Deadline Diplomacy and the Blair of War: Gaza’s Peace Plan or Punch line?
Amb. Anthony Mukwita writes in The Daily Nation Friday.
2 Sept 25.
They say irony died in 2003, somewhere between Baghdad and Tony Blair’s press briefings.
But lo and behold, it’s alive and awkwardly kicking in Gaza, where Blair, yes that Blair, has been appointed to the Board of Peace for Gaza.
I kid you not. The man who helped light the fuse in Iraq is now tasked with dousing flames in Gaza. What’s next, appointing a mosquito to lead malaria eradication?
The 20-point “peace plan,” unveiled by President Trump with Netanyahu nodding like a dashboard bobble-head, reads like political sudoku.
But I’ll spare you the migraine and boil it down to four spicy bullet points:
1. Ceasefire and hostage swap: Israel pulls back, Hamas releases hostages, and vice versa.
2. Reconstruction under international baby-sitters: Gaza gets a technocratic makeover—minus Hamas, rightly so.
3. Prisoner release: 1,950 detainees, including women and children, to be freed. Because nothing says “trust us” like a mass jailbreak.
4. All Israeli hostages must be release and yes they must dead or alive.
Hamas has three to four days to accept the deal or face what Trump ominously calls a “sad end.” Tick-tock, tick-tock—the region holds its breath while the world plays musical chairs with morality.
As a Zambian, I ask: is this too far from home? Not really. We know the dance, post-conflict reconstruction, balancing justice and peace, watching global powers play chess with human lives while we provide the pawns.
Gaza may be miles away, but morally, it’s next door. And while I began with satire, I end with sorrow. May peace prevail. May the bloodshed cease.
And may the souls lost, Israeli and Palestinian, be mourned with dignity.
Because if Tony Blair is now the face of peace, then surely, hope isn’t dead. It’s just wearing a very ironic hat.
Amb. Anthony Mukwita is an International Relations Analyst & Author. His column “Mukwita On Point” appears every Friday in the Daily Nation.