Omar Shakir, executive director at Dawn, a non-profit dedicated to investigating the impacts of US foreign policy in the Middle East. “Far from signaling an end to genocide, apartheid and occupation, this document suggests entrenching some of its ugliest signature characteristics. This risks not only complicity, but direct perpetration of grave abuses.”
Several attorneys raised questions about the Board of Peace’s legal authority to assume control of public facilities and premises.
“If they don’t have a status of forces agreement with Israel, then it’s not clear what the board’s legal authority would be,” said Brad Parker, associate director of policy at the Center for Constitutional Rights. CCR attorneys have represented victims in US litigation against Blackwater and other American security contractors for alleged abuses in Iraq.
Board disputes draft
The White House referred questions to the Board of Peace. The Board did not answer specific questions about the draft resolution, but an official said in a statement: “There is no operative resolution or immunity framework of the kind described in your questions… Any suggestion that this process is designed to create lawlessness or impunity is wrong, misleading and gets the issue entirely backwards.”
The official added that “the suggestion that the President will have a role in establishing or waiving immunity in Gaza [is] categorically false”, and that “the Board will ensure all personnel, contractors, and participating entities follow applicable law and operate under clear rules, oversight, and accountability mechanisms”. The official did not explain what the oversight and accountability would be.
Nickolay Mladenov, a Bulgarian diplomat serving as the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, has been meeting in Cairo this week with Palestinian administrators selected by the Board of Peace to govern Gaza. The discussions have focused on refining the framework for the group’s work in the territory, according to one person familiar with the agenda. The prospective immunity resolution has not been shared with the Palestinian cohort, the person said.
The draft says that the resolution will go into force upon Mladenov’s signature. The Board of Peace did not respond to questions about what additional parties, if any, would sign its sweeping resolution.
“How valuable is this document if they are the only ones signing it?” Shakir said.
The UN Security Council authorised the Board of Peace to oversee the administration of Gaza until 31 December 2027. The UN Charter affords its diplomats and organisations specific legal protections for work conducted on behalf of UN missions abroad. It is unclear if the Board of Peace could draw on the UN immunities for its own protection.
The Context: Devastation, Displacement and a Warning from History
The Board of Peace’s proposed immunity framework comes against the backdrop of one of the most devastating conflicts in recent history, a rapidly changing territorial reality in Gaza, and a deeply troubled precedent set by a previous US-backed aid operation that humanitarian groups say became a site of orchestrated killing.
The Human Toll
Since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and Israel’s counter-offensive, in which 1,195 Israelis and foreigners were killed, the Israeli military campaign in Gaza has exacted a staggering toll. As of 3 May 2026, at least 75,811 people have been reported killed in the Gaza war, including 73,770 Palestinians – around 20,000 of whom are children – and more than 2,000 Israelis.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, the death toll from the Israeli offensive has risen to 73,051 martyrs and 173,437 wounded since October 7, 2023. The UN has reported that women and children comprise approximately 56 percent of the war dead. UNICEF has described Gaza as the world’s “most dangerous place” for children.
A UN Commission of Inquiry concluded in October 2025 that Israel is responsible for the commission of four genocidal acts in Gaza, with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as such. The Commission found that Israeli officials have demonstrated “a clear and consistent intent to establish permanent military control over Gaza and to change its demographic composition”.
Israel’s Expanding Buffer Zone
Since the onset of the war, Israel has dramatically expanded its military control over Gaza, creating a de facto buffer zone that now encompasses more than half the territory. According to the Israeli rights group Gisha, Israel has expanded its control to more than 60 percent of Gaza – approximately 194 square kilometers (75 square miles). Other sources put the figure at 70 percent.
The buffer zone is demarcated by what is known as the “Yellow Line,” a north-to-south security boundary established under the US-mediated October 2025 ceasefire plan. Satellite analyses indicate that Israel now effectively controls an area that has grown from a temporary arrangement into a physical barrier longitudinally dividing the Strip. In northern Gaza, Israel expanded its control from 67.3 square kilometers to 73.9 square kilometers, ultimately swallowing 54.7 percent of the north.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the seized territories in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria as “buffer zones” that can stave off potential militant attacks. However, Palestinians view this widening buffer zone as part of a strategy to permanently displace them, pointing to remarks from senior ministers, including defence chief Israel Katz, who have spoken of encouraging “voluntary migration” from Gaza.
The Israeli military has demolished towns and neighborhoods, creating large, depopulated zones. These land seizures and evacuation warnings have pushed out more than 3 million people across Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.
International Legal Warnings
The UN and other international bodies have repeatedly warned that Israel’s buffer zone policy may constitute war crimes under international law.
In February 2024, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned that Israel’s reported attempt to create a “buffer zone” with Gaza could constitute a war crime. Türk stressed that the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits the occupying power from destroying property belonging to private persons except where absolutely necessary by military operations. He said that “extensive destruction of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly, amounts to a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and a war crime”.
In April 2025, the UN human rights office said it feared that Israel may intend to permanently remove civilians in Gaza as part of an expanded buffer zone. The UN rights chief also warned that the destruction of homes and other essential civilian infrastructure “appears to be aimed at or has the effect of rendering the return of civilians to these areas impossible,” adding that the forcible transfer of civilians may constitute a war crime.
A UN Commission of Inquiry report found that civilian infrastructure and natural resources essential to the survival of the civilian population have been destroyed in the corridors and buffer zone, the territory fragmented, and Palestinians forcibly transferred. The Commission also identified six Israeli ministers as likely bearing the most responsibility for international crimes relating to land and housing, including responsibility for the crime of genocide.
The International Court of Justice’s 2004 advisory opinion affirmed that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to all Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including Gaza, and found that Israel’s barrier construction violated Palestinian rights under international law. A July 2024 advisory opinion by the ICJ declared Israel’s presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory unlawful.
A Deadly Precedent: The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation
Concerns over the Board of Peace’s operations are rooted in the recent, deeply troubled history of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US- and Israeli-backed aid distribution scheme that humanitarian groups say became a site of orchestrated killing.
The GHF was established in late May 2025 to deliver food aid, replacing a UN-coordinated system of some 400 sites with just four distribution points. These points were secured by private American armed contractors, with the Israeli military controlling the wider perimeter. Almost immediately, the operation descended into violence. Desperate Palestinians, facing starvation, were forced into a deadly choice: starve or risk being shot while trying to reach food.
The human cost of the GHF’s operations was staggering. In June 2025 alone, at least 600 Palestinians were killed and thousands more injured in shootings near GHF sites. By early July, the death toll had risen to over 500 with nearly 4,000 wounded. The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported at least 600 killed and over 4,278 injured since the GHF began operations.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) documented that “children were shot in the chest while reaching for food”. Between June and July 2025, MSF teams treated 71 children for gunshot wounds, 25 of whom were under 15. Patients included a 12-year-old boy shot in the abdomen and an 8-year-old girl with a gunshot wound to her chest. MSF reported “horrendous levels of targeted and indiscriminate violence”, describing the sites as places of “orchestrated killing”. Testimonies described Israeli soldiers shooting at crowds from fixed positions, with one survivor recalling being shot at “just for fun” while lying on the ground waving for the shooting to stop.
One year on, MSF continues to treat patients with life-long injuries from the violence. Many are now dependent on charity due to their injuries.
The GHF’s operations drew widespread condemnation and serious legal warnings. Fifteen international human rights organisations warned that private contractors operating in Gaza with the Israeli government risked being “complicit in crimes under international law, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide”. UN officials stated that aid distribution in Gaza had become a “death trap”, and the UN called the GHF’s operations a violation of humanitarian principles. A UK-based rights organisation filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court against the GHF, alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Board of Peace Connection
The legacy of the GHF now casts a long shadow over the Board of Peace. The same private security firm that provided armed guards for the deadly GHF operations, UG Solutions, is now in talks with the Board of Peace about a potential role in Gaza. This has alarmed Palestinians, with one NGO leader stating: “The GHF and those who stand behind it have Palestinian blood on their hands; they are not welcome to return to Gaza”.
Critics have framed this as a clear warning. As one analysis put it, “the legacy of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation serves as a warning: when aid is militarized and profited from, it ceases to be humanitarian and becomes simply another tool of war”.
The Board of Peace did not respond to questions about its potential use of UG Solutions or how it would prevent a repeat of the GHF’s deadly operations. With the draft immunity resolution in place, lawyers say, accountability for any future abuses would be even more elusive than it was for the GHF – a prospect that has horrified humanitarian groups already scarred by the events of 2025.
