Sir Tony Blair has proposed leading an interim government in Gaza post-conflict. Photo / Getty Images
Sir Tony Blair wants to help run Gaza once the war between Israel and Hamas is over.
The former British Prime Minister has spearheaded a plan to end the war through his think tank, the Tony Blair Institute (TBI).
The Telegraph understands that Blair, 72, offered to head an interim government in Gaza on the proviso that power would eventually be handed over to the Palestinian Authority (PA), which controlled the Gaza Strip until 2006.
He has the support of several powerful figures, including Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a former Middle East adviser, and Steve Witkoff, the United States President’s special envoy.
In a meeting with President Trump at the White House on August 27, Kushner and Witkoff argued that the former Labour leader could run a temporary administration in Gaza. Sources told the Economist that Blair was “willing to sacrifice his time” to end the war and help run Gaza.
Trump backed that plan before presenting the idea to the leaders of Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia and five Arab nations at the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week. “Maybe we can end [the war] right now,” he reportedly told them.
Blair left office in 2007 and, until 2015, served as special envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East, a body comprising the UN, the US, the European Union and Russia, which mediates the Israel-Palestine peace process.
A spokesman for Blair declined to comment on the reports.
Trump said in a press conference alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday that a peace deal could be close. “I have to meet with Israel,” he said in the Oval Office. “I think we can get that one done. I hope we can get it done. A lot of people are dying, but we want the hostages back.”
Sources previously confirmed to the Telegraph that Blair had been working on a plan to end the war, known as the “day after”, since the conflict broke out in October 2023.
His plan, constantly being updated and revised, does not involve the displacement of Gazans but would see the creation of a temporary body called the Gaza International Transitional Authority (Gita).
Established by the UN, Gita would rule the post-war Gaza Strip for several years before handing it over to the PA, which would be expected to undergo significant reforms beforehand.
Gita would serve as the “supreme political and legal authority for Gaza during the transitional period”, a version of a draft proposal reads, according to the Times of Israel.
It would have at least one Palestinian representative on its board, as well as senior UN officials, leading international figures with business experience, and “strong representation of Muslim members”.
Trump gave Blair two weeks to secure regional support for his plan during the White House meeting in August. He was particularly keen for Blair to secure the support of Saudi Arabia, because he views its backing as crucial to the outcome of any post-war plan.
Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, wants any post-war plan to lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state, something Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has categorically rejected.
Surveys by the TBI showed that more than a quarter of Gazans favour some form of international involvement in their government once the war was over.
A third of Gazans favoured the involvement of the PA, the administration of President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank.
Abbas said yesterday that his administration was “ready” to take control of “governance and security” in Gaza and insisted Hamas would have no role to play. Hamas is demanding that it be allowed some non-military representation, including in education.
Sources told the Economist that Gita would be modelled on the international administrations in place during East Timor and Kosovo’s transitions into full statehood. It could be based in el-Arish, an Egyptian provincial capital near Gaza’s south.
Under the plan, Gaza and the West Bank would be reunited, before the combined territory is eventually handed over to the PA, but the PA has yet to agree to the plan. Abbas’ advisers have warned that Blair’s plan could turn into an occupation.
Israel has publicly rejected the PA having any role in governing Gaza, but says it has engaged “constructively” with the plan.
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s nationalist Finance Minister, said earlier this month that Gaza had the potential to be a real estate “bonanza” and claimed he was in talks with US officials on how to divide up the territory.
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