The role will be essential in fulfilling all 20 points of the Gaza peace plan, the White House has said.

08:05, Sat, Jan 17, 2026 Updated: 08:20, Sat, Jan 17, 2026

Former UK prime minister Sir Tony Blair has been named as a founding member of "Board of Peace" for Gaza. Sir Tony will hold this key role alongside the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Trump will act as the chairman of the board established by the US administration as part of the 20-point plan to end the war between Israel and Hamas. The plan should temporarily oversee the running of Gaza and manage its reconstruction.

The founding executive board will also include Marc Rowan, the head of a private equity firm, World Bank chief Ajay Banga and a US national security adviser, Robert Gabriel. Each will oversee a "defined portfolio critical to Gaza's stabilisation and long-term success", according to a White House statement. The step was endorsed by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803 (2025), which "welcomed the establishment of the Board of Peace".

The board is expected to oversee Gaza's governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding, and capital mobilisation.

On Thursday, Trump gave it a ringing seven-word endorsement, calling it the "Greatest and most prestigious board ever assembled."

Sir Tony had already been a part of high-level talks about Gaza's future with the US and other parties. In August, he joined a White House meeting with Trump to discuss plans for the territory, which Witkoff described as "very comprehensive".

President Trump

Donald Trump will act as chairman of the "Board of Peace" (Image: Getty)

Sir Tony was UK prime minister from 1997 to 2007 and was the key figure in brokering the 1998 Good Friday Agreement to end Northern Ireland's Troubles. He also took the UK into the Iraq War in 2003.

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After leaving office, he served as Middle East envoy for the Quartet of international powers (the US, EU, Russia and the UN). In this role, he focused on bringing economic development to Palestine and creating the conditions to move towards a two state-solution.

The White House also announced the formation of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a 15-member Palestinian technocratic committee charged with managing the day-to-day governance of post-war Gaza.