For more than a century, the relationship between Great Britain and the Palestinian people has been fraught with tension, historical grievances, and political missteps. Now, as the Gaza Strip stands at yet another crossroads following two years of devastating war, the specter of British involvement looms large once again—this time in the person of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is reportedly poised to play a leading role in a new international effort to govern postwar Gaza. The plan, championed by former U.S. President Donald Trump, has generated both hope and fierce opposition across the region and beyond.
The seeds of today’s conflict were sown long before Blair’s birth in 1953. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I, the League of Nations awarded the United Kingdom a mandate over Palestine in 1922. Five years earlier, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour had penned a letter to Lord Rothschild, promising the establishment of a "Jewish homeland" in Palestine—a document that would become known as the Balfour Declaration. According to DW and Vijesti, this declaration led to increased Jewish migration and the beginnings of deep-seated resentment among the Arab population, who felt betrayed by Britain’s conflicting promises of independence.
By 1947, unable to contain the spiraling conflict between Jews and Arabs, Britain relinquished its mandate to the United Nations. The UN’s proposal to divide the territory into Jewish and Arab states failed to resolve the dispute. Instead, the creation of Israel in 1948 marked the start of an enduring and often bloody conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, a conflict that has left generations searching for peace and justice.
Fast-forward to late 2023, when the latest chapter of violence erupted. Hamas, the Gaza-based militant group, launched a deadly attack on Israel, killing around 1,200 people. The Israeli military response was swift and devastating, with more than 65,000 Gazans reportedly killed in the ensuing campaign, according to DW. The war has dragged on for two years, leaving Gaza in ruins and its people desperate for relief.
Enter Donald Trump. The former U.S. president has unveiled a sweeping 20-point peace plan aimed at ending the war and rebuilding Gaza. Central to this plan is the establishment of a technocratic government in Gaza, overseen by an international body known as the "Board of Peace" or "Peace Council," with Trump himself as chairman. But it is the prospect of Tony Blair taking a leading role on this council that has ignited a firestorm of controversy.
According to i24NEWS, once Israel withdraws from Gaza—a process reportedly guaranteed to Hamas by international mediators—5,000 Palestinian security personnel trained in Egypt will enter the Strip in three stages. Thousands more police officers are currently training in Jordan, preparing for their eventual deployment. These security forces will operate under a Gaza Management Committee composed of 15 Palestinian technocrats, who in turn will be overseen by the Gaza Management Council, led by Tony Blair. This council operates under the broader mandate of the Governing Council, headed by Trump. Eventually, the plan calls for the Palestinian Authority to assume administrative control of Gaza.
The inclusion of Blair in this new governing structure has been met with deep skepticism and outright hostility in some quarters. Mustafa Barghouti, a prominent Palestinian politician and civil rights activist, minced no words in an interview with CNN: "I think it's preferable that he stays in his own country and lets Palestinians rule themselves by themselves … rather than subjecting us to another colonial rule." Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza, was even more blunt on social media, writing, "Tony Blair? Hell no! Hands off Palestine! Maybe we should meet in The Hague?"—a pointed reference to Blair’s controversial legacy in the Middle East.
Much of this animosity stems from Blair’s role in the 2003 Iraq War. After the September 11 attacks, Blair aligned himself almost unconditionally with U.S. President George W. Bush and the so-called "war on terror." The two leaders justified the invasion of Iraq by claiming that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction—a claim that was later debunked. A seven-year official inquiry led by John Chilcot concluded that the intelligence should have been questioned and the invasion should not have proceeded. While the inquiry found that Blair had not made a "personal and demonstrable decision to deceive Parliament or the public," the damage to his reputation was lasting. Blair later expressed "sorrow, regret and apology" for the mistakes made during the conflict.
Despite the controversy, Blair remained active in Middle Eastern affairs. The day after stepping down as prime minister in 2007, he was appointed Middle East envoy by the Quartet—a group comprising the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and Russia. But his tenure, which lasted eight years, was marked by criticism from Palestinians who accused him of favoring Israel and pursuing private business interests. As former Palestinian negotiator and prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh told DW, "He did nothing for the Palestinian cause but was used by Israel to justify its occupation and settlement policy. We are happy that Tony Blair is going. He should have resigned a long time ago."
After leaving the Quartet, Blair founded the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) in 2016. He has since advised a number of authoritarian leaders, including Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. According to The Guardian, TBI staff were allegedly involved in developing a post-war reconstruction plan for Gaza that included the creation of a "Trump Riviera" and a manufacturing zone named after Elon Musk—claims the institute denies. In February 2025, Trump released an AI-generated video depicting the "Trump Riviera" vision, sparking widespread public outrage.
Blair, for his part, has described Trump’s peace plan as "bold and intelligent" and "the best chance of ending two years of war, misery and suffering." However, he has not publicly confirmed whether he will play a major role in its implementation. Still, the mere possibility of his involvement has reignited debate about the legacy of Western intervention in the Middle East and the prospects for true Palestinian self-determination.
As Gaza faces the daunting task of rebuilding and the world watches to see whether the new plan can succeed where so many others have failed, the region remains suspended between hope and skepticism. The next chapter in this long and troubled story is about to be written—one that will test old alliances, challenge new leaders, and, perhaps, offer a glimmer of peace in a land too long defined by conflict.
