White House reports Gaza Peace Council membership. FT suggests expanding to Ukraine

The White House reported the names of some members of the Gaza “Peace Council” on January 16. This is part of the transition to the second phase of the peace plan that the United States presented in October and was supported by the UN Security Council in November.

Reuters writes about this.

The council will be chaired by US President Donald Trump. It also includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trumpʼs special representative Steve Witkoff, former British Prime Minister (1997–2007) Tony Blair, Trumpʼs son-in-law Jared Kushner, billionaire Mark Rowan, World Bank President Ajay Banga, and Trump adviser Robert Gabriel.

The council is to oversee the activities of a transitional Palestinian government of technocrats, to be formed from forces not affiliated with Hamas. The White House has announced that more names will be announced in the coming weeks.

US Special Operations Commander Jasper Jeffers will become commander of the International Stabilization Force in the Gaza Strip. Bulgarian politician and former UN coordinator for the Middle East peace process Nikolay Mladenov will become high representative in the Gaza Strip.

The White House also appointed an 11-member “Gaza Executive Council”. It will include Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Sigrid Kaag, United Arab Emirates Minister of International Cooperation Reem al-Hashimi, Israeli-Cypriot billionaire Yakir Gabay, and some members of the executive council.

The Financial Times, citing sources, writes that the US has a proposal to expand the mandate of the "Peace Council" to other hot spots, including Ukraine and Venezuela. One source said that the Trump administration sees the "Peace Council" as a kind of replacement for the UN to resolve conflicts in the world.

The creation of a separate “Peace Council” for the Russia-Ukraine war under Trump’s chairmanship is part of a 20-point peace agreement currently being worked on by Ukraine, the United States, and European partners. Its composition was reported by President Volodymyr Zelensky in December.

A senior Ukrainian official told the FT that a separate “Peace Council” is currently being proposed specifically for the Russia-Ukraine war. It would include representatives from Ukraine, Europe, NATO and Russia. The official added that expanding the scope of this council’s activities had not yet been discussed.

• Active hostilities between Israel and Hamas have been ongoing since October 7, 2023. On October 8, Israel and Hamas signed the first phase of the plan presented by the United States. The following day, Israel approved the first phase of a peace agreement with Hamas on the release of hostages.

For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.