Prime Minister Mark Carney has been invited by U.S. President Donald Trump to join the “Board of Peace,” overseeing the temporary governance of the Gaza Strip, as confirmed by a senior Canadian official accompanying the prime minister on his international trip. Carney is set to accept this invitation.
As part of a U.S. initiative approved by Israel and Hamas, a Palestinian technocratic body will be managed by an international board during a transitional phase. The White House recently unveiled the board members, which include U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, with Trump serving as the board’s chair as per the plan disclosed last year.
Egypt is considering Trump’s offer for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to join the board, as mentioned by Egypt’s foreign affairs minister. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also received a letter from Trump inviting him to participate, according to the Turkish presidency.
Additionally, the board features individuals such as private equity executive Marc Rowan, World Bank president Ajay Banga, Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Hakan Fidan, and Robert Gabriel, a Trump adviser. Nickolay Mladenov, a former UN Middle East envoy, is designated as the high representative for Gaza by the White House.
Roles for each member were not specified in the White House statement, and notably, Carney’s name was absent from the official announcement. Concerns have been raised by various rights experts and advocates regarding the board’s structure, likening it to a colonial setup overseen by Trump. Criticism has also been directed at Blair due to his involvement in the Iraq war.
Maj.-Gen. Jasper Jeffers, a former U.S. special operations commander, has been appointed as the commander of the International Stabilization Force by the White House. This appointment aligns with a UN Security Council resolution passed in mid-November, empowering the Board of Peace and its collaborating nations to establish the stabilization force in Gaza.