Who is the senior Trump official overseeing the reconstruction of Gaza?

The White House has released the names of the members who will be part of a new “peace commission” for Gaza and the senior executives working with it.

A founding “executive committee,” chaired by the U.S. president, would oversee the work of a technocratic committee responsible for interim governance and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

The White House said each member state was expected to take on a portfolio that was “critical to the stability of Gaza.” But it is not yet clear who will be responsible for which priorities.

There will also be a separate “Gaza Executive Committee” that will oversee all field work for another administrative group, the National Committee for Gaza Administration (NCAG).

Meanwhile, the Peace Council is expected to sit above these two executive bodies and be comprised of a number of world leaders.

So far no women or Palestinians have been announced for the top position, but the White House said additional members would be announced in the coming weeks.

Then who is there? Executive Committee?

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has long been mentioned as a candidate for President Trump’s ‘Peace Council’, and the US President confirmed in September that he had expressed interest in joining the Peace Council.

A former Labor leader, he was British Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007 and led the UK into the Iraq War in 2003, meaning some may find his involvement on the board controversial.

After leaving office, he served as special envoy for the Middle East from 2007 to 2015 for four countries, including the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, and Russia.

Sir Tony is the only founding member of the Board of Directors who is not a US citizen.

He previously described Trump’s plans for Gaza as “a golden opportunity to end two years of war, misery and suffering.”

Sir Tony said in a statement that he was “honored” to be named to the board and thanked President Trump for his leadership in establishing the group.

He will also serve on the Gaza Executive Committee.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is central to the Trump administration’s foreign policy approach.

Before Trump’s return, Rubio spoke out against a ceasefire in Gaza, saying Israel “wants to destroy every element of Hamas it can get its hands on.”

But he later praised the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement signed last October, calling it the “best” and “only” plan.

Also in October, Rubio criticized the Israeli parliament’s move to annex the occupied West Bank.

U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, a real estate mogul and President Trump’s golf partner, will also serve on the Gaza Executive Committee.

Earlier this month, Witkoff announced the start of Phase 2 of President Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza, adding that it would result in reconstruction and complete demilitarization of Gaza, including the disarmament of Hamas.

He added that he expected Hamas to face “serious consequences” if it did not “fully comply with its obligations” under the agreement.

Witkov has been a central figure in U.S.-led efforts to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, including a five-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last December.

Jared Kushner, the US president’s son-in-law, has also played a key role in the Trump administration’s foreign policy negotiations.

Kushner has often served as a mediator for the United States in the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza wars with Witkoff, and will now also serve on the Gaza Executive Committee.

Last November, he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss key problems with the peace deal.

“Coastal real estate in Gaza could be very valuable if people focused on making a living,” Kushner said in a 2024 lecture at Harvard University.

Billionaire Marc Rowan is the CEO of Apollo Global Management, a large private equity firm based in New York.

Rowan was seen as a contender to become U.S. Treasury secretary during Trump’s second term. He will also be a member of the Gaza Executive Committee.

World Bank President Ajay Banga has advised several senior U.S. politicians over his long career, including President Barack Obama.

Born in India in 1959, Banga became a U.S. citizen in 2007 and later served as CEO of Mastercard for over a decade.

Former US President Joe Biden nominated him as President of the World Bank in 2023.

U.S. National Security Advisor Robert Gabriel becomes the final member of the ‘Founding Executive Committee’.

According to PBS, Gabriel has worked with Trump since the 2016 presidential campaign, shortly after which he became a special assistant to Stephen Miller, another key Trump adviser.

While not on the Executive Committee, Nikolay Mladenov, a Bulgarian politician and former U.N. Middle East envoy, will head the Gaza Peace Council, the White House said.

He will sit on the Gaza Executive Committee It oversees the National Committee for Gaza Administration (NCAG), a separate 15-member Palestinian technical committee that manages the day-to-day governance of the post-war Gaza Strip.

NCAG will be led by Ali Shaath, a former deputy minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs parts of the West Bank not controlled by Israel.

Correction: A previous version of this story stated that members of the Executive Committee are members of the Peace Committee.