Jared Kushner, Tony Blair and Donald Trump: Gaza Peace Committee Formed

Trump will chair the committee, which is part of his 20-point plan to end the war between Israel and Hamas.

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Photo: PA Media
Photo: PA Media
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

The Trump administration has appointed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair as two founding members of the "Committee for Peace" for Gaza.

Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner will also be members of the "founding executive committee," the White House said.

Trump will chair the committee, which is part of his 20-point plan to end the war between Israel and Hamas.

The committee is expected to temporarily oversee the management of Gaza and its reconstruction.

The founding executive board also includes Mark Rowan, head of a private equity firm, World Bank chief Ajay Banga, and US national security adviser Robert Gabriel.

Each member has a portfolio “critical to the stabilization and long-term success of Gaza,” the White House said in a statement.

Trump confirmed that the committee had been formed, calling it "the largest and most prestigious ever assembled at any time, in any place."

Additional board members will be appointed in the coming weeks, the White House said.

Blair was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1997 to 2007 and led the country into the Iraq War in 2003. After leaving office, he was also the Middle East envoy for the Quartet of international powers (the US, EU, Russia and the UN).

In this role, he focused on the economic development of Palestine and creating the conditions for moving towards a two-state solution.

Blair has already been part of high-level talks on the future of Gaza 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 "very comprehensive."

In September, British Health Secretary Wes Streeting told the BBC that Sir Tony's inclusion in such talks, given his involvement in the Iraq war, would "cause astonishment".

But Streeting also highlighted the former prime minister's role in brokering the 1998 Good Friday Agreement to end the Northern Ireland Troubles.

"If he can bring those significant skills there, both in diplomacy and in statesmanship," Streeting told the BBC, "that can only be a good thing."

BBC/Monika Ghosh

The appointment of the board members comes after the announcement of the formation of a special 15-member Palestinian technocratic committee.

The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) will be responsible for day-to-day management of the territory.

Ali Shat, a former deputy minister in the Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs parts of the occupied West Bank not under Israeli control, will head the new committee.

The statement also said that Nikolay Mladenov, a Bulgarian politician and former UN envoy to the Middle East, will be the committee's representative on the ground in Gaza, working with the NCAG.

Trump's plan foresees that the International Stabilization Force (ISF) will also be deployed to Gaza to train and support a vetted Palestinian police force.

The White House statement said that US Major General Jasper Jeffers will lead these forces to "establish security, preserve peace, and a lasting environment free from terror."

The White House announced that a special “Gaza Executive Board” is being formed to help support governance and includes some of the names on the founding executive board, as well as additional members.

The US peace plan came into effect in October and has since entered its second phase, but there remains a lack of a clear idea about the future of Gaza and the 2,1 million Palestinians who live there.

Getty Images

As part of the first phase, Hamas and Israel agreed to a ceasefire in October, as well as an exchange of hostages and prisoners, a partial Israeli withdrawal, and increased humanitarian aid.

Earlier this week, Witkoff said the second phase would include the reconstruction and complete demilitarization of Gaza, disarming Hamas and other Palestinian groups.

"The US expects Hamas to fully fulfill its obligations," he warned, noting that those obligations include returning the body of the last dead Israeli hostage.

"Failure to act on this issue will lead to serious consequences."

However, the ceasefire is fragile, and both sides accuse each other of violations.

Nearly 450 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the agreement came into effect, according to figures from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

The Israeli military says three of its soldiers were killed in attacks by Palestinian groups during the same period.

Humanitarian conditions in the territory remain dire, according to the UN, which has stressed the need for the unrestricted flow of critical supplies.

The Gaza War was triggered by a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which about 1.200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

More than 71.260 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run territory's Health Ministry.

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