US President Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump has lashed out at French President Emmanuel Macron over his refusal to join Washington`s so-called "Board of Peace" for Gaza, as the initiative faces mounting criticism from international legal experts who describe it as an extension of Israeli occupation.

Asked about Macron`s stance on Tuesday, Trump dismissed the French head of state`s relevance and questioned his political future.

"Nobody wants him because he`s going to be out of office very soon," Trump said. He warned that if France adopted a hostile position towards the initiative, he would impose a "200% tariff on his wines and champagnes," adding that such pressure would lead Macron to fall in line.

Trump`s remarks came amid sharp condemnation of the so-called "Board of Peace" from Craig Mokhiber, former head of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) office, who resigned in October 2023 in protest against the Israeli regime`s US-backed war of genocide on the Gaza Strip.

Mokhiber said the "Board" is "structurally and functionally an extension of the occupation," arguing that it marks a move towards a full-fledged colonial administration of the besieged territory.

In a post on X, he said the body was led by "one of the genocide co-perpetrators with the authoritative participation of the other," referring to the United States and the Israeli regime.

He stressed that the occupation of Gaza was unlawful under international law and that both the occupation and genocide breached the highest binding norms of international law.

"No colonial edict by Trump, no ultra vires resolution of the Security Council, and no agreement by the occupied Palestinian Authority can legalize" the occupation or the war, Mokhiber wrote.

Trump has already announced the executive members of the "Board of Peace," which he says would oversee "transitional governance" in Gaza.

The proposed council, headed by Trump himself, is composed of pro-Israeli figures and Western elites.

Mokhiber warned that "any state or individual that participates in this unlawful body is complicit in the grave international crimes of the US-Israel Axis," and said those involved could and should be held accountable.

He added that the world was now watching to see who aligns with the Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom and who sides with their oppressors through participation in the body.

The initiative comes as most of the commitments outlined in Trump`s 20-point proposal, which he claims is aimed at ending the genocide, have failed to materialize, most notably the cessation of aggression by the regime, which has killed hundreds since the start of a ceasefire agreement in early October under Trump`s plan.

Nor has any sufficient provision of aid to Palestinians, who began facing a deliberate starvation campaign as part of the genocide.

When asked separately whether Russian President Vladimir Putin had been invited to join the "Board of Peace," Trump confirmed the invitation.

Since the launch of the genocide on October 7, 2023, more than 71,500 Palestinians have been killed and over 172,000 wounded, the vast majority of them women and children.