Senior PA leader confirms readiness to work with former UK PM on post-ceasefire recovery
The former UK prime minister Tony Blair appears to have won the endorsement of the Palestinian Authority to be involved in the reconstruction of Gaza, after an exploratory meeting in Jordan.
Blair met Hussein al-Sheikh, the deputy president of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation executive committee, in Amman, Jordan, on Sunday. It was the first such meeting since Donald Trump announced Blair’s role in his 20-point plan.
Although Blair was present in New York for key meetings with Arab leaders at the UN general assembly, this is the first attempt to test the water about his possible role with the Palestinian leadership. Hamas, which has said it will not have a future role in the government of Gaza, has opposed Blair’s involvement and the idea that any board should act as foreign guardian for Palestine.
The precise powers of the US president’s proposed “board of peace” and its relationship to a technocratic committee of appointed Palestinians has yet to be clarified.
