October 12, 2025 | 11:18 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A senior Hamas official has expressed gratitude to US President Donald Trump for helping to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza. Basem Naim conveyed his thanks in an interview with Sky News, but he stated that they will not accept former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in any war in Gaza.
"Without President Trump's personal intervention in this case, I think the war would not have ended. Therefore, we are grateful to President Trump and his personal effort to intervene and press Israel to end this slaughter and this bloodshed," Naim said.
Naim said that Trump needs to continue to pressure Israel to ensure its compliance with the agreement. "Without this pressure, without President Trump's personal intervention, this would not have happened. We have seen Netanyahu speaking to the media, threatening to go to war again if it didn't happen, if that didn't happen," he said.
There are indications that the future governance of Gaza may involve Tony Blair, who has been appointed to play a role in an international oversight body that will manage the reconstruction of the pocket area. "As for Tony Blair, unfortunately, we Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, and perhaps other people in the world, have bad memories of him," said Naim.
Naim said Blair caused thousands or millions of innocent civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq to die. "We can still remember him very well after destroying Iraq and Afghanistan," he said as quoted from Arab News.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been appointed to lead a temporary government in the Gaza Strip. The New Arab reported that Tony Blair has been assigned to oversee the reconstruction after the war. He is proposed to lead the supervisory council called the International Transitional Authority Gaza.
The transitional government will rule Gaza for several years until it can be handed over to the Palestinian Authority, according to The Times of Israel. The plan does not address the relocation of Palestinian residents, something that is a red line for many parties in the negotiations.
Blair's appointment is due to his discussions with the government of US President Donald Trump and others regarding a post-war transitional body for the Palestinian territories. The plan may involve Blair leading that authority with the support of the UN and Gulf states.
Several media outlets, including the Financial Times, reported that Tony Blair, who worked as a Middle East peace mediator formally from 2007 to 2015, has sought to join the supervisory council. There has been no confirmation from the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, a non-profit organization.
In its report, The Economist cited from New Arab said that an entity known as the "International Transitional Authority Gaza" will seek a UN mandate to be the "supreme political and legal authority" for five years. After that, this body will hand over control to Palestine.
The authority will have a secretariat of up to 25 people and a board of seven people. Initially, it will be based in Egypt, near the southern border of Gaza, before moving to Gaza after the situation is safe, said BBC.
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