Tony Blair joined Donald Trump, top White House officials and former Trump Middle East envoy Jared Kushner last week for a policy meeting in which "all aspects" of Gaza were discussed, said The Times of Israel, including the hostage crisis, aid deliveries and a post-war strategy on how to rebuild the region.
Britain's former PM has reportedly been putting together a post-war Gaza plan "for the past several months", said the paper, "meeting with various regional stakeholders to get their input and support for his efforts", as well as separately contacting Kushner and US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
"Neither the White House, Blair or Kushner have released any details as to what was discussed," said Katie Stallard in The New Statesman, but "any discussion of a 'day-after' plan for Gaza must begin with the recognition of the catastrophic conditions in the territory right now", and "the importance of ensuring the dignity and security of the Palestinian population in any future settlement".
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But "at a time when many other leaders are finally, if belatedly, calling out Israel's atrocities in Gaza", Blair's involvement in plans for the territory's future "risks further tarnishing his already dubious legacy on the Middle East". And that risk will "only be compounded by the presence of Kushner", who has made no secret of seeing the Gaza Strip as "a potential waterfront development".
The idea of the "war-torn enclave becoming the 'Riviera of the Middle East' is not just a Trumpian pipe dream"; it is what Israel has long desired for the area, said Paul Nuki in The Telegraph. Under the $53 billion (£39 billion) "Egypt plan", approved by the Arab League in Cairo in March, Gaza would be rebuilt to include "glistening towers, parks, ports, business zones and an international airport".
In July, the Tony Blair Institute participated in a project led by Israeli businessmen, using Boston Consulting Group financial models, to develop a post-war Gaza plan, the Financial Times reported at the time. One "lengthy document", reportedly written by a TBI staff member, envisaged kick-starting the enclave's economy with "artificial islands off the coast akin to those in Dubai, blockchain-based trade initiatives" and "low-tax 'special economic zones'". The Institute later stressed that its staff had never authored, developed or endorsed any proposal that would involve relocating residents of Gaza.
What next?
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has approved a plan for a new offensive to attack and occupy Gaza City, which is expected to escalate over the next two weeks. Trump "isn't opposed to the operation" and has given Netanyahu his backing, said Axios.
The crisis in Gaza has been "a secondary concern for Trump lately, behind the Russia-Ukraine war". But while Trump "doesn't want to 'own' the crisis, he's told aides it has to end".
It's as though the US president thinks that "Bibi's going to do what Bibi's going to do", one US official told the news website. "So would you just hurry up, and then we can get in there and take care of people?"
