RIYADH (AFP) — Saudi Arabia and eight Muslim-majority countries including Gaza mediators Qatar and Turkey have agreed to join United States (US) President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace,” the Saudi foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

Trump signed the charter of the Board, which he has billed as a body for resolving international conflicts, with other founding members in Davos on Thursday. 

In a joint statement, Riyadh announced the “shared decision” of the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to join the body to be chaired by Trump, saying they supported his “peace efforts” on the Gaza conflict.

Kuwait’s foreign ministry later posted on X that the country had also accepted.

Invites were sent to dozens of world leaders with a request for $1 billion for a permanent seat on the board. The Saudi statement did not mention payment. 

Although originally meant to oversee Gaza’s rebuilding, the board’s charter does not seem to limit its role to the Strip and appears to want to rival the United Nations, sparking the ire of some US allies including France.

France has indicated it will not join the board but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted an invite, his office said on Wednesday.

However, he has objected to the inclusion of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi on a “Gaza Executive Board” operating under the body.