The Trump administration has named US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former UK prime minister Sir Tony Blair as two of the members of the founding executive board of its “Board of Peace” for Gaza.
Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner will also sit on the body, the White House said in a statement on Friday.
Trump will act as chairman of the board, which forms part of his 20-point plan to end the war between Israel and Hamas.
It is expected to temporarily oversee the running of Gaza and manage its reconstruction.
The exact structure of the Board of Peace is still to be clarified but two separate senior boards have been officially unveiled.
One is the “founding Executive Board”, with a high-level focus on investment and diplomacy. The other, called the “Gaza Executive Board”, is responsible for overseeing all on-the-ground work of yet another administrative group, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG).
Also on the founding executive board are Marc Rowan, the head of a private equity firm, World Bank chief Ajay Banga and a US national security adviser, Robert Gabriel.
Each member would have a portfolio “critical to Gaza’s stabilisation and long-term success”, the White House statement said.
The Board of Peace itself will be made up of heads of government, who have yet to be formally announced.
Trump had said on Thursday that the board had been formed, calling it the “Greatest and Most Prestigious Board ever assembled at any time, any place”.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has been asked by Trump to join the board and will accept the invitation, his office told the BBC.
Argentinian President Javier Milei shared an image of an invitation to join the board on X, writing that it would be “an honour” to participate.
Meanwhile, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has also been invited, the country’s foreign minister said, adding “we are studying the matter”.
Sir Tony was UK prime minister from 1997 to 2007 and took the UK into the Iraq War in 2003. 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.
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”.
In a statement, the former prime minister said he was honoured to be appointed and it had been a “real privilege” to work with Witkoff and Kushner so far.
“I look forward to working with them and other colleagues in line with the president’s vision to promote peace and prosperity,” Sir Tony said.
