The European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Suica, will head to Washington to represent the EU at the meeting Thursday.

"She will participate in the meeting of the Board of Peace for the specific part dedicated to Gaza. Let me stress that the European Commission, it's not becoming a member to the Board of Peace," EU spokesman Guillaume Mercier said.

He added the EU executive was participating as part of its "long-standing commitment" to the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire and "to support the reconstruction and the post-recovery in Gaza", he added.

The Board of Peace, of which Trump is the chairman, was initially designed to oversee the Gaza truce and reconstruction after the war between Hamas and Israel.

But its purpose has since morphed into resolving all sorts of international conflicts, triggering fears the US president wants to create a rival to the UN.

Some EU member states have raised concerns about the board.

"We still have a number of questions regarding several elements in the Board of Peace: one concerning its scope, two concerning its governance, and three, its compatibility with the UN Charter," EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni said.

Over the weekend, US President Donald Trump said Board of Peace member states will announce at an upcoming meeting on Thursday a pledge of more than $5 billion for reconstruction and humanitarian efforts in Gaza.

In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump wrote that member states have also committed thousands of personnel toward a UN-authorized stabilization force and local police in the Palestinian enclave. 

The US president said Thursday's gathering, the first official meeting of the group, will take place at the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, which the State Department recently renamed after the president. Delegations from more than 20 countries, including heads of state, are expected to attend.

The board's creation was endorsed by a United Nations Security Council resolution as part of the Trump administration's plan to end the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Israel and Hamas agreed to the plan last year with a ceasefire officially taking effect in October, although both sides have accused each other repeatedly of violating the ceasefire. According to Gaza's Health Ministry, more than 590 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops in the territory since the ceasefire began. Israel has said four of its soldiers have been killed by Palestinian militants in the same period.

While regional Middle East powers including Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Israel - as well as emerging nations such as Indonesia - have joined the board, global powers and traditional Western US allies have been more cautious.

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