Alwaght- Several decades after the mandate system lost its function in the international system, this time the US President Donald Trump has once again proposed it under a new form for the Gaza Strip.
While Trump's proposal for Gaza avoids any mention of an international mandate, it effectively hands control of the Palestinian territory to a US-appointed board.
The plan would end Hamas's governance, replacing it with a "non-political committee of technocrats." However, this committee would answer to a supervisory "peace-making" board, chaired by Trump himself and led by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Critics have condemned this US-selected body as a profound insult to local Palestinian forces and Gaza's inhabitants. Some argue the plan effectively transforms Gaza into a territory devoid of Palestinian self-rule. The act of appointing Gaza's governing body from Washington mirrors colonial-era practices, where foreign powers installed their own administrators over conquered lands. Given that Gazans have lived under Palestinian authority—albeit amid a crippling blockade and repeated crises—for nearly two decades, they are highly unlikely to accept a governing body imposed by Trump.
The British war criminal behind the Trump's plan
Tne main designer of the Trump's Gaza Plan is Blair who was the British PM during the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq from 2001 to 2003. According to the New York Times, Trump worked out his plan in association with Blair. In August, Blair at a meeting in the White House he discussed with Trump's former advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner proposals about Gaza. The Time magazine, too, in a report said that Blair as Trump's primary face for Gaza plan is leaning to Israel and has friendly relations with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and so his presence in the plan is pleasant to Tel Aviv.
Black record of Blair
The inclusion of Blair’s name in Trump’s Gaza plan has stunned human rights advocates, given Britain’s dark record of intervention in the region—and Blair’s own role in the invasions of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003.
A war-driven PM: Blair ordered British forces into combat more than any other British PM since World War II. He showed little hesitation over military engagement abroad or at home—even when his decisions proved deeply unpopular with the British public. In 1998, alongside the US, Blair launched a four-day bombing campaign against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. A year later, under his leadership, Britain joined NATO airstrikes against Yugoslavia. In 2000, he deployed troops to intervene in Sierra Leone’s civil war, and in 2001, after the September 11 attacks, backed American’s invasion of Afghanistan.
A tarnished political record: Blair’s premiership—he is now 72—became highly controversial after he sent British troops to join the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. The war dealt a heavy blow to his credibility both at home and across West Asia. After resigning in 2007, largely due to collapsing popularity tied to Iraq, Blair was appointed "Middle East envoy for the Quartet" —representing the UN, the US, the EU and Russia. The Quartet’s stated mission was to help Palestinians build institutions and a viable economy for a future state in Gaza and the West Bank, including Eastern Al-Quds (Jerusalem). Yet the Gaza conflict underscored Blair’s failure in this role: critics said he did nothing to halt settler violence or illegal settlement expansion. At the same time, Blair was running a private company connected to Gaza, prompting accusations of a conflict of interest.
Britain’s war criminal: In 2009, a government inquiry led by John Chilcot concluded in 2016 that Blair had no legal basis for waging war against Iraq. He later faced private war-crimes charges, but Britain’s High Court blocked the case in 2017. In 2015, the Telegraph reported to the House of Lords that Blair could potentially face prosecution for war crimes once the Iraq inquiry findings were published. During the Iraq war itself, mass protests erupted across Britain, with demonstrators repeatedly branding Blair a war criminal complicit in the killing of civilians in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
What do others say about Blair?
Australian Academic Simon Frankel Pratt, a political science lecturer at the University of Melbourne, told Australia's SBS news: "For most Palestinians, Tony Blair is a war criminal responsible for the Iraq war. I don't think he has much legitimacy among the Palestinian people or his counterparts in the Palestinian Authority."
Palestinian Official Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, told the Washington Post: "We were colonized by the British in the past, and Blair has a negative image among Palestinians. If you mention Tony Blair, the first thing people will point to is the Iraq war."
UK Parliamentarian Jeremy Corbyn reacted on social media, writing: "Tony Blair's catastrophic decision to invade Iraq cost the lives of hundreds of thousands. He should be nowhere near the Middle East, let alone Gaza! The future of Gaza must be determined by the Palestinian people, not by the likes of Blair, Trump, or Netanyahu."
Other members of Trump's controversial plan
A secret document published by British media, including the Guardian, has named other names in the international transitional government for Gaza.
The proposed document outlines a transitional governing body for the Gaza Strip consisting of 7 to 10 members. Alongside Blair, the named individuals include Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris, who has a background in telecommunications and technology. The list also features Mark Rowan, a manager from Apollo Global Management; Arie Lightstone from the Abraham Accords Peace Institute; and David Friedman, a former advisor who served as Trump's first ambassador to Israel.
The inclusion of Western, non-Palestinian figures Palestinian people is the biggest reason that the outcome of the Trump's favorable board for Gaza cannot meet the aspirations and goals of the Palestinian people and particularly the Gazans. Al-Ahrar Movement of Palestine in a reaction to the Trump's proposal said that this plan is in fact nothing but a media propaganda accompanied by threat and intimidation that is in line with his narcissism.
