The ground is apparently being prepared over several days now for a spectacular comeback of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. “Sir Tony”, as he is also known in his native Britain, has been working for several months on a framework for post-conflict governance and reconstruction in Gaza. At least elements of this framework seem to have made it into the 21-point peace plan presented by President Trump to Arab and Muslim leaders in the margins of this year’s UN General Assembly high-level week.
The plan’s fine details have not been announced but it is expected to establish a Gaza International Transitional Authority, buttressed by a predominantly Arab and Muslim stabilization force. There will be a years-long transition to Palestinian Authority rule, with no role for Hamas, of course. Increasingly, news reports mention Tony Blair as the intended head of this transitional authority, in a role apparently similar to that of the Sarajevo-based all-powerful High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, established under the 1995 Dayton Accords and still having a decisive say in the affairs of this ever-fragmented country.
At first sight, the Trump plan seems like welcome news, and it is broadly welcomed, as it would be based on a permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip. Moreover, the Palestinians of Gaza would be allowed to remain in Gaza, unlike what the infamous “Mediterranean Riviera” plan earlier touted by President Trump had in store for them.
Waiting for further details of what is currently on offer, the rest of this article focuses on whether Tony Blair should be welcome as a key player in the eventual Gaza transition.
Smoke rises following an Israeli strike amid an Israeli operation, as seen from central Gaza Strip September 25, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Sir Tony has been a controversial figure in Britain and the world for decades now. He remained at the helm of his country from 1997 to 2007, and ushered in significant changes to its constitutional order, social and economic governance, combining elements of social democracy and neoliberalism in his “Third Way” policies. He is famous for the Good Friday Agreement that helped end the armed confrontation in Northern Ireland.
At the same time, he is infamous for his support for the US illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003, for which it has been suggested he should be indicted for war crimes, and his close relationship with authoritarian leaders like Basar Al-Assad of Syria and Muammar Gaddafi of Libya.
File photo: British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi shake hands, ahead of their talks in Tripoli Thursday March 25, 2004. EPA/Stefan Rousseau
File photo: British Prime Minister Tony Blair (R) visits with the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad the Omayyad Mosque in Damascus 31 October 2001. Blair and Assad held talks on the Middle East peace process and the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States. /EPA PHOTO POOL AP/ALASTAIR GRANT
His personality apparently combines socialist elements with an imperial-bordering-on-messianic attitude when in control, along with high spinning/manipulative skills, and a tendency to befriend and advise the rich and powerful.
After resigning as British Prime Minister he served as special envoy of the Middle East Quartet – the EU, Russia, the UN, and the US – in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel (2008-2015). Thereafter he created the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and is known for the record amounts he charges for speeches that he gives.
epa05410201 (FILE) A file photo dated 16 April 2004 showing then US President George W. Bush (R) shaking hands with then British Prime Minister Tony Blair after the two leaders answered questions from the news media during a joint press conference in the Rose Garden of the White House, Washington, USA. The report on whether it was right and neccessary to invade Iraq by Sir John Chilcot concluded 06 July 2016 the invasion and subsequent war against Iraq was ‘not the last resort’. Chilcot also said US and British policy on Iraq based on ‘flawed intelligence and assessments’. EPA/SHAWN THEW
The fact that Mr. Blair has seen the Middle East up close and knows many of its leaders on all sides is certainly an important asset. One wonders, though, what are Mr. Blair’s dealings with all these countries and leaders, and whether he enjoys real trust from all sides, in the region and beyond.
Irrespective of the person and his reputation, the irony cannot be cast aside that if Mr. Blair becomes the head of the Gaza transitional authority it will be a Briton managing Palestine, partially at least, once again, after the British Mandate of Palestine was transferred to the United Nations following World War II. Perhaps it is an opportunity for Britain to make amends for the mess it created with the Balfour Declaration of 1917.
The latter promised a Jewish homeland in post-Ottoman Palestine at the expense of its majority Arab inhabitants, and was followed by Britain’s role in the establishment of only the state of Israel and not of a Palestinian state at the same time, as foreseen by UN resolutions since the late 1940s.
A Billboard with a defaced picture of British Foreign Secretary, Lord Arthur Balfour and reads “we will not forget, we will not forgive,” hangs in the street as Palestinians commemorate the 104th anniversary of Britain’s Balfour Declaration in November 1917, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
It should be possible for the international community and the UN bodies that should authorize any Gaza transition plan to come up with a different person to lead the Gaza transitional authority. A woman from the Global South would mark a departure from Western men’s heading most peacemaking efforts around the world in recent decades. It would also underline the importance of empathy with the suffering Gaza population, and of achieving peace, justice, truth and reconciliation in the region. The future of Gaza, the Middle East and the world cannot depend on enthusiastic Western saviours, former colonial masters and double-standard professionals like Mr. Blair.
