Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has returned to the forefront of Middle East peace efforts&nbsp;after a US peace plan on ending the Israel-Hamas war cast him in a leading role in overseeing the post-war administration and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. It&rsquo;s familiar territory for Blair, who spent eight years working to promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians as the international community&rsquo;s envoy to the Middle East.His decision to step down in 2015 was seen as a reflection of the dire state of Mideast peace efforts that devolved further under the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The US proposal &mdash; which President Donald Trump and Netanyahu said they agreed on after talks at the White House on Monday &mdash; would put Gaza&rsquo;s territory and its more than 2 million people effectively under international control, deploying an international security force and installing a &ldquo;Board of Peace&rdquo; headed by Trump and Blair to oversee the administration and reconstruction. Hamas said Tuesday it would study the plan, both within the group and with other Palestinian factions, before responding.<h3 style="line-height: 2;"> </h3><h3 style="line-height: 2;">Legacy of the war in Iraq</h3>Blair has decades of experience in the Middle East. For some, that&rsquo;s his great strength &mdash; and for others, his huge weakness. As prime minister between 1997 and 2007, he took the United Kingdom into the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 despite strong public opposition. The subsequent conflict killed 179 British troops, some 4,500 American personnel, and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. A public inquiry concluded in 2016 that Blair took the country to war based on flawed intelligence and &ldquo;before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted.&rdquo; But it did not say that the war was illegal, which could have opened the way for Blair to be prosecuted for war crimes. Blair has defended his decision to go to war, saying he did it in good faith, believing that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.<h3 style="line-height: 2;"> </h3><h3 style="line-height: 2;">Mideast diplomatic role</h3>After leaving office in 2007, Blair was appointed Middle East envoy by the &ldquo;Quartet&rdquo; &mdash; the United States, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations &mdash; a post that began with great promise but struggled to deliver dramatic changes in its quest to promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Blair&rsquo;s experience in British politics and name recognition offered hope that he had the charisma and connections that might bring progress. But his work became mired in skirmishes over issues such as the movement of Palestinian goods and people in the West Bank, and dealing with the difficulties of a Gaza Strip ruled by the militant Hamas group and blockaded by Israel and Egypt. &ldquo;Well, he was a colossal failure in the many years that he was the special envoy of the Quartet,&rdquo; said Nomi Bar-Yaacov, a Mideast expert at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. &ldquo;They didn&rsquo;t achieve much.&rdquo; Blair quit in 2015 with little to show in the way of progress toward a Palestinian state. That was long before the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel ignited the latest war and further poisoned hopes for peace and stability. Recently, Blair has been part of high-level planning talks with the US and others about the future of Gaza. In a statement, Blair said Trump&rsquo;s &ldquo;bold and intelligent&rdquo; plan offers &ldquo;the best chance&rdquo; of ending the Gaza war. He did not mention his own potential role.<h3 style="line-height: 2;"> </h3><h3 style="line-height: 2;">A contentious politician</h3>UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Trump&rsquo;s announcement of a peace plan was &ldquo;profoundly welcome&rdquo; and called &ldquo;on all sides to come together and to work with the US administration to finalize this agreement and bring it into reality.&rdquo; He didn&rsquo;t mention Blair&rsquo;s potential involvement. Blair remains a divisive figure in the Labour Party, praised by some for winning three consecutive elections but forever tarnished in the eyes of others because of the war.Health Secretary Wes Streeting acknowledged that &ldquo;there&rsquo;ll be some people who look at Tony Blair and his legacy in Iraq and will raise eyebrows, to say the least, about whether he&rsquo;s the right man to be involved in this.&rdquo; But he noted that Blair played a key role in ending decades of violence in Northern Ireland with the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement &mdash; experience that could prove essential in the Middle East. Michael Stephens, an international security expert at the Royal United Services Institute think tank, said that Blair being given a role in a transitional Gaza authority &ldquo;has rings of 2003 about it, so it feels uncomfortable. &ldquo;But if it brings a ceasefire, it may not be the worst option,&rdquo; he said. War-weary Palestinians from Gaza expressed little enthusiasm for Blair. &ldquo;Blair is rejected by the people,&rdquo; said Hussein Dhaher, a displaced man from Gaza&rsquo;s northern town of Beit Hanoun. &ldquo;This man has the blood of Iraqis on his hands. He only brings ruin and destruction.&rdquo; Umm Mohammed, a history teacher who shelters with her family in Gaza City, wondered why a Palestinian leader could not have been found instead of Blair. &ldquo;This man is hated in the region because of his role in destroying Iraq, and he won&rsquo;t bring anything good to us Palestinians,&rdquo; she said.

Britain's former Prime Minister Tony Blair walks through the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit, Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023

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Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has returned to the forefront of Middle East peace efforts after a U.S. peace plan on ending the Israel-Hamas war cast him in a leading role in overseeing the post-war administration and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

Tony Blair joins Trump-chaired Board of Peace for Gaza plan

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ISLAMABAD: Western leaders including European Union (EU) chief Antonio Costa, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, and the British government, have welcomed US President Donald Trump&#39;s Gaza peace plan, urging all sides to seize the opportunity to end hostilities, release hostages, and pave the way for lasting stability in the region. European Union chief Antonio Costa on Monday urged all parties to &quot;seize this moment to give peace a genuine chance&quot; after US President Trump announced his plan to end the war in Gaza, AFP reported. EU chief welcomes Gaza plan&quot;I welcome President (Trump&#39;s) plan to end the war in Gaza and I am encouraged by Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu&#39;s positive response,&quot; Costa said on X. &quot;The situation in Gaza is intolerable. Hostilities must end, and all hostages must be released immediately,&quot; he added.<div class="fr-embed responsive-video"><div class="video-wrapper aspect-video"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-15" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-15&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1972775217429668333&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=afd23c9fa73d0b6fc1cfc140ce94704cdd1d8176&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="width: 550px; height: 416px; min-height: 0px; position: static; visibility: visible;" data-tweet-id="1972775217429668333"></iframe></div></div></div>&quot;The Israeli and Palestinian people deserve to live side by side, in peace and security, free from violence and terrorism. A two-state solution remains the only viable path to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East,&rdquo; Costa said in his social media post. Tony Blair hails &#39;bold&#39; Gaza planTony Blair on Monday hailed as &quot;bold and intelligent&quot; a move US President Donald Trump&#39;s plan for ending the war in Gaza, in which the British former prime minister is due to play a key role, AFP reported. &quot;President Trump has put down a bold and intelligent plan which, if agreed, can end the war, bring immediate relief to Gaza, the chance of a brighter and better future for its people, whilst ensuring Israel&rsquo;s absolute and enduring security and the release of all hostages,&quot; Blair said in a statement. Under the plan, Blair is due to be part of a transitional &quot;Board of Peace&quot; in Gaza that will be chaired by Trump. In the statement, shared by Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, the former UK premier further said about the peace plan: &ldquo;It offers us the best chance of ending two years of war, misery and suffering, and I thank President Trump for his leadership, determination and commitment.&rdquo;<div class="fr-embed responsive-video"><div class="video-wrapper aspect-video"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-12" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-12&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1972755811933020430&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=afd23c9fa73d0b6fc1cfc140ce94704cdd1d8176&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="width: 100%; height: 100%; min-height: 0px;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div></div>&ldquo;In particular, his willingness to chair the Board of Peace to oversee the new Gaza is a huge signal of support and confidence in the future of Gaza, of the possibility of Israelis and Palestinians finding a path to peace, and of the potential for a broader regional and global alliance to counter the forces of extremism and promote peace and prosperity between nations,&rdquo; Blair added. Britain &#39;strongly&#39; backs planBritain&#39;s government Monday threw its weight behind US President Trump&#39;s plan to end the war in Gaza, AFP reported. &quot;We strongly support his efforts to end the fighting, release the hostages and ensure the provision of urgent humanitarian assistance for the people of Gaza.&nbsp; This is our top priority and should happen immediately,&quot; Prime Minister Keir Starmer&#39;s office said in a statement.<div class="fr-embed responsive-video"><div class="video-wrapper aspect-video"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-11" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-11&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1972790227707232624&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=afd23c9fa73d0b6fc1cfc140ce94704cdd1d8176&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="width: 100%; height: 100%; min-height: 0px;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div></div>

EU Council President Costa, Tony Blair, and the UK government welcomed President Trump’s Gaza peace plan, urging an end to hostilities, release of hostages, and a two-state solution for lasting peace and regional stability. 

Articles tagged with "Tony Blair"

Tony Blair joins Trump-chaired Board of Peace for Gaza plan

EU Council President Costa, Tony Blair, and UK govt welcome Gaza peace plan