- Cairo “studying” request for Sisi to join board, says FM.
- Canadian prime minister intends to accept Trump’s invitation: aide.
- The Argentine president says it will be an ‘honour’ to join the initiative.
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump’s so-called “Peace Commission” for post-war Gaza began taking shape on Saturday, with the leaders of Egypt, Turkey, Argentina and Canada asked to participate.
The announcements by these leaders came after the US president appointed his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and senior negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to the panel.
Trump had already declared himself chairman of the body as he promotes a controversial vision of economic development in the Palestinian territory, which lies in ruins after more than two years of relentless Israeli bombardment.
The moves came after a Palestinian committee of technocrats to rule Gaza held its first meeting in Cairo, which was attended by Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, who has been working with Witkoff for months on the issue.
In Canada, a senior aide to Prime Minister Mark Carney said he intended to accept Trump’s invitation, while in Turkey a spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had been asked to become a “founding member” of the board.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Cairo is “studying” a request for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to join.
Sharing a photo of the invitation letter, Argentine President Javier Milei wrote on X that it would be “an honor” to join the initiative.
In a statement sent to AFPsaid Blair: “I thank President Trump for his leadership in establishing the Peace Council and am honored to be appointed to its executive board.”
Blair is a controversial figure in the Middle East because of his role in the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Trump himself said last year that he wanted to make sure Blair was an “acceptable choice for everyone”.
Blair spent years focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian issue as a representative of the “Middle East Quartet” – the UN, EU, US and Russia – after leaving Downing Street in 2007.
The White House said the Peace Council will address issues such as “building government capacity, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale financing and capital mobilization.”
The other members of the board so far are World Bank President Ajay Banga, an Indian-born American businessman; billionaire American financier Marc Rowan; and Robert Gabriel, a loyal Trump aide who serves on the US National Security Council.
Trump has created a second “Gaza directorate” that appears to have a more advisory role.
It was not immediately clear which world leaders were asked to be on each board.
The White House, which said Friday that additional members would be named to both entities, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Israel strikes
Washington has said the Gaza plan had moved on to a second phase – from implementing the ceasefire to disarming Hamas, whose October 2023 attack on Israel prompted the massive Israeli offensive.
On Friday, Trump appointed US Major General Jasper Jeffers to head the International Stabilization Force, which will be tasked with providing security in Gaza and training a new police force to succeed Hamas.
Jeffers, from special operations in the US Central Command, was put in late 2024 to oversee a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, which has continued periodic attacks targeting Hezbollah.
Gaza native and former Palestinian Authority deputy minister Ali Shaath was previously appointed to head the government committee.
Trump, a real estate developer, has previously considered turning devastated Gaza into an area of Riviera-style resorts, although he has backed away from calls to forcibly evict the population.
