Members of the Peace Commission overseeing Gaza reconstruction also include former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Canadian leader Mark Carney and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The creation of the board, chaired by US President Donald Trump, is a key step in a UN-backed US plan to demilitarize and rebuild the enclave, which has been devastated by a two-year war between Israel and the militant group Hamas.
The founding executive committee also includes Trump’s foreign affairs envoy Steve Witkoff, his vice national security adviser Robert Gabriel, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, billionaire businessman Marc Rowan, and World Bank President Ajay Banga.
Additional members have not yet been announced Friday, according to a White House statement. Canadian government officials later told CNN that Prime Minister John Carney had also accepted an invitation to join the board.
President Trump called the commission “the greatest and most prestigious board ever assembled” in a social media post officially announcing its launch on Thursday, before members were named.
Each member will be given a clear portfolio “critical to the stability and long-term success of Gaza,” a White House statement said.
The board does not include representatives from Hamas’ rival Palestinian Authority, which runs parts of the occupied West Bank and is expected to eventually be handed control of Gaza after completing wide-ranging reforms.
Mr Blair, who led Britain for 10 years until 2007 and dragged the country into the Iraq war in 2003, was initially floated as a possible candidate to lead the board last year, but talk quickly died down.
His support for the US-led Iraq operation has hurt Mr Blair’s standing among some Arab countries. After politics, he served as special envoy to the Middle East for an organization known as the Quartet, which was disliked by Palestinians for its perceived pro-Israel stance.
According to the US plan, day-to-day governance of Gaza would be handled by a separate 15-member Palestinian technical expert committee.
The White House said it will be led by Dr. Ali Shaath, a Palestinian from Gaza who has held numerous positions in the Palestinian Authority. The panel will focus on restoring core public services and institutions to stabilize life in Gaza, the statement said.
The White House announced that Nikolai Mladenov, a Bulgarian politician and diplomat who previously served as the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process, will serve as the High Representative for Gaza.
Under the US-brokered agreement, a technocratic committee will run Gaza until a reformed Palestinian Authority takes over, which could lead to what the plan calls a “credible path to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes Palestinian Authority involvement in Gaza or any concept of a Palestinian state.
Israel effectively had veto power over the committee’s membership, demanding that Hamas and members of the Palestinian Authority not be allowed to participate. The head of the internal security agency, known as Shin Bet, told the Security Cabinet on Tuesday that the agency had approved 15 names for the commission, Israeli officials said.
A separate Gaza Executive Committee has also been established to assist with governance, and includes officials from Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as some members of the Peace Committee and Technical Committee.
