The United Arab Emirates transferred $100 million to the Board of Peace in recent days in order 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.

The proposal envisions the new Gaza police force taking part in the collection of weapons........

© The Times of Israel