Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has firmly denied having held discussions in Israel about moving Palestinians from Gaza, as claimed by Israeli television. According to Israeli media Channel 12, Tony Blair, who left office in 2007 and was subsequently an envoy to the Middle East responsible for establishing Palestinian institutions, was in Israel last week.
He reportedly had meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, a member of the war cabinet, about a mediation role after the war with Hamas, Channel 12 said. According to this channel, he could also have the role of intermediary with moderate Arab states for a “voluntary resettlement” of the inhabitants of Gaza.
But Tony Blair’s foundation, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, called the claims a “lie”. They were published “without any contact with Tony Blair or his team”. “No discussion of this type took place,” the organization responded in a statement Monday evening. “Tony Blair would not have such a discussion because the idea is wrong in principle. Gazans must be able to stay and live in Gaza.”