Global & US Headlines
Trump Names Blair, Rubio to Gaza Reconstruction 'Board of Peace'
On 17 Jan 2026 the White House publicly released the first seven members of President Trump’s new U.S.–chaired “Board of Peace,” formally activating the second phase of his 20-point Gaza plan by assigning specific outsiders—none from Gaza’s elected bodies—to supervise reconstruction and demilitarisation.
Focusing Facts
- Founding Executive Board list dated 17 Jan 2026 includes Tony Blair, Marco Rubio, Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff, Marc Rowan, World Bank chief Ajay Banga and NSC deputy Robert Gabriel, with Trump as chair.
- A separate 15-member Palestinian technocratic committee led by Dr. Ali Sha’ath convened its first meeting in Cairo the same day, but the Palestinian Authority and Hamas were excluded at Israel’s insistence.
- Major-General Jasper Jeffers was concurrently appointed commander of an International Stabilisation Force being assembled to police Gaza and train a new local police corps.
Context
Great-power trusteeship over Palestinian land is hardly new: the 1920 San Remo mandate placed Gaza under British control until 1948, and the U.S-run Coalition Provisional Authority tried a similar externally directed state-building experiment in Iraq in 2003-04—both faced local legitimacy crises. Today’s board reflects a century-long pattern of outside powers using financial leverage and security guarantees to reshape disputed territories (Bosnia’s OHR after 1995, Kosovo’s UNMIK in 1999, Afghanistan’s SRSG structures after 2001). Whether this incarnation endures will hinge on legitimacy: without elected Palestinian voices, the structure risks being remembered as another top-down trusteeship rather than the birth of self-rule. On a 100-year horizon the episode matters less for the personalities than for what it says about the durability of post-Ottoman, externally managed governance models in the Middle East—and for the precedent it sets for how major powers may try to pacify and rebuild war-shattered enclaves elsewhere.
Perspectives
Western mainstream outlets
CNN, BBC — They depict the Board of Peace as an important yet contentious milestone in the U.S.–brokered Gaza plan, stressing the absence of Palestinian Authority figures and Israel’s effective veto over membership. Focus on diplomatic process and personalities while downplaying deeper structural criticisms preserves a veneer of neutrality but can blunt sharper colonial or power-imbalance critiques.
South Asian outlets amplifying White House messaging
News18, mid-day — Coverage frames the announcement as a bold, positive step that will fast-track stability, reconstruction and prosperity under Trump’s 20-point roadmap. By largely reproducing White House statements and omitting dissenting voices, the reports function as promotional copy that flatters Trump and sidesteps questions about legitimacy or Palestinian self-determination.
Regional media and rights-oriented outlets critical of U.S. role
Pajhwok Afghan News, Devdiscourse — They present the board as a colonial-style body imposed by external powers, warning that the lack of Palestinian representation perpetuates historical patterns of domination. Strong emphasis on imperial analogies and human-rights rhetoric may overshadow on-the-ground governance specifics, reflecting an anti-interventionist lens that could underplay potential benefits of reconstruction.