Mark Carney to accept role on Trump's Gaza 'Board of Peace'
BEIJING AND OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney will accept a role on U.S. President Donald Trump’s newly formed Gaza “Board of Peace,” according to a senior Canadian government official.
Trump will serve as chairman of the board, which includes U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former U.K. prime minister Tony Blair, and which is designed to oversee the U.S. peace plan to end the war between Israel and Hamas.
According to the Canadian government official, who briefed reporters travelling with Carney in Beijing, the invitation was officially sent on Friday but had been discussed by the two leaders for some time.
The board will be responsible for “providing strategic oversight, mobilizing international resources, and ensuring accountability as Gaza transitions from conflict to peace and development,” according to a statement from the White House on Friday.
The White House statement says that each board member will be responsible for a portfolio related to the stabilization and rebuilding of the war-torn region. These portfolios include governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding, and capital mobilization.
The Canadian official did not say what Carney’s responsibility on the board will be.
Trump’s plan also says an International Stabilization Force will be deployed to establish security, preserve peace, and “establish a durable terror-free environment.”
A separate Gaza Executive Board will also be established, to “support effective governance and the delivery of best-in-class services.” Some members of the Board of Peace, like Blair, Rubio and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, will serve on both boards.
The boards and the stabilization force are all part of Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza that was announced last year. Phase two of the plan got underway this week , with the hopes of shifting from a ceasefire to demilitarization and reconstruction. Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, has been overseeing the peace plan and will also serve on both boards.
National Post
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