Like so much of the politics in the Middle East, the new governance structure for Gaza is complicated and contentious.
And it’s clear that the most prominent positions so far will belong to people who are either American citizens or else are called Sir Tony Blair.
There are four layers to this new plan.
At the top is a Board of Peace, which will be chaired by Donald Trump and will consist of serving national leaders, so Sir Tony won’t be involved in that.
Instead, expect invitations to be received by Sir Keir Starmer, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, among others.
Turkey has already confirmed that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been asked to join the Board.
Yes, there is star quality here, but the day-to-day work is likely to be done by the three committees that sit below.
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Firstly, we now know about the executive board – what we might call layer number two.
Sir Tony is the only person named so far who isn’t an American citizen, and it’s little surprise to see Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump’s roaming negotiator, named on it, along with Jared Kushner, a financier who is married to Mr Trump’s daughter Ivanka.
Secretary of state Marco Rubio is there, too, along with Ajay Banga, head of the World Bank, Robert Gabriel, a national security advisor and Marc Rowan, the billionaire boss of a private equity firm.
The idea here is that the executive board, to quote the White House, will “operationalize the Board of Peace’s vision”.
One assumes that, looking at the background of Witkoff, Kushner, Banga and Rowan, a lot of faith is being placed in their ability to raise money, do deals and spot development opportunities.
Not listed on the membership, but clearly deeply involved, is the diplomat Nickolay Mladenov, previously Bulgaria’s defence minister and the UN’s special coordinator for the Middle East peace process.
He has now been named as the High Representative for Gaza, acting as the link between the Board of Peace and the day-to-day work on the ground. I assume he will be added to the executive board.
Mladenov, who earned widespread respect during his five-year spell in this region with the UN, will effectively be the liaison with the group of Palestinian technocratic leaders who form another layer of governance, and who have already held their first meeting, in Cairo, last week.
Let’s call them layer number four.
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But in that oversight, Mladenov will not be alone. Another committee, also including Sir Tony, Kushner, Witkoff and Rubio, will scrutinise what’s happening on the ground. That’s layer number three.
Importantly, this time, there are people involved who aren’t American, Bulgarian or Sir Tony.
In fact, this is the committee with the widest range – Turkey’s foreign minister, the influential Qatari diplomat Ali Al Thawadi, Reem Al Hashimy, a minister from Dubai who is the only woman involved so far, and the head of the Egyptian Intelligence Service among them.
On paper, this group is the one to watch – the link between the American influence at the top and the Palestinian leaders on the ground, with adept politicians who, importantly, are not afraid of upsetting the Israeli government.
If there are rows and political tremors, I imagine they will come from this committee.
Sir Tony will have a significant role to play in balancing those interests.
There are some in the Middle East who still see him as a warmonger for the role he played during the invasion of Iraq, but there are others who think he “gets” the politics of this region better than almost any other diplomat, and who greatly admire his achievements in pushing through the Good Friday Agreement.
This version of Sir Tony – the patient, politically astute dealmaker – is the one the Americans hope they’ve got.
The big question emerging from all this is whether it makes a big difference.
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How will this advance the demands of phase two, for instance, by leading to the disarmament of Hamas, the withdrawal of the Israeli military, the rebuilding of Gaza and the restoration of safe government.
All of these are towering, intimidating demands. But they have to be addressed.
The other crucial announcement is that Major General Jasper Jeffers is now in charge of the international stabilisation force for Gaza.
It is a job with huge responsibility – perhaps more than any other – charged with creating a secure environment, demilitarising Gaza and allowing for the safe delivery of supplies.
For that, he will need troops on the ground in Gaza.
And at the moment, it’s not clear where he will get them from, or what their actual remit would be, or how Major General Jeffers will command them.
All that is clear is that Gaza, and the people who live there, desperately need stability. And this structure, unwieldy and elaborate though it may be, is the best option they have.
