Trump Appoints Rubio, Witkoff, Kushner, And Blair To Gaza 'Board Of Peace'

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

The White House announced on Jan. 16 the names of members appointed to the Gaza Board of Peace, which President Donald Trump created as part of phase two of a U.S.-backed plan to end the war in Gaza.

Among the “founding executive board” members are U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The board also includes private equity executive Marc Rowan, World Bank President Ajay Banga, and U.S. national security adviser Robert Gabriel, according to a White House statement.

The board, to be chaired by Trump, will oversee the Palestinian technocratic committee—also known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG)—which will be led by former Palestinian Authority official Ali Abdel Hamid Shaath.

The White House said each of the members will be tasked with managing Gaza’s “governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding, and capital mobilization,” which it said are vital to the enclave’s stability and long-term success.

The administration also named Aryeh Lightstone and Josh Gruenbaum as senior advisers to manage the board’s daily strategy and operations, and appointed Nickolay Mladenov, a Bulgarian diplomat and former United Nations envoy to the Middle East, as the high representative for Gaza.

Trump also tapped Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers to lead the International Stabilization Force, which will oversee security operations and the safe delivery of humanitarian aid and reconstruction materials to Gaza.

The administration also announced a separate 11-member executive board, comprising some of the founding members, which will support both the technocratic committee and Mladenov’s office.

The executive board includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi, Major General Hassan Rashad - head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service, UAE minister for international cooperation Reem Al-Hashimy, Israeli-Cypriot billionaire Yakir Gabay, and Dutch diplomat and U.N. envoy Sigrid Kaag.

The White House said more members of both boards will be announced in the coming weeks.

“The United States remains fully committed to supporting this transitional framework, working in close partnership with Israel, key Arab nations, and the international community to achieve the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan,” it said.

In announcing the board’s formation on Jan. 15, Trump said the United States will work with Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar to secure an agreement that will require Hamas to surrender all weapons and dismantle its tunnel network.

“Hamas must immediately honor its commitments, including the return of the final body to Israel, and proceed without delay to full Demilitarization,” the president said.

“As I have said before, they can do this the easy way, or the hard way. The people of Gaza have suffered long enough. The time is now.”

The Gaza peace plan, which began in October 2025, is expected to unfold in three phases to achieve the 20-point plan Trump laid out in September last year to end the war in Gaza.

Witkoff said on Jan. 14 that phase two of Trump’s peace plan has started, which involves the complete demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza.

Tyler Durden Sat, 01/17/2026 - 09:20