Gaza
\nThe Trump administration has named US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former UK prime minister Sir Tony Blair as two of the founding members of its \u201cBoard of Peace\u201d for Gaza.
\nTrump\u2019s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and the president\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner will also sit on the \u201cfounding executive board\u201d, the White House said in a statement on Friday.
\nTrump will act as chairman of the board, which forms part of his 20-point plan to end the war between Israel and Hamas.
\nIt is expected to temporarily oversee the running of Gaza and manage its reconstruction.
\nAlso on the founding executive board are Marc Rowan, the head of a private equity firm, World Bank chief Ajay Banga and a US national security adviser, Robert Gabriel.
\nEach member would have a portfolio \u201ccritical to Gaza\u2019s stabilisation and long-term success\u201d, the White House statement said.
\nTrump had said on Thursday that the board had been formed, calling it the \u201cGreatest and Most Prestigious Board ever assembled at any time, any place\u201d.
\nFurther members of the board would be named in the coming weeks, the White House said.
\nCanadian media, citing senior government officials, has reported that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has been asked to join the board and intends to accept the invitation. The BBC has contacted Carney\u2019s office for comment.
\nSir Tony was UK prime minister from 1997 to 2007 and took the UK into the Iraq War in 2003. After leaving office, he served as Middle East envoy for the Quartet of international powers (the US, EU, Russia and the UN).
\nIn this role, he focused on bringing economic development to Palestine and creating the conditions to move towards a two state-solution.
\nSir Tony had already been a part of high-level talks about Gaza\u2019s future with the US and other parties. In August, he joined a White House meeting with Trump to discuss plans for the territory, which Witkoff described as \u201cvery comprehensive\u201d.
\nIn a statement, the former prime minister said he was honoured to be appointed and it had been a \u201creal privilege\u201d to work with Witkoff and Kushner so far.
\n\u201cI look forward to working with them and other colleagues in line with the president\u2019s vision to promote peace and prosperity,\u201d Sir Tony said.
\nHe is the only founding member of the executive board who is not a US citizen.
\nIn September, Health Secretary Wes Streeting told the BBC that involving Sir Tony in such talks, given his record on the Iraq War, would \u201craise some eyebrows\u201d.
\nBut Streeting also noted the former prime minister\u2019s role in brokering the 1998 Good Friday Agreement to end Northern Ireland\u2019s Troubles.
\n\u201cIf he can bring those considerable skills there, in both diplomacy and state craft,\u201d Streeting told the BBC, \u201cthat can only be a good thing\u201d.
\nIt comes after the announcement of a separate 15-member Palestinian technocratic committee, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), charged with managing the day-to-day governance of post-war Gaza.
\nAli Shaath, a former deputy minister in the Palestinian Authority (PA) which governs parts of the occupied West Bank not under Israeli control, will head that new committee.
\nThe statement also said that Nickolay Mladenov, a Bulgarian politician and former UN Middle East envoy, would be the board\u2019s representative on the ground in Gaza working with the NCAG.
\nTrump\u2019s plan says an International Stabilisation Force (ISF) will also be deployed to Gaza to train and support vetted Palestinian police forces and the White House statement said that US Major General Jasper Jeffers would head this force to \u201cestablish security, preserve peace, and establish a durable terror-free environment\u201d.
\nThe White House said that a separate \u201cGaza executive board\u201d was being formed that would help support governance and includes some of the same names as the founding executive board as well as further appointees.
\nThe US peace plan came into force in October and has since entered its second phase, but there remains a lack of clarity about the future of Gaza and the 2.1 million Palestinians who live there.
\nUnder phase one, Hamas and Israel agreed a ceasefire in October, as well as a hostage-prisoner exchange, a partial Israeli withdrawal, and an aid surge.
\nEarlier this week Witkoff said phase two would see the reconstruction and full demilitarisation of Gaza, including the disarmament of Hamas and other Palestinian groups.
\n\u201cThe US expects Hamas to comply fully with its obligations,\u201d he warned, noting these include the return of the body of the last dead Israeli hostage. \u201cFailure to do so will bring serious consequences.\u201d
\nHowever the ceasefire is fragile, with both sides accusing each other of repeated violations.
\nAlmost 450 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since it came into force, according to Gaza\u2019s Hamas-run health ministry, while the Israeli military says three of its soldiers have been killed in attacks by Palestinian groups during the same period.
\nHumanitarian conditions in the territory remain dire, according to the UN, which has stressed the need for the unrestricted flow of critical supplies.
\nThe war in Gaza was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
\nMore than 71,260 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory\u2019s Hamas-run health ministry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gaza The Trump administration has named US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former UK prime minister Sir Tony Blair as two of the founding members of its \u201cBoard of Peace\u201d for Gaza. Trump\u2019s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and the president\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner will also sit on the \u201cfounding executive board\u201d, the White […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526284,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-526270","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n