Israeli prime minister accepts position on US-proposed body with initial remit to oversee Gaza ceasefire

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Wednesday that he had agreed to join a US-backed “board of peace” proposed by Donald Trump, despite his office having earlier criticised the composition of its executive committee.

The body, chaired by the US president, was initially presented as a limited forum of world leaders tasked with overseeing a ceasefire in Gaza. More recently, however, the initiative appears to have expanded well beyond that remit, with the Trump camp extending invitations to dozens of countries and suggesting the board could evolve into a vehicle for brokering conflicts far beyond the Middle East.

Palestinian refugee agency compound is demolished, while teargas is fired at UN vocational school in West Bank

Israeli crews have started bulldozing the Jerusalem headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Jerusalem and fired teargas at a UN vocational school in Qalandia, in the West Bank.

Israel accuses the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unwra) of collaborating with Hamas – a charge the agency denies – and last year banned it from operating on its territory. The demolition marks Israel’s latest step against Unrwa, which provides aid to millions of Palestinian refugees.