The White House on Friday unveiled some members of a so-called “Board of Peace” that is to supervise the temporary governance of the Gaza Strip and the fragile cease-fire there after two years of Israeli war.
The names include U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Trump is the chair of the board, according to a plan his White House unveiled in October.
Israel and Palestinian group Hamas signed off on Trump's plan, which says a Palestinian technocratic body will be overseen by the international board, which will supervise Gaza's governance for a transitional period.
Many rights experts and advocates have said that Trump overseeing a board to supervise a foreign territory's governance resembled a colonial structure, while Blair's involvement was criticized last year due to his role in the Iraq war and the history of British imperialism in the Middle East.
The White House did not detail the responsibilities of each member of the "founding Executive board." The names do not include any Palestinians. The White House said more members will be announced over the coming weeks.
The board will also include private equity executive and billionaire Marc Rowan, World Bank President Ajay Banga and Robert Gabriel, a Trump adviser, the White House said, adding that Nickolay Mladenov, a former U.N. Middle East envoy, will be the high representative for Gaza.
Army Major General Jasper Jeffers, a U.S. special operations commander, was appointed commander of the International Stabilization Force, the White House said. A U.N. Security Council resolution, adopted in mid-November, authorized the board and countries working with it to establish that force in Gaza.
The White House also named an 11-member "Gaza Executive Board" that appears designed to have a more advisory role. It will include the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Sigrid Kaag, the United Arab Emirates minister for international cooperation, Reem Al-Hashimy, Israeli-Cypriot billionaire Yakir Gabay, and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Israel has refused a Turkish role in the security force, owing to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's fiery denunciations of Israel's genocide in Gaza.
This additional board will support Mladenov's office and the Palestinian technocratic body, whose details were announced this week, the White House said.
It came after Witkoff announced Wednesday the start of the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire plan, saying the focus will shift to demilitarization, technocratic governance and reconstruction.
The ceasefire took effect in October. Its first phase halted the war, allowed a partial Israeli withdrawal, facilitated the exchange of Israeli hostages for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israel and permitted a limited humanitarian aid into Gaza, although the deal required full access.
Palestinians have said Israel has repeatedly violated the ceasefire, which followed the war that killed more than 71,000 victims, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,000 since October 2023.
Since the truce, nearly 450 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,200 injured, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
