(AFP) – US President Donald Trump on Friday gave a key role in post-war Gaza to former British prime minister Tony Blair and appointed a US officer to lead a nascent security force. Trump named members of a board to help supervise Gaza that was dominated by Americans, as he promotes a controversial vision of economic development in a territory that lies in rubble after two-plus years of relentless Israeli bombardment. The step came after a Palestinian committee of technocrats meant to govern Gaza held its first meeting in Cairo, which was attended by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who plays a key role on the Middle East.
Trump has already declared himself the chair of a “Board of Peace” and on Friday announced its full membership that will include Blair as well as senior Americans — Kushner, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Steve Witkoff, Trump’s business partner turned globe-trotting negotiator. Blair is a controversial figure in the Middle East because of his role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Trump himself said last year that he wanted to make sure Blair was an “acceptable choice to everybody.” Blair spent years focused on the Israeli-Palestinian issue as representative of the “Middle East Quartet” — the United Nations, European Union, United States, and Russia — after leaving Downing Street in 2007.
The White House said the Board of Peace will take on issues such as “governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding, and capital mobilization.” Trump, a real-estate developer, has previously mused about turning devastated Gaza into a Riviera-style area of resorts, although he has backed away from calls to forcibly displace the population. The other members of the board are World Bank President Ajay Banga, an Indian-born American businessman; billionaire US financier Marc Rowan; and Robert Gabriel, a loyal Trump aide who serves on the National Security Council.
Israel’s military said Friday it had again hit the Gaza Strip in response to a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire declared in October. The strikes come despite Washington announcing that the Gaza plan had gone on to a second phase — from implementing the ceasefire to disarming Hamas, whose October 2023 attack on Israel prompted the massive Israeli offensive. Trump on Friday named US Major General Jasper Jeffers to head the International Stabilization Force, which will be tasked with providing security in Gaza and training a new police force to succeed Hamas. Jeffers, from special operations in US Central Command, was put in charge of monitoring a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel in late 2024, which has continued periodic strikes aimed at Hezbollah militants. The United States has been searching the world for countries to contribute to the force, with Indonesia an early volunteer. But diplomats expect challenges in seeing countries send troops so long as Hamas does not agree to disarm fully.
Gaza native and former Palestinian Authority deputy minister Ali Shaath was earlier tapped to head the governing committee. The committee’s meeting in Cairo also included Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov, who was given a role of high representative liaising between the new governing body and Trump’s Board of Peace. Committee members are scheduled to meet again Saturday, one of them told AFP on condition of anonymity. “We hope to go to Gaza next week or the week after; our work is there, and we need to be there,” he said. Trump also named a second “executive board” that appears designed to have a more advisory role. Blair, Witkoff, and Mladenov will serve on it as well as Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
Israel has refused a Turkish role in the security force, owing to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s fiery denunciations of Israel’s actions in Gaza. The board will also include senior figures from mediators Egypt and Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, which normalized ties with Israel in 2020. Trump also named to the board Sigrid Kaag, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Gaza, despite his administration’s efforts to sideline the world body.
– Shaun Tandon and Danny Kemp with Nada Abou El-Amaim in Cairo
© 2024 AFP
