Blair in Talks to Lead Gaza Transitional Authority

Multiple outlets report former UK prime minister Tony Blair is in talks to chair a US-backed Gaza International Transitional Authority (GITA) as part of a postwar governance plan advanced by President Donald Trump. The proposal seeks a UN mandate for GITA to act as Gaza’s supreme political and legal authority for about five years, initially based in El‑Arish, Egypt, funded by Gulf states and modeled on transitional administrations in East Timor and Kosovo. It envisions a multinational stabilisation force, international oversight, a secretariat of international technocrats, five commissioners overseeing key portfolios and a Palestinian technocratic executive that could transfer authority back to the West Bank‑based Palestinian Authority once conditions permit. The plan has provoked strong criticism from Palestinians, Arab and European officials and campaigners—some labeling Blair a "war criminal" for his Iraq‑era role—and warning that an imposed trusteeship would lack legitimacy and marginalise Palestinians, while Blair’s office says he would not support forced displacement and that authority would ultimately return to Palestinians. Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has signalled openness to Blair running a postwar Gaza authority, underscoring international diplomatic interest, but the proposal remains unofficial and is being negotiated and contested by regional and international actors.