How Azerbaijan's oil prince went from dining with Messi to facing decades in prison
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Controversial former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been involved in discussions about leading a post-war transitional authority in Gaza, with the proposal reportedly backed by Donald Trump’s White House.
According to some Western sources, the plan could see Blair head an interim governing authority supported by the UN and Persian Gulf nations (excluding Iran) before handing control back to the Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas' Fattah organisation.
Blair’s office said he would not support any proposal that displaced Gaza's people but would aim to rebuild the destroyed enclave.
The former premier, who held the previous role of “Middle East peace envoy”, has held talks with the US and other parties about Gaza's future for the past few months, according to previous reports by the BBC and other sources in the UK.
In August, he attended a White House meeting with Trump to discuss plans for the territory, which US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff described as "very comprehensive."
The plans could see Blair head a body named the Gaza International Transitional Authority, according to reports in The Economist and Israeli media. It would seek a UN mandate to be Gaza's "supreme political and legal authority" for five years.
The proposal would be modelled on international administrations overseeing East Timor and Kosovo's transitions to statehood, with which Blair was widely credited.
It would initially be based in Egypt, near Gaza's southern border, before entering Gaza once the "territory stabilises", alongside a multinational force, Israeli media reported.
After leaving office in 2007, Blair served as Middle East envoy for the Quartet of international powers - the US, EU, Russia and UN - focusing on bringing economic development to Palestine and creating conditions for a two-state solution. That mission was widely seen as a failure, which failed to stop the growth of Hamas in Gaza and the push by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
This latest discussion follows Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas saying on September 24 he was ready to work with Trump and other world leaders to implement a two-state peace plan. Abbas stressed his rejection of a future governing role for Hamas in Gaza and demanded that it disarm.
Multiple parties have tabled varying proposals for Gaza's future throughout the conflict. In March, the US and Israel rejected an Arab plan for post-war reconstruction that would allow 2.1mn Palestinians to remain in place.
In July, a French and Saudi-led international conference in New York proposed a "transitional administrative committee" for Gaza operating "under the umbrella of the Palestinian Authority." Neither the US nor Israel attended.
Earlier this week, the UK formally recognised the State of Palestine, alongside France, Canada, Australia and several other countries. Israel and the US criticised the move as a "reward for Hamas."
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