Who is on Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ for Gaza?

The White House has the names of the members were released who will form the Trump administration’s new “Board of Peace” for Gaza.

With the US president as chair, the founding Executive Board will oversee the work of a committee of technocrats tasked with the temporary administration of Gaza – and its reconstruction.

Each member of the executive board is expected to oversee a portfolio that will be “critical to the stabilization of Gaza”, the White House added. But it is still unclear who is responsible for which priorities.

No women and no Palestinians have been announced at this high level, but the White House said additional members will be announced in the coming weeks.

So, who is on the founding Executive Board?

Former UK Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair has long been mentioned as a potential member of Trump’s “Board of Peace”, with the US president confirming in September that he had expressed interest in joining the body.

The former Labor Party leader was prime minister of the UK from 1997 to 2007 and led the country into the Iraq War in 2003, a decision which means some may see his presence on the board as controversial.

After he left office, he served as Middle East envoy for the Quartet of international powers – the United Nations, the European Union, the US and Russia – from 2007 to 2015.

Sir Tony is the only founding member of the executive board who is not a US citizen.

He previously described Trump’s plans for Gaza as “the best chance to end two years of war, misery and suffering”.

In a statement, Sir Tony said he was “honored” to be named to the board, and thanked President Trump for his leadership in establishing the group.

As US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio is central to the Trump administration’s approach to foreign policy.

Before Trump returned to office, Rubio spoke against a ceasefire in Gaza, saying that he wants Israel “to destroy every element of Hamas they can get their hands on”.

But since then he praised the first phase of Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal signed in October as the “best” and “only” plan.

Also in October, Rubio criticized a measure in the Israeli parliament annexation of the occupied West Bank.

US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, a real estate magnate and golf partner of Trump, will also be on the board.

Earlier this month, Witkoff announced the start of the second phase of Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza, adding that it would see the reconstruction and complete demilitarization in Gaza – including the disarmament of Hamas.

He added that he expected Hamas to “fully comply with its obligations” under the agreement, or face “serious consequences”.

Witkoff has been at the center of US-led efforts to negotiate peace between Russia and Ukraine, including five hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in December.

Jared Kushner, son-in-law of the US president, also plays a key role in the foreign policy negotiations of the Trump administration.

Along with Witkoff, Kushner often worked as a US mediator for the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza wars.

In November, he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss important points to keep the peace.

In a speech at Harvard University in 2024, Kushner said “Gaza’s waterfront property can be very valuable… if people focus on building livelihoods.”

Billionaire Marc Rowan is the CEO of Apollo Global Management, a large private equity firm headquartered in New York.

Rowan is seen as a contender to become US treasury secretary for Trump’s second term.

Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank, has advised many senior US politicians, including President Barack Obama, during his long career.

Born in India in 1959, Banga became a US citizen in 2007, and later served as CEO of Mastercard for more than a decade.

Former US President Joe Biden nominated him to lead the World Bank in 2023.

Robert Gabriel, a US national security adviser, will be the last member of the “founding executive board”.

Gabriel has worked with Trump since his 2016 presidential campaign, shortly after, according to PBS, he became a special assistant to Stephen Miller, another of Trump’s current top advisers.

The White House statement also said that Nickolay Mladenov, a Bulgarian politician and former UN Middle East envoy, will be the representative of the Gaza land board.

He will oversee a separate 15-member Palestinian technocratic committee, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), tasked with overseeing the day-to-day administration of post-war Gaza.

The NCAG will be chaired by Ali Shaath, a former deputy minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA) who oversees the parts of the occupied West Bank that are not under Israeli control.