President Trump is backing a White House plan to tap former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to run Gaza under a United Nations-backed transitional authority once the war ends, according to Arab and US officials familiar with the proposal.
Under the draft, Blair, 72, would serve as interim administrator of a Gaza International Transition Authority (GITA) that would govern the enclave for several years with Palestinian technocrats and an Arab-led peacekeeping force before handing control to Palestinian leaders, officials told the Wall Street Journal.
The blueprint is being circulated to Arab and Israeli counterparts and remains one of several options under consideration, White House officials cautioned to the Journal.
The plan faces steep obstacles, including securing the support of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas, which would have to free all hostages and disarm, according to officials.
Some Arab governments and several Palestinian figures have received the outline positively, analysts said, adding that Trump’s backing gives it the strongest traction of any postwar plan floated so far.
It remains unclear whether Blair would wield day-to-day authority in Gaza or chair a supervisory board with limited executive powers. Blair’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
A White House official said in a statement: “A variety of proposals are being considered – but this will not be relevant unless Hamas releases every single hostage, living and deceased, and surrenders.”
Since leaving office in 2007, Blair has combined diplomacy, business and philanthropy — serving as the Quartet’s Middle East envoy, founding the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and advising major corporations.
Blair has been pushing a postwar framework for months, meeting regional Arab leaders and White House aides, according to Arab and US officials.
In late August, he met with Trump, senior administration officials and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and former Middle East envoy, to discuss what a post-war Gaza would look like, the officials told the Journal.
Blair would be a contentious choice in the region. He is closely associated with the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, having deployed British forces based on intelligence later found to be partial and flawed about weapons of mass destruction, according to an official inquiry.
Israel first floated Blair’s name shortly after the war as a possible coordinator of international aid to Gaza, but the role did not materialize.
Through his institute, the former prime minister has continued to meet with parties on all sides over the past year, officials said.
Blair’s institute says it helps governments “turn bold ideas into reality,” and has advised leaders worldwide on policy execution. Supporters argue that management experience could translate to rebuilding Gaza’s shattered infrastructure and public services under an international mandate.
Even with tentative Arab buy-in, key questions remain. Hamas would have to accept disarmament and release hostages to enable any transition — something that the Islamist group has so far refused to do.
Israel would need to endorse a UN-backed authority with Arab troops on the ground. And Palestinian technocrats tapped to staff GITA would have to operate independently of rival factions while preparing for eventual handover.
US officials told the Journal that the Blair option is one of multiple models under review, with the aim of establishing credible governance and security guarantees that prevent Hamas’s return and enable large-scale reconstruction funded by Gulf states and international donors.
The challenge of governing Gaza has proven to be an enormous one for regional and international actors.
In June 1967, after the Six-Day War, Israel occupied Gaza and imposed direct military rule — an arrangement which lasted for almost three decades.
The situation began to change after the Oslo Accords in the early 1990s, which gave the newly formed Palestinian Authority limited self-rule in the territory starting in 1994, although Israel continued to control borders and security.
In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza, leaving the Palestinian Authority in charge. But just two years later, Hamas violently ousted the PA’s Fatah faction and established itself as the de facto governing authority.
Since then, Hamas has been governing Gaza despite continued internal Palestinian divisions.
Since the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, Israel, the US, the EU and Arab states have demanded that Hamas disarm, cede control of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority or a temporary UN-backed authority, release hostages and allow for the entry of humanitarian relief.
Hamas has rejected calls to disarm, though it has signaled conditional willingness to step aside from day-to-day governance while retaining military power.