Donald Trump names Tony Blair, Marco Rubio to Gaza ‘board of peace’

US President Donald Trump has appointed Marco Rubio and Tony Blair to the Gaza "board of peace". Photo / Andrew Caballero-Reynolds, AFP

US President Donald Trump has tapped Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair as founding members of the Gaza “board of peace”.

Trump also named his special envoy Steve Witkoff, son-in-law Jared Kushner and World Bank President Ajay Banga among those on the seven-member “founding executive board,” the White House said in a statement on Saturday.

Trump himself will chair the board, it said, adding that further members would be announced in coming weeks.

Blair is a controversial choice in the Middle East because of his role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and Trump himself said last year that he wanted to make sure he was an “acceptable choice to everybody”.

Trump had announced the formation of the “board of peace” this week, a key phase two element of a US-backed plan to end the war in Gaza.

The US President said it was the “Greatest and Most Prestigious Board ever assembled at any time, any place”.

The board’s creation comes shortly after the announcement of a 15-member Palestinian technocratic committee, charged with managing the day-to-day governance of devastated post-war Gaza.

Gaza native and former Palestinian Authority deputy minister Ali Shaath will head the new committee.

Trump on Saturday also named US Major General Jasper Jeffers to head the International Stabilisation Force (ISF) in Gaza.

The US-backed Gaza peace plan first came into force on October 10, leading to the return of all the hostages held by Hamas and an end to the fighting between the Palestinian militant group and Israel in the besieged territory.

The plan’s second phase is now under way, though clouded by allegations of aid shortages and violence.

Hamas, meanwhile, has refused to publicly commit to a full disarmament, a non-negotiable demand from Israel.

– Agence France-Presse