Trump names Rubio, Blair and Kushner to Gaza Board of Peace

President Donald Trump will serve as chairman of a newly announced U.S.-led Board of Peace charged with supervising transitional governance and reconstruction in Gaza, the White House said, placing high-profile American and international figures at the center of a politically sensitive postwar plan.

On Jan. 16 the White House named founding executive board members that included Marco Rubio, identified as U.S. Secretary of State, Steve Witkoff, described as the administration’s special envoy to the Middle East, Sir Tony Blair, Jared Kushner, Marc Rowan, Ajay Banga and Robert Gabriel. Nickolay Mladenov, a former U.N. Middle East envoy and Bulgarian diplomat, was appointed High Representative for Gaza and designated the board’s day-to-day liaison with a Palestinian technocratic committee that the plan envisions will run Gaza during a transitional period. U.S. Major-General Jasper Jeffers was named commander of an International Stabilisation Force for Gaza.

The White House said each executive board member would oversee a defined portfolio critical to Gaza’s stabilization and long-term success, including governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, funding and capital mobilization. The administration said additional executive board and Gaza executive board members would be announced in the coming weeks.

The White House also listed members of a separate Gaza Executive Board intended to work with Mladenov, the technocratic committee and the stabilization force. That roster included Blair, Kushner and Witkoff alongside Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Qatari diplomat Ali Al Thawadi, with more names to be added. The White House framed the Board of Peace as part of a 20-point plan the administration says aims to end the war between Israel and Hamas and guide Gaza through an initial ceasefire and reconstruction phase.

President Trump called the board "the Greatest and Most Prestigious Board ever assembled at any time, any place," language that underscored the administration’s attempt to project authority and international legitimacy. The announcement followed what the White House said was sign-off by both Israel and Hamas on the plan’s broad outlines. The Palestinian technocratic committee’s leader, Ali Shaath, a Gaza-born engineer and former Palestinian Authority official, met with the committee in Cairo and signaled an immediate focus on shelter and basic needs, with reconstruction and recovery expected to take about three years.

The composition of the founding board prompted swift criticism. Rights experts and advocates warned that placing the U.S. president at the head of an oversight body governing a Palestinian territory resembled a colonial structure and risked undermining Palestinian sovereignty. Observers highlighted the absence of Palestinians among the named executive members and flagged Tony Blair’s inclusion as likely to stir controversy given his role in the 2003 Iraq war. Scrutiny also followed Marc Rowan’s well-known ties to the president through political donations and questions about Robert Gabriel’s previous career in media.

Steve Witkoff signaled the administration’s immediate leverage strategy, writing that the next phase involved Hamas returning the remains of the final deceased hostage and warning, "Failure to do so will bring serious consequences." The White House said further operational details, including specific portfolios and the composition of the Palestinian technocratic committee and international force, would be released in coming briefings.