William Christou
The Guardian / January 17, 2026
Country says some appointments to the group, which will oversee the administration and reconstruction of Gaza, are ‘contrary to its policy’.
Israel has objected to the White House’s pick of world leaders who will join the so-called Gaza “board of peace”, meant to temporarily oversee governance and reconstruction in the strip.
The White House and other sources announced a flurry of appointments and invitations to the organisation over the last two days, including Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, former UK prime minister Tony Blair and the president of Argentina, Javier Milei.
Israel said that some of the appointments were “not coordinated with Israel and were contrary to its policy”, without specifying who it objected to. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, also told the Israeli foreign minister to contact the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio.
The group, described as the “greatest and most prestigious board ever assembled, at any time, any place” by Donald Trump on Thursday, is meant to temporarily govern Gaza in place of Hamas.
The board is part of Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza. Despite a ceasefire announced in October, Israel continues to kill Palestinians. At least 463 Palestinians have died in Gaza since the nominal truce was established.
Israel also continues to restrict food and other forms of aid into the strip, with hunger prevailing in Gaza. Most of the population lives in substandard housing, with frayed tents providing little protection from the elements. Palestinians in Gaza have already died from hypothermia during particularly harsh cold snaps this winter.
The exact makeup of the board of peace is still unclear, but two separate governing boards have been announced.
The “founding executive board” will focus on investment and foreign relations, while the “Gaza executive board” will oversee another group, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), which will oversee day-to-day affairs in Gaza.
Rubio is on the seven-member founding executive board, along with the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Tony Blair, with Trump as its chair.
Blair thanked Trump for the appointment and said that the NCAG was a “massive step forward”.
“It gives hope to people in Gaza that they can have a future different from the past, and to the Israelis that they may have a neighbour which does not threaten its security,” Blair said in a statement.
There was no word as to whether all the invitees had accepted their invitations to join the board of peace, with Sisi and Erdoğan not confirming their appointment.
The US-drafted ceasefire plan for Gaza moved into its second phase this week, which includes several thorny issues, such as the disarmament of Hamas, reconstruction and the deployment of an international security force.
Hamas has not yet committed to disarm, and the makeup of an international security force is still unknown. Israel has in the past objected to Turkey playing a role in the force.
The board of peace will be tasked with not only running the administration of Gaza, but also its reconstruction. Most of the strip was destroyed by Israeli bombs and bulldozers during its more than two-year war, which killed more than 71,000 Palestinians.
William Christou is a Beirut-based journalist
_____________
Israel objects to US announcement of leaders who will help oversee next steps in Gaza
Natalie Melzer
AP / January 17, 2026
NAHARIYA, Israel – Israel’s government is objecting to the White House announcement of leaders who will play a role in overseeing next steps in Gaza as the ceasefire moves into its challenging second phase.
The rare criticism from Israel of its close ally in Washington said the Gaza executive committee “was not coordinated with Israel and is contrary to its policy,” without details. Saturday’s statement also said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the foreign ministry to contact Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The committee announced by the White House on Friday includes no Israeli official but has an Israeli businessman, billionaire Yakir Gabay. Other members announced so far include two of U.S. President Donald Trump’s closest confidants, a former British prime minister, a U.S. general and representatives of several Middle Eastern governments.
The White House has said the executive committee will carry out the vision of a Trump-led “Board of Peace,” whose members have not yet been named. The White House also announced the members of a new Palestinian committee to run Gaza’s day to day affairs, with oversight from the executive committee. The Palestinian committee met for the first time on Thursday in Cairo.
The executive committee’s members include Rubio, Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan, World Bank President Ajay Banga and Trump’s Deputy National Security Adviser Robert Gabriel.
Committee members also include a diplomat from Qatar, an intelligence chief from Egypt and Turkey’s foreign minister — all countries have been ceasefire mediators — as well as a Cabinet minister for the United Arab Emirates.
Turkey has a strained relationship with Israel but good relations with Hamas and could play an important role in persuading the group to yield power and disarm. Hamas has said it will dissolve its government in Gaza once the new Palestinian committee takes office, but it has shown no sign that it will dismantle its military wing or security forces.
Netanyahu’s office didn’t respond Saturday to questions about its objections regarding the executive committee.
Minutes after its statement, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir in a statement backed Netanyahu and urged him to order the military to prepare to return to war. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, another far-right Netanyahu ally, said on social media that “the countries that kept Hamas alive cannot be the ones that replace it.”
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Gaza’s second-largest militant group after Hamas, in a statement Saturday also expressed dissatisfaction with the makeup of the Gaza executive committee and claimed it reflected Israeli “specifications.”
The Trump administration on Wednesday said the U.S.-drafted ceasefire plan for Gaza was now moving into its second phase, which includes the new Palestinian committee in Gaza, deployment of an international security force, disarmament of Hamas and reconstruction of the war-battered territory.
The last hostage, Ran Gvili in Gaza, was killed during the attack that sparked the war. On Saturday his parents, Talik and Itzik Gvili, said in a statement they were “deeply concerned by moves toward the rehabilitation of Gaza” while Hamas had not fulfilled its obligation to return everyone.
The ceasefire in the deadliest war ever fought between Israel and Hamas took effect on Oct. 10. The first phase focused on the return of all remaining hostages in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian detainees, along with a surge in humanitarian aid and a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces in Gaza.
The war began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took over 250 hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 71,400 Palestinians, including over 460 since this ceasefire began, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.
Associated Press writer Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed
