Tony Blair ‘offers to lead body running post-war Gaza’
Tony Blair is said to have Trump’s support to oversee the proposed interim governing body which could become the ‘supreme political and legal authority’ for Gaza.
Sir Tony Blair is understood to have offered to lead the interim governing body of Gaza after presenting his plans to President Trump last month.
Blair, 72, is said to have the support of Mr Trump to oversee the proposed Gaza International Transitional Authority (Gita) which could become the “supreme political and legal authority” for the territory for up to five years.
The former prime minister has a longstanding interest in the region, forged as special envoy for the Quartet – the UN, EU, US and Russia – in the Middle East from 2007 to 2015.
He has been working on a plan for the days after a ceasefire in Gaza with Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, which they discussed at the White House in a private meeting with Mr Trump and his special envoy Steve Witkoff at the end of August.
Neither Sir Tony’s foundation nor the White House commented on reports about the plan in The Economist and Israeli media.
It would involve Sir Tony heading a secretariat of up to 25 people and chairing a seven-person board to oversee an executive body running the territory.
The plan is said to be modelled on the authorities that oversaw the transition to statehood for both Timor-Leste and Kosovo.
The proposal suggests that Gita could begin life in Arish, an Egyptian city in Sinai near Gaza’s southern border, and would eventually move into the territory accompanied by a UN-backed multinational force mainly made up of Arab nations. The plan envisions “the eventual unifying of all the Palestinian territory under the Palestinian Authority”.
Mr Witkoff presented Arab and Muslim leaders in New York at the UN general assembly with a 21-point plan for ending the war and creating a new governing structure in Gaza. “We’re hopeful, and I might say even confident, that in the coming days we’ll be able to announce some sort of breakthrough,” Mr Witkoff said.
The leaders of seven Arab and Muslim countries expressed support for Mr Trump’s plan in a joint statement. “We reaffirm our commitment to co-operate with President Trump and emphasise the importance of his leadership in order to end the war and open horizons for a just and lasting peace,” they said.
The Times
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