‘Not welcome’: Hamas rejects Tony Blair’s potential role in post-war Gaza governance
Hamas has strongly rejected any role for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in governing Gaza following the recently declared ceasefire in the enclave.
Speaking to Sky News, senior Hamas official Basem Naim said the movement welcomed efforts by US President Donald Trump to help end the two-year genocidal war but warned that Blair would not be welcome in any role governing Gaza after the ceasefire.
“When it comes to Tony Blair, unfortunately, we Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims — and maybe others around the world — have bad memories of him,” Naim said. “We still remember his role in killing and causing the deaths of thousands or even millions of innocent civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq.”
Blair previously served as the official envoy for the Middle East Quartet — comprising the US, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations — from 2007 to 2015, during which he failed to achieve a breakthrough in the Israel-Palestine negotiations.
Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan includes the creation of a new international body, dubbed the “Board of Peace,” which would be tasked with overseeing an interim authority of technocrats to govern Gaza.
According to the scheme, Trump himself would chair the board, which would also include international figures, including Tony Blair.
The plan would establish a transitional authority in Gaza for up to five years, excluding both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.
Under the reported proposal, the authority would hold "supreme political and legal authority" over Gaza during the interim period.
In a joint statement on Friday, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) reiterated that any decision on the future governance of Gaza is “an internal Palestinian matter” as the ceasefire in the territory takes effect.
“We renew our rejection to any foreign guardianship, and we stress that the nature of the administration of the Gaza Strip and its institutions are an internal Palestinian matter to be determined by the national component of our people directly,” the statement said.
On Monday, another senior Hamas political bureau member, Husam Badran, wrote on the social media platform Telegram that including Blair in any ceasefire initiative “is an ominous sign for the Palestinian people.”
Calling Blair “the devil’s brother,” he added that instead of being considered for interim governorship of Gaza, “[he] deserves to stand before international courts for his crimes, especially his role in the war on Iraq (2003–2011).”
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