Trump announces who will be part of the Gaza Peace Council

BarcelonaThe United States has announced the members of the so-called Peace Council that will oversee the reconstruction and new government of Gaza, a decision that demonstrates Donald Trump's desire to maintain influence in the Strip. The council will not include any Palestinians and will be composed of, among others, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair; Secretary of State Marco Rubio; White House envoy Steve Witkoff; and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law. It will be chaired by Trump himself, according to the plan the White House presented in October. The official Gaza National Administration Committee will also include Marc Rowan, head of Apollo Global Management; Roberto Gabriel, a Trump advisor; and Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank. Finally, the high representative for Gaza will be Bulgarian Nickolai Mladenov, who served as his country's foreign minister and UN special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.

The formation of the commission to rebuild the Gaza Strip comes after Washington announced on Thursday that Gaza had entered the second and final phase of the truce, although Palestinian authorities report that more than 450 people, including over 100 children, have died since the ceasefire. Three Israeli soldiers have lost their lives since the supposed cessation of hostilities.

The announced board is established in the peace plan signed between Israel and Hamas, which states that a Palestinian technocratic body will be overseen by an international council, which in turn will control the government of Gaza during a transitional period. According to the White House, each member of this executive board will assume specific portfolios, including "strengthening governance capacity, regional relations, reconstruction, attracting investment, securing large-scale financing, and mobilizing capital."

Colonial organ structure

Experts and human rights advocates have criticized such a structure, with the US president at the top of the executive branch of a foreign territory, as being very similar to a colonial structure. The involvement of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been widely criticized for his role in the Iraq War and for the precedents of British imperialism in the Middle East.

The White House has also announced that Army Major General Jasper Jeffers, commander of US special operations, will be in charge of leading the International Stabilization Force. In addition, it has appointed an eleven-member "Gaza Executive Council," including Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan; UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Sigrid Kaag; UAE Minister of International Cooperation Reem Al-Hashimy; and Israeli-Cypriot billionaire Yakir Gabay, along with some members of the executive council. This additional board will support Mladenov's office and the Palestinian technocratic body, details of which were announced this week.