Tony Blair, Rubio, Kushner, Witkoff to help oversee Gaza reconstruction, White House says.
The White House has released the names of some of the leaders who will participate in the oversight next steps in Gaza after the Palestinian committee that will govern the area under US supervision met for the first time on Friday in Cairo.
The leader of this committee, Ali Shaath, an engineer and former official of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, has pledged to work quickly to improve conditions. He expects reconstruction and recovery to take about three years and plans to focus first on immediate needs, including shelter.
“The Palestinian people have been looking forward to this committee, its establishment and its rescue mission,” Shaath said after the meeting, in a television interview with Al-Qahera News, which is run by the Egyptian government.
Underneath President Trump’s planShaath’s technical committee will conduct daily affairs in Gaza under the supervision of the Trump-led “Peace Board”, whose members have not yet been revealed.
The White House said the executive board will work to implement the Peace Board’s opinion.
Members of the executive committee, announced on Friday, include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan, World Bank President Ajay Banga, and Mr.
Nickolay Mladenov, a former Bulgarian politician and UN Middle East envoy, will serve as the executive representative responsible for day-to-day affairs.
Mr. Trump supports the group’s efforts to take control of Gaza after a two-year war between Israel and Hamas. Israeli forces withdrew from parts of Gaza after running out of ammunition it went into effect on October 10, while thousands of displaced Palestinians have returned to what is left of their homes.
Kushner and Witkoff they were important negotiators in helping Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas reach a ceasefire agreement, the basis of which was based on a 20-point plan from the White House. In the conversation on “60 Minutes” in October, Kushner said that the success or failure of the peace process will depend on whether Israel and its international partners can create a “different approach” to the violent tactics of Hamas.
“If they succeed, Hamas will fail, and Gaza will not be a threat to Israel in the future,” Kushner said on “60 Minutes.”
Earlier this week, Witkoff announced that the US would enter into what the White House called the second phase of the Gaza peace process. In an article on X, Witkoff said that this includes Hamas returning the remains of a dead person who was still in Gaza.
“Failure to do so will have dire consequences,” Witkoff wrote.
Now, there will be a number of major challenges ahead, including the deployment of an international security force to oversee the ceasefire agreement and the difficult process of disarming Hamas.
The White House also announced the members of another board, the “Gaza Executive Board,” which will work with Mladenov, the technical committee and the international stabilization force.
Witkoff, Kushner, Blair, Rowan and Mladenov will also sit on that board. Additional members include Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan; Qatari Ambassador Ali Al-Thawadi; Hassan Rashad, director of Egypt’s General Intelligence Agency; Emirati Minister Reem Al-Hashimy; Israeli businessman Yakir Gabay and Sigrid Kaag, former deputy prime minister of the Netherlands and Middle East expert.
