4 h. ago Arab states push back on Tony Blair role in overseeing postwar Gaza

Some countries voiced concerns over Donald Trump’s decision to name former UK prime minister to ‘board of peace’

Events

1 week ago Ceasefire live: aid trucks enter Gaza as Hamas confirms it will begin releasing Israeli hostages on Monday morning

Israel’s military says it has completed first phase of withdrawal, ahead of Monday peace summit in EgyptA Hamas source close to the Palestinian militant group’s negotiating committee has told AFP that it will not participate in postwar Gaza governance.“For Hamas, the governance of the Gaza Strip is a closed issue. Hamas will not participate at all in the transitional phase, which means it has relinquished control of the Strip, but it remains a fundamental part of the Palestinian fabric,” the source told AFP.Israel’s great challenge after the phase of returning the hostages will be the destruction of all of Hamas’s terror tunnels in Gaza, directly by the IDF and through the international mechanism to be established under the leadership and supervision of the United States. This is the primary significance of implementing the agreed-upon principle of demilitarizing Gaza and neutralizing Hamas of its weapons. I have instructed the IDF to prepare for carrying out the mission. Continue r...

Events

2 w. ago Why Tony Blair just can’t kick the habit of imperial interference in the Middle East | Oliver Eagleton

The Blair-Trump fantasy for postwar Gaza shows the former PM still thinks that free enterprise can solve all the world’s ills“There are two types of politician,” Tony Blair observed in 2012. “Reality creators and reality managers.” While postwar politics was generally a matter of steady management, he claimed, the emerging order called for more creativity, “both in the economy and foreign policy”. Only a particular type of visionary leader was fit for the task.More than a decade later, Blair has now joined forces with the pre-eminent reality-creator, Donald Trump, to draft a hallucinatory 20-point plan for Gaza. It aims to turn the devastated Strip into what seems to resemble a colonial protectorate: cleansed of armed conflict, buzzing with development projects and a “special economic zone” through which foreign capital can flow, and overseen by an international “board of peace” with Trump himself as chair. Continue reading...

Society

3 w. ago What to know about former U.K. leader Tony Blair, tapped by Trump for postwar Gaza role

What to know about former U.K. leader Tony Blair, tapped by Trump for postwar Gaza role  NPR

Politics

3 w. ago Postwar Gaza authority potentially led by Tony Blair ‘would sideline Palestinians’

Draft plan’s critics say it hands power to international figures and splits Gaza from Palestinian Authority in West BankA plan for a postwar Gaza governing authority potentially headed by the former UK prime minister Tony Blair would sideline key Palestinian political figures, while giving significant authority to its chair on most key issues, according to a leaked confidential proposal.The 21-page draft document, seen by the Guardian and Haaretz in Israel, envisions the governance and reconstruction of postwar Gaza being led by international officials, with Palestinians relegated to subsidiary roles. It also proposes a Gaza investment promotion and economic development authority involving “public-private partnerships and blended finance instruments” aimed at delivering “commercially viable returns” for investors. Continue reading...

Events

4 w. ago Palestinian president: Hamas will have no role in governing postwar Gaza

The Palestinian president is speaking over video to world leaders after the United States revoked his visa

Politics