Donald Trump has cast doubt on Sir Tony Blair potentially joining a group tasked with supervising Gaza. The US President was aboard Air Force One en route to Israel to meet with hostage families and address the Knesset when he was asked if he had spoken to the former prime minister about his possible involvement.
Mr Trump told reporters: “I have, but first I want to find out that Tony would be popular with all, because I just don’t know that. I like Tony, I have always liked Tony. But I want to find out that he is an acceptable choice to everybody.”
A former special envoy to the Middle East, Sir Tony was poised to potentially join a “Board of Peace” supervising Gaza’s governance under the plans. He met the deputy chief of the Palestinian Authority on Sunday (October 12).
Hussein al-Sheikh said in a statement after the meeting that the Palestinian Authority was ready to work with Mr Trump, Sir Tony and others to “consolidate the ceasefire”, get aid into Gaza and rebuild the territory.
Mr Trump had named Sir Tony one of a group of international leaders who would sit on the board to oversee an interim governing authority for the devastated territory. But his remarks on Monday show that the US leader has yet to agree on a role for the former Labour PM.
Dr Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, told Sky News on Friday that the ex-PM would not be welcome. He added many people in the Middle East and Muslims had “bad memories” of Sir Tony because he had sent British troops to wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s Middle East envoy praised the “vital role” of the UK in talks to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.
In a post on X early on Monday, Steve Witkoff lauded the “incredible input” of National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell, who served as Downing Street Chief of Staff from 1997 to 2007 under Sir Tony.
It is understood Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s national security adviser has been speaking to Mr Witkoff almost everyday.
Mr Witkoff’s comment came after a suggestion from a UK Cabinet minister on Sunday that the UK played a “key role” in securing the Gaza ceasefire was rejected by top US and Israeli figures, which looked to be potentially awkward for Sir Keir.
US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, called Bridget Phillipson’s comments “delusional”. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s deputy foreign minister, Sharren Haskel, rejected the Education Secretary’s characterisation of Britain’s role.
Sir Keir is in Sharm El Sheikh, where he will join Mr Trump and fellow negotiators from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey to sign off on the Gaza peace plan.
The summit, co-hosted by the US leader and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, comes as part of efforts to secure the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that has been holding since Friday.
Israel said just after 6am that Hamas had released the first seven hostages into the custody of the Red Cross. Over the course of the day, 20 surviving hostages are expected to be released, as are over 1,900 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
The bodies of the remaining 28 dead hostages are also to be handed over as part of the deal, although the exact timing remains unclear.
The war began when Hamas-led militants launched a surprise attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 251 taken hostage.
In Israel’s ensuing offensive, more than 67,000 Palestinians were killed, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the dead were women and children.