Tony Blair claims crisis in Gaza due to 'extremism' and 'corruption'

Tony Blair blamed the crisis in Gaza on "extremism" and "corruption" in his speech on Thursday at the inaugural meeting of Donald Trump's "Board of Peace" in Washington DC.

"For decades," the former British prime minister claimed, "Gaza's governance has been characterised by extremism, corruption, ineffective institutions and the complete absence of a route to prosperity for the Gazan people."

The Palestinian enclave has been under Israeli occupation for decades. 

Blair said Gaza has "vast potential" due to its "25 miles of Mediterranean coastline, proximity to great regional and global markets, and a young, dynamic population with a median age of 19".

He hailed the Board of Peace and said it would "rebuild Gaza for Gazans".

"Whether you're a Muslim, Jew, Christian, of any faith or none, you can rise by your own efforts and feel your government by your side, not on your back," Blair said.

"That is the vision behind President Trump's 20-point plan for Gaza, and it remains the best, indeed the only hope for Gaza, the region and the wider world."

Despite Blair's presence, Britain has not joined Trump's board, which has been boycotted by several European countries for inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin to join it.

Significantly, Keir Starmer's Labour government has distanced itself from the former prime minister.

In November, when it was rumoured that Blair would be on the board, Jonathan Powell, Starmer's national security advisor and Blair's former chief of staff in Downing Street, said privately that Blair did not represent the British state.

Powell lobbied actively against Blair's nomination, according to two separate informed sources who spoke to Middle East Eye on condition of anonymity.

'A colonial mindset'

Blair's comments at the meeting have drawn criticism, since he did not refer to Israel's role in his account of the situation in Gaza. 

Chris Doyle, director of the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding (CAABU), said the speech showed why Blair "has been a serial failure in Palestine".

"He has scant understanding of the issues, a colonial mindset, [and] is addicted to cosying up to power and money, in this case Trump."

In 2005, Israel withdrew from Gaza and relocated around 8,000 Israeli settlers to the occupied West Bank. But in 2007, after Hamas's win in the Palestinian national election, Israel responded by imposing an air, land and sea blockade of the enclave.

After that, Israel launched four wars on Gaza, in 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2021, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of Palestinians, mostly civilians and many children.

'Board of Peace' members commit $7bn to Gaza relief, US pledges further $10bn

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Following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,195 Israelis, at least 72,063 Palestinians in Gaza were killed by Israeli forces in what is widely accepted by experts to be a genocide.

A recent Lancet study has suggested that the number of "violent deaths" in Gaza during the first 16 months of the war exceeded 75,000 - far higher than official figures at the time.

"As of 5 January 2025, 3.4 percent of the population of the Gaza Strip had been killed violently and there have been a substantial number of non-violent deaths caused indirectly by the conflict," the journal said.

On Thursday, nine of the board's member nations pledged a total of $7bn towards relief efforts in Gaza.

The countries were Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, the UAE, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Kuwait.

Hamas itself has no representation on the Board of Peace, of which Trump is chairman for life, although the organisation continues to hold a stake in negotiations via mediators Egypt and Qatar.

The Board of Peace charter makes no mention of the words "Gaza" or "Palestinian".

The Trump administration has also broken from decades of precedent in no longer making a "two-state solution" a US policy goal.