1.31pm: Tony Blair denies proposal to remove Palestinians from Gaza
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has strongly denied having discussions in Israel about relocating Palestinians from Gaza, Israeli television claimed. According to Israeli media Channel 12, Tony Blair, who left office in 2007 and later served as Middle East envoy responsible for building Palestinian institutions, was in Israel last week.
He reportedly had meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and War Cabinet member Benny Gantz about a mediator role after the war with Hamas, Channel 12 said. According to that channel, he could also take on the role of mediator with moderate Arab states calling for a ” Voluntary resettlement of Gaza residents.
But Tony Blair's foundation, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, called the claims a “lie”. They were published “without contact with Tony Blair or his team”. “No discussion of this nature has taken place,” the organization responded in a statement Monday evening. “Tony Blair wouldn't have such a discussion because the idea is fundamentally wrong. Gazans must be able to stay and live in Gaza.”