{"id":433220,"date":"2025-09-18T08:43:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T08:43:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/433220\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T08:43:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T08:43:18","slug":"revealed-tony-blairs-us-backed-proposal-for-ending-the-gaza-war-and-replacing-hamas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/433220\/","title":{"rendered":"Revealed: Tony Blair’s US-backed proposal for ending the Gaza war and replacing Hamas"},"content":{"rendered":"

US President Donald Trump has authorized Tony Blair to rally regional and international stakeholders around the former UK prime minister\u2019s proposal to establish a postwar transitional body to govern the Gaza Strip until it can be handed over to the Palestinian Authority, four sources familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel.<\/p>\n

Blair began crafting the proposal in the early months of the war between Israel and the Hamas terror group, envisioning it as a plan for the so-called \u201cday after.\u201d But in recent months, the proposal has also evolved into a plan for effectively ending the war, as the Trump administration has reached the conclusion that agreement from major stakeholders regarding the body that will replace Hamas in Gaza is essential for securing a permanent ceasefire and hostage release deal, a US official and a second source familiar with the matter said.<\/p>\n

While Blair\u2019s involvement in postwar Gaza planning has been previously revealed, along with his participation in an August 27 White House policy session<\/a> on the matter, details of his proposal have not been publicized to date.<\/p>\n

Not a displacement plan<\/p>\n

The proposal \u2014 a developed draft of which was obtained and authenticated by The Times of Israel \u2014 envisions the establishment of the Gaza International Transitional Authority (GITA) along with a series of subordinate structures.<\/p>\n

Previous reporting has linked Blair to efforts aimed at displacing Palestinians<\/a> from Gaza or at building a \u201cTrump Riviera<\/a>\u201d in the Strip, but the former British premier\u2019s actual proposal makes no mention of those ideas and even envisions the establishment of a \u201cProperty Rights Preservation Unit,\u201d aimed at ensuring that any voluntary departure of Gazans does not compromise their right to return to the enclave or retain property ownership.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe do not have a plan to move the Gazan population out of Gaza. Gaza is for Gazans,\u201d said a source involved in discussions on the Blair plan.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Displaced Palestinians move with their belongings southwards on a road in the Nuseirat refugee camp area in the central Gaza Strip following renewed Israeli evacuation orders for Gaza City on September 16, 2025. (Eyad BABA \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

Other plans presented to the Trump administration by parties with ties to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s confidant Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, or those involved in the establishment of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), did promote the idea of facilitating or encouraging the \u201cvoluntary migration\u201d of Palestinians from Gaza.<\/p>\n

But Trump \u2014 who first gave legitimacy to the concept of \u201cvoluntary migration\u201d in February when he announced his plan to take over Gaza and permanently relocate the Strip\u2019s entire population \u2014 has since distanced himself from the idea, and during the August 27 White House policy session made clear that he was going with Blair\u2019s plan instead, the US official said.<\/p>\n

The US official noted that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is apparently unaware of that decision, having declared<\/a> on Wednesday that the Gaza Strip is a potential real estate \u201cbonanza\u201d and that he was in talks with Washington on how to carve up the coastal enclave after the war.<\/p>\n

The Kushner connection<\/p>\n

The August 27 meeting was organized by the US president\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who served as senior adviser during Trump\u2019s first term and has remained engaged on Middle East issues during his second term, regularly advising US special envoy Steve Witkoff.<\/p>\n

Like Kushner in his time, Witkoff has been handed a variety of portfolios. The current special envoy has hired limited support staff, though, and Kushner has been helping with the Gaza day-after planning, as it is increasingly seen as critical for securing a war-ending hostage release deal.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

White House special envoy Steve Witkoff, right, and Jared Kushner wait for the arrival of US President Donald Trump at Teterboro Airport in Teterboro, N.J. on July 13, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jacquelyn Martin)<\/p>\n

This spring, Kushner commissioned the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) \u2014 which was already engaged on the issue thanks to the former UK prime minister\u2019s ties with Israeli, PA and Arab leaders \u2014 to come up with a postwar plan, the US official said.<\/p>\n

Blair began regular engagement with Trump officials, keeping them abreast of his progress as he met with leaders throughout the region and began ironing out details of his plan, the source familiar with discussions said.<\/p>\n

Not enough PA involvement for Ramallah, but too much for Jerusalem<\/p>\n

The former UK premier met PA President Mahmoud Abbas in July, thanks to Gulf pressure on Ramallah to engage with the initiative, an Arab diplomat said.<\/p>\n

While the PA has expressed its desire to directly oversee the postwar governing body in Gaza and Blair\u2019s plan falls short of that goal, the source familiar with the discussions said Ramallah has \u201cengaged constructively.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blair\u2019s proposal envisions the PA undergoing significant reforms and limits Ramallah\u2019s involvement in GITA largely to matters of coordination. Still, the PA is explicitly mentioned throughout the plan, which envisions \u201cthe eventual unifying of all the Palestinian territory under the PA.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This handout picture released by the Palestinian Authority\u2019s press office (PPO) shows President Mahmoud Abbas (R) meeting with Britain\u2019s former prime minister Tony Blair in Amman, Jordan, on July 13, 2025. (Thaer GHANAIM \/ PPO \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

Though that is a development Netanyahu has fought fiercely to prevent, the source familiar with discussions said that Israel has engaged constructively with Blair\u2019s effort.<\/p>\n

The Arab diplomat expressed a little more skepticism, however, claiming that Netanyahu has a history of dispatching Dermer to engage on such sensitive matters, then thwarting them before they can materialize in order to keep his coalition, including its far-right flank, intact.<\/p>\n

Doha strike derails effort to get \u2018Johnny\u2019 on board<\/p>\n

Still, Trump was impressed by Blair\u2019s initiative and told him to get \u201cJohnny\u201d on board, the US official said, recalling the moniker Trump used to refer to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during the August 27 White House meeting.<\/p>\n

The US views Saudi Arabia as one of the most critical players when it comes to postwar reconstruction, with enough sway to get the rest of the region on board.<\/p>\n

While Trump gave Blair his blessing, he also gave him a two-week window to secure regional support for the plan, the US official said.<\/p>\n

That deadline has since expired, but the time period was one the president has announced somewhat regularly<\/a> without sticking to it.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump (right) arrives with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the group photo with Gulf Cooperation Council leaders during the GCC Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 14, 2025. (Alex Brandon\/AP)<\/p>\n

During that period, Blair was also hobbled by the US issuing visa bans against senior PA officials. That decision led to delays in some of the British premier\u2019s meetings with Gulf officials who didn\u2019t want to be seen as endorsing the administration\u2019s decision by immediately meeting with an effective Trump envoy right afterward, the Arab diplomat said.<\/p>\n

Still more damaging to Blair\u2019s effort was Israel\u2019s September 9 strike against Hamas leaders in Doha, the source familiar with discussions said.<\/p>\n

The former British premier had been engaging Egypt and Qatar about coaxing the terror group not to stand in the way of the plan, the source said, adding that while Blair\u2019s effort was temporarily derailed by the Israeli strike, engagement has since resumed.<\/p>\n

\u2018We don\u2019t have weeks. We have days\u2019<\/p>\n

The Doha strike also highlighted what may be one of the main obstacles Blair faces in trying to sell his plan to Israel.<\/p>\n

While Netanyahu says the strike was aimed at sending a message to Hamas\u2019s leadership \u2014 even those involved in hostage negotiations \u2014 conveying that Israel will settle scores with all of them, an apparent goal of Blair\u2019s plan is to neutralize the terror group through nonmilitary means.<\/p>\n

Alongside establishing an alternative to Hamas through GITA, the plan also explicitly refers to the concept of \u201cdisarmament, demobilization, and reintegration\u201d or DDR.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This grab from video footage released by Qatar TV shows men carrying the flag-draped bodies of six people killed in an Israeli strike on Hamas figures two days earlier, inside the Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Wahhab Mosque in Doha on September 11, 2025. (QATAR TV \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio may have been referring to that very idea when he said during a press conference with Netanyahu in Jerusalem that \u201cHamas can no longer continue to exist as an armed element,\u201d as opposed to asserting that the terror group should not exist at all, which has been the Israeli prime minister\u2019s framing.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, the Arab diplomat said that Blair also faces an uphill battle getting Riyadh and other regional stakeholders on board, as they are conditioning their support on the plan containing the creation of an irreversible pathway to a future Palestinian state \u2014 an idea long abhorred by Netanyahu and his far-right coalition partners.<\/p>\n

The aforementioned pathway is one of a list of principles that Arab stakeholders are demanding be folded into any plan they\u2019re being asked to bankroll, the Arab diplomat said.<\/p>\n

Still, the source involved in discussions said that Blair has made inroads with regional stakeholders and is racing to advance his plan within a short time frame.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have months or weeks. We have days,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s in the plan<\/p>\n

Blair\u2019s proposal envisions GITA being established by a UN Security Council resolution.<\/p>\n

GITA will serve as the \u201csupreme political and legal authority for Gaza during the transitional period,\u201d the developed draft of the plan obtained by The Times of Israel states.<\/p>\n

GITA will have a board made up of seven to 10 members, which will include \u201cat least one qualified Palestinian representative (potentially from the business or security sector),\u201d a senior UN official, leading international figures with executive or financial experience, and a \u201cstrong representation of Muslim members\u201d to boost regional legitimacy and cultural credibility.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

An organizational chart featured in former UK prime minister Tony Blair\u2019s plan to establish a Gaza International Transitional Authority that was obtained by The Times of Israel in September 2025.<\/p>\n

The board will be tasked with \u201cissu[ing] binding decisions, approv[ing] legislation and appointments and provid[ing] strategic direction,\u201d while reporting back to the UN Security Council.<\/p>\n

The chair of the board will be appointed by international consensus and receive the endorsement of the UN Security Council. The chair will lead GITA\u2019s external engagement and diplomacy and set the political direction of the body while closely coordinating with the PA, the document says.<\/p>\n

The GITA board chair will have a supporting staff of up to 25 people who will serve on the \u201cstrategic secretariat.\u201d<\/p>\n

The plan also envisions the creation of an Executive Protection Unit \u201cstaffed by elite personnel from Arab and international contributors\u201d to protect the GITA leadership.<\/p>\n

An \u201cExecutive Secretariat\u201d will sit below GITA and serve as the latter\u2019s administrative hub and implementation arm, while directly overseeing the Palestinian Executive Authority (PEA).<\/p>\n

The latter body is what has often been referred to as the committee of independent Palestinian technocrats who will be responsible for administering Gaza after the war.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

IDF troops operate in Gaza City, in a handout photo issued on September 17, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)<\/p>\n

PA coordination<\/p>\n

Reporting to the Executive Secretariat will be a group of five commissioners who will supervise key areas of Gaza governance: humanitarian affairs, reconstruction, legislation and legal affairs, security, and PA coordination.<\/p>\n

Notably, the plan states that the commissioner overseeing humanitarian affairs will be responsible for coordinating with humanitarian agencies, including the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which some Arab stakeholders have been demanding be dismantled.<\/p>\n

As for the PA coordination commissioner, the plan envisions the aim of their office being to \u201censure that the decisions of GITA and those of the PA are, so far as possible, aligned and consistent with the eventual unifying of all the Palestinian territory under the PA.\u201d<\/p>\n

The commissioner will also \u201ctrack PA reform efforts in coordination with international donors, financial institutions and Arab partners engaged in Palestinian institutional development.\u201d<\/p>\n

The source involved in the discussions stressed that the reforms that the Blair plan expects of the PA \u201care not cosmetic,\u201d and that part of the reason there\u2019s not a set timeline for GITA to hand over authority of Gaza to the PA is that the process is \u201cperformance-based.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Demonstrators protest against Gaza City operation outside the Jerusalem Post conference in Jerusalem, call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, September 16, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

Still, the source clarified that the timeline will be several years, \u201cnot ten.\u201d<\/p>\n

The plan envisions the establishment of the Gaza Investment Promotion and Economic Development Authority to secure investments for GITA and Gaza\u2019s reconstruction. It will be a \u201ccommercially driven authority, led by business professionals and tasked with generating investable projects with real financial returns.\u201d<\/p>\n

A separate body will be established to secure and distribute government grants.<\/p>\n

Also reporting to GITA and its Executive Secretariat will be the Palestinian Executive Authority, which will interface more directly with Palestinians by delivering services \u201cthrough a nonpartisan, professional administration.\u201d<\/p>\n

The PEA will be headed by a CEO formally appointed by the GITA board and will be responsible for overseeing a series of technocratic ministries, including health, education, finance, infrastructure, judicial affairs and welfare.<\/p>\n

Also reporting to the PEA will be Gaza municipalities, which will be responsible for delivering services at the local level; a Gaza civil police force of \u201cnationally recruited, professionally vetted, and nonpartisan\u201d officers tasked with maintaining public order and protecting civilians; a judicial board chaired by an Arab jurist who will supervise Gaza\u2019s courts and public prosecution office; and the aforementioned \u201cProperty Rights Preservation Unit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Preventing Hamas\u2019s resurgence<\/p>\n

Backing the civil police force will be the \u201cInternational Stabilization Force (ISF) \u2014 an internationally mandated, multinational security force established to provide strategic stability and operational protection in Gaza during the transitional period.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt ensures border integrity, deters armed group resurgence, protects humanitarian and reconstruction operations, and supports local law enforcement through coordination \u2014 not substitution,\u201d the plan states.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump hosts families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, at the White House on September 10, 2025. (Hostages Families Forum)<\/p>\n

In an apparent reference to its task of combating remnants of Hamas, the plan says the ISF will \u201cconduct targeted operations to prevent the resurgence of armed groups, disrupt weapons smuggling and neutralize asymmetric threats to public order and institutional functions.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an annex on GITA\u2019s costs, the plan explains that the budget will expand each year as the new governing body gradually phases into operations throughout the entire Strip.<\/p>\n

The first year\u2019s budget is placed at $90 million, the second year at $135 million and the third year at $164 million. The figures don\u2019t include the costs of the ISF and humanitarian aid, though, and the source familiar with the discussions said the estimates were conservative.<\/p>\n

How to end the war<\/p>\n

While Blair\u2019s isn\u2019t the only plan for the postwar management of Gaza, it appears to be the lone proposal that has secured US backing. Still, the source involved in the discussions acknowledged that it can\u2019t be considered a US plan until Trump publicly says so.<\/p>\n

The document has also gone through a few rounds of edits since it was obtained by The Times of Israel, as Blair continues to receive feedback from stakeholders, the source said.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Mhanna tower collapses amid heavy smoke, after an Israeli strike following an evacuation order in the Tal el-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City on September 14, 2025 (Omar AL-QATTAA \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way to end the war is to [get regional stakeholders to] agree on principles for how Gaza will be governed afterward in a manner that Hamas is not involved and not armed and unable to regain power,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis can only happen if there is a new governing structure in Gaza with a serious security force from the international community. This cannot be the PA in the beginning. The PA will be a partner. They\u2019ll be consulted and coordinated with, but they won\u2019t be the ones managing Gaza on day one. This will happen later on after they reform,\u201d the source added.<\/p>\n

Blair\u2019s office declined to comment on the record for this story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"US President Donald Trump has authorized Tony Blair to rally regional and international stakeholders around the former UK…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":433221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[12,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-433220","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115224420158447070","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=433220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/433221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=433220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=433220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=433220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}