Palestinian leaders are ready to work with former British prime minister Tony Blair on rebuilding postwar Gaza, Palestinian Vice President Hussein Al Sheikh has said.
Mr Blair, who has been lined up to help run an interim authority in Gaza, met Mr Al Sheikh on Sunday. The Palestinian politician said they discussed "ways to ensure the success of President Trump's efforts aimed at stopping the war".
"We affirmed our readiness to work with President Trump, Mr Blair, and relevant partners to consolidate the ceasefire, deliver aid, release hostages and prisoners, and embark on recovery and reconstruction," said Mr Al Sheikh, who is seen as a likely successor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The prospect of involving Mr Blair, who was UK prime minister from 1997 to 2007, first emerged during White House talks in August. Although Mr Blair helped negotiate an end to the Northern Ireland conflict, and served as a Middle East peace envoy after leaving office, he remains a controversial figure in Britain and the Middle East due to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Nonetheless, Mr Trump confirmed last month that Mr Blair, 72, was envisaged as one of the members of a "board of peace" chaired by the US President that would supervise a new administration in Gaza. The former UK Labour Party leader has kept a low profile while ceasefire negotiations took place.
Hamas, a rival of Mr Al Sheikh's Palestinian Authority, said it would not welcome Mr Blair's involvement. "Unfortunately, we Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims and maybe others around the world have bad memories of him," Hamas official Basem Naim told Sky News.
However, Hamas is set to cede control of Gaza on terms that are yet to be negotiated after last week's "phase one" ceasefire deal. That brought a halt to Israeli bombardment and is expected to lead to a hostage and prisoner swap beginning on Monday.
The Trump plan calls for a "technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee" to run day-to-day services, watched over by Mr Blair and his colleagues on the "board of peace". Hamas would have no role in the authority.
The White House says that arrangement would continue "until such time as the Palestinian Authority has completed its reform programme", which has been a talking point for years. The PA exercises limited control over the Israeli-occupied West Bank, but the 89-year-old Mr Abbas is seen as widely unpopular.
Mr Al Sheikh, 64, was appointed Vice President in April, setting him up as a possible successor. After spending 11 years in Israeli prisons in his youth, he is regarded as having established a good working relationship with the Israelis during his years representing the PA.
