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Israel said on Saturday it objected to the line-up of a Gaza panel that will operate under US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, which oversees post-war governance in the Palestinian territory.The panel, known as the Gaza executive board, notably includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and a Qatari official and was announced by the White House on Friday.The Board of Peace began to take shape on Saturday as the leaders of Egypt, Turkey, Argentina and Canada were asked to join. Trump had already declared himself the chair of the body, as he promotes a controversial vision of economic development in the Palestinian territory, much of which was reduced to rubble during two years of relentless Israeli bombardment.The US president also named to the Board of Peace his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former British prime minister Tony Blair, and senior negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff — most of whom are also on the Gaza executive board. On Saturday, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “The announcement regarding the composition of the Gaza Executive Board, which is subordinate to the Board of Peace, was not coordinated with Israel and runs contrary to its policy.””The Prime Minister has instructed the Foreign Affairs Minister to contact the US Secretary of State on this matter.”The moves came after the Palestinian committee of technocrats tasked with governing Gaza under the oversight of the Board of Peace began held its first meeting in Cairo, attended by Kushner.- Worldwide invites – In Canada, a senior aide to Prime Minister Mark Carney said he intended to accept Trump’s invitation, while in Turkey, a spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had been asked to become a “founding member” of the board.Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Cairo was “studying” a request for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to join.Sharing an image of the invitation letter, Argentine President Javier Milei wrote on X that it would be “an honor” to participate in the initiative.In a statement sent to AFP, Blair said: “I thank President Trump for his leadership in establishing the Board of Peace and am honored to be appointed to its Executive Board.”Blair is a controversial figure in the Middle East because of his role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Trump himself said last year that he wanted to make sure Blair was an “acceptable choice to everybody”.Blair spent years focused on the Israeli-Palestinian issue as representative of the “Middle East Quartet” — the United Nations, European Union, United States and Russia — after leaving Downing Street in 2007.The White House said the Board of Peace will take on issues such as “governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding and capital mobilization”.The other members of the board so far are World Bank President Ajay Banga, an Indian-born American businessman; billionaire US financier Marc Rowan; and Robert Gabriel, a loyal Trump aide who serves on the US National Security Council.On Saturday, the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad criticised the composition of the Board of Peace, saying it served Israel’s interests.The board “came in accordance with Israeli criteria and to serve the interests of the occupation”, the group said in a statement.- Israeli strikes -Washington has said the Gaza plan had gone on to a second phase — from implementing the ceasefire to disarming Hamas, whose October 2023 attack on Israel prompted the massive Israeli offensive.On Friday, Trump named US Major General Jasper Jeffers to head the International Stabilization Force, which will be tasked with providing security in Gaza and training a new police force to succeed Hamas.Jeffers, from special operations in US Central Command, in late 2024 was put in charge of monitoring a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, which has continued periodic strikes aimed at Hezbollah militants.Gaza native and former Palestinian Authority deputy minister Ali Shaath was earlier tapped to head the governing committee.Trump, a real estate developer, has previously mused about turning devastated Gaza into a Riviera-style area of resorts, although he has backed away from calls to forcibly displace the population.burs-mib/amj/jsa

Thousands of people rallied in France on Saturday in a show of support for demonstrators in Iran risking their lives to demand an end to theocratic rule.The protests in Iran over past weeks are the largest since the “Woman, Life, Freedom” street movement in 2022-2023, sparked by the death in custody of an Iranian Kurdish woman arrested for allegedly not following a required dress code. “Woman, Life, Freedom,” chanted marchers in the French capital, some holding portraits of deceased Iranian protesters.”Death to Khamenei,” cried some, in reference to 86-year-old supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Galia, a 36-year-old woman who did not give her surname to protect her family, said she felt hopeful — despite “the repression, the torture, the fear, the upcoming executions” in Iran.”Each time, I tell myself, ‘this is it, people will be free.’ Maybe not now, but the time will come,” she said among the crowd, which also included French protesters.- ‘Repression can’t prevail’ -In Iran, internet connectivity rose “very” slightly on Saturday, more than a week into an internet shutdown, the Netblock monitor said.Activists said the blackout has acted as a cover for the killing of protesters.Norway-based rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR) says it has verified that Iranian security forces have killed 3,428 protesters, but warns the actual toll could be several times higher.Other estimates place the death toll at more than 5,000 — and possibly as high as 20,000, IHR said.The opposition Iran International channel based outside the country has said at least 12,000 people were killed during the protests, citing senior government and security sources. In Paris, Amir — a 23-year-old Iranian student who did not want to give his surname — said he wanted freedom.”The fall of the regime is unavoidable, we can’t live like this,” he said.”Repression can’t prevail, eventually freedom will win.”But Nasser Razi, a member of the National Council of Resistance in Iran opposition group, said patience was needed.”This regime will not fall in one or two days. It’s a process,” he said.- Connection ‘coming back’ -In the eastern city of Strasbourg, Ali Rastegar, a 43-year-old Franco-Iranian, said he was at a rally to send a “message of support” to people back home.”They’re protesting and being shot at. It’s unacceptable,” he said.In the western city of Rennes, organiser Zahra Bodin said marchers wanted “to shout as loud as our compatriots” in Iran.In Lyon, a city in the southeast, protesters included many who were loyal to Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s late shah.A 30-year-old Iranian, who wished to remain anonymous, was taking part.”We’re here to encourage the protesters” in Iran, he said, despite the difficulty in communicating with loved ones.He said recently connection had been “coming back”.”They can call us for a minute, but everything’s being recorded over there. When they want to tell us what’s been happening, they’re cut off.”A young man in his twenties said he had been told you could “smell blood on the roads” of the central city of Isfahan.Suddenly his phone rang.”It’s my family,” he said, and walked away to take the call.burs-mra/ah/jh

Iran’s supreme leader said Saturday that authorities “must break the back of the seditionists”, blaming US President Donald Trump for “casualties” after a deadly crackdown on protests against the country’s clerical leadership.Iran was rocked by weeks of demonstrations sparked by anger over economic hardship that exploded into the biggest protests against the Islamic republic in more than three years.But demonstrations have subsided after the crackdown that rights groups say left thousands of people dead under an internet blackout that lasted more than a week.Authorities have said demonstrations they condemn as “riots” had been controlled and calm returned, with state-aligned media reporting thousands of arrests and officials vowing swift punishment for those detained.”By God’s grace, the Iranian nation must break the back of the seditionists just as it broke the back of the sedition,” supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told supporters during an address broadcast by state television.”We do not intend to lead the country to war, but we will not spare domestic criminals,” he added, saying “international criminals” were “worse” and would also not be spared punishment. Mass protests challenging authorities that erupted in 2022 were also branded sedition, an accusation rights groups said the authorities used to violently suppress dissent.Iranian authorities have blamed the latest wave of demonstrations on arch-foes the United States and Israel, saying they fuelled a “terrorist operation” that hijacked peaceful protests over the economy. Trump, who backed and joined Israel’s 12-day war against Iran in June, had repeatedly threatened new military action against Tehran if protesters were killed. – ‘American conspiracy’ -Khamenei on Saturday lashed out at Trump, accusing him of being “guilty for the casualties, damages and accusations he has levelled against the Iranian nation”.”This was an American conspiracy,” he said, adding that “America’s goal is to swallow Iran… the goal is to put Iran back under military, political and economic domination”. While Washington has appeared to have stepped back, the US president has said he has not ruled out military options and made clear he was keeping a close eye on whether any protesters were executed. Trump wrote on Friday on his Truth Social platform that Iran had called off the executions of hundreds of protesters and said to the clerical state: “Thank you!”Asked on state TV about Trump’s comment, Tehran prosecutor Ali Salehi said the US president “always talks a lot of nonsense” and that the government’s response had been “firm, dissuasive and swift” with many cases leading to indictments and sent to court. Rights groups have estimated up to 20,000 people have been arrested. Security officials cited by the Tasnim news agency on Friday said around 3,000 people were arrested. Alarm has mounted over the reported death toll during the crackdown, as verifying cases remains difficult under severe internet restrictions. Eyewitnesses who left Iran after the protests told AFP of coming under fire and hearing numerous gunshots during protests. Kiarash, who gave only his first name for security reasons, was fired on during protests on January 10 and said he saw thousands of bodies at a mortuary in Tehran. “I saw the blood… Thousands of people and thousands of dead bodies” of people “asking for their rights”, he told AFP from Germany. – Pahlavi calls for protests -Norway-based rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR) says 3,428 protesters have been verified to have been killed by security forces, but warns the actual toll could be several times higher.Other estimates place the death toll at more than 5,000 — and possibly as high as 20,000, IHR said.The opposition Iran International channel based outside the country has said at least 12,000 people were killed during the protests, citing senior government and security sources. Monitor Netblocks said on Saturday that internet connectivity in Iran rose “very” slightly, more than 200 hours into the nationwide internet shutdown. People in Iran were reportedly again able to send text messages within the country and to outside numbers but were still often unable to receive texts from those abroad. Rights groups say there have been no verifiable reports of protests in recent days and videos circulating on social media have shown a heavy security presence in some areas. But Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of the shah ousted in the 1979 Islamic revolution, took to social media on Friday to call for Iranians to protest again on Saturday and Sunday evening. Protesters have chanted the name of Pahlavi, who had called again on Trump to intervene in Iran. Protests have continued outside Iran in multiple countries, with more held in Germany and France on Saturday.  

US President Donald Trump’s so-called “Board of Peace” for postwar Gaza began to take shape Saturday, with the leaders of Egypt, Turkey, Argentina and Canada asked to join.The announcements from those leaders came after the US president named his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former British prime minister Tony Blair, and senior negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to the panel.Trump had already declared himself the chair of the body, as he promotes a controversial vision of economic development in the Palestinian territory, which lies in rubble after two-plus years of relentless Israeli bombardment.The moves came after a Palestinian committee of technocrats meant to govern Gaza held its first meeting in Cairo which was attended by Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who has partnered with Witkoff for months on the issue.In Canada, a senior aide to Prime Minister Mark Carney said he intended to accept Trump’s invitation, while in Turkey, a spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had been asked to become a “founding member” of the board.Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Cairo was “studying” a request for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to join.Sharing an image of the invitation letter, Argentine President Javier Milei wrote on X that it would be “an honor” to participate in the initiative.In a statement sent to AFP, Blair said: “I thank President Trump for his leadership in establishing the Board of Peace and am honored to be appointed to its Executive Board.”Blair is a controversial figure in the Middle East because of his role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Trump himself said last year that he wanted to make sure Blair was an “acceptable choice to everybody.”Blair spent years focused on the Israeli-Palestinian issue as representative of the “Middle East Quartet” — the United Nations, European Union, United States and Russia — after leaving Downing Street in 2007.The White House said the Board of Peace will take on issues such as “governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding and capital mobilization.”The other members of the board so far are World Bank President Ajay Banga, an Indian-born American businessman; billionaire US financier Marc Rowan; and Robert Gabriel, a loyal Trump aide who serves on the US National Security Council.Trump has created a second “Gaza executive board” that appears designed to have a more advisory role. It was not immediately clear which world leaders were asked to be on each board. The White House, which said Friday that additional members would be named to both entities, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.- Israel strikes -Washington has said the Gaza plan had gone on to a second phase — from implementing the ceasefire to disarming Hamas, whose October 2023 attack on Israel prompted the massive Israeli offensive.On Friday, Trump named US Major General Jasper Jeffers to head the International Stabilization Force, which will be tasked with providing security in Gaza and training a new police force to succeed Hamas.Jeffers, from special operations in US Central Command, in late 2024 was put in charge of monitoring a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, which has continued periodic strikes aimed at Hezbollah militants.Gaza native and former Palestinian Authority deputy minister Ali Shaath was earlier tapped to head the governing committee.Trump, a real estate developer, has previously mused about turning devastated Gaza into a Riviera-style area of resorts, although he has backed away from calls to forcibly displace the population.

One move in the wrong direction and Kiarash would have been dead, he said, as a shooter opened fire on him and other protesters in the Iranian capital during a wave of demonstrations met by a deadly crackdown. Blood stained the street after a person dressed in a full chador covering shot at a large crowd that had gathered in the north of Tehran on January 10, during anti-government protests sparked by economic strain that exploded in size and intensity on January 8. “I heard this pop pop… and I saw with my eyes three people collapsed at the same time,” said 44-year-old Kiarash, who spoke to AFP by phone from Germany where he lives, after witnessing violent suppression of protests while visiting his native Iran. A man nearby shouted as he tried to help his companion, his hand covered in her blood, Kiarash said. “This is my nightmare right now,” he said. “He couldn’t understand that she had been shot.”If the shooter had been left-handed, Kiarash said, “I was dead.”He had gone out to protests despite witnessing horrific scenes earlier in the morning at the sprawling mortuary in southern Tehran.After receiving news that a friend had died after being shot, he went with relatives to the Behesht-e Zahrah cemetery. They found it flooded with people there to collect and prepare bodies for burial, which in Islam must be done as quickly as possible after death, often within 24 hours. People pushed into two warehouses stacked with black body bags, sometimes two or three on top of each other, he said. A mother on her own cried for help moving the body of her son. There were “more than 1,500, up to 2,500 (dead) people in just one warehouse”, said the former logistics company employee. The crowds chanted to honour the dead and against supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who leads the clerical authorities in place since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Security forces did not intervene, but stopped people from recording any images. Testimonies like Kiarash’s are part of the piecemeal picture emerging of what happened in Iran during the protests, after authorities imposed a nationwide internet blackout on January 8. – ‘People were not scattering’ -Norway-based rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR) says 3,428 protesters have been verified to have been killed by security forces, but warns the actual toll could be several times higher.Other estimates place the death toll at more than 5,000 — and possibly as high as 20,000 — with the internet blackout severely hampering independent verification, IHR said.The opposition Iran International channel based outside the country has said at least 12,000 people were killed during the protests, citing senior government and security sources.Eyewitness accounts received by IHR reported “protesters being shot dead while trying to flee, the use of military-grade weapons and the street execution of wounded protesters”. Kiarash, who had completed compulsory military service in Iran, said he recognised the sound of heavy machine gun fire at protests on January 8 in the northern city of Amol. A friend called his family to ask for blood donations for dozens of wounded — many of them hit in their feet, he said.Kaveh, using a pseudonym and speaking to AFP from Britain after leaving Iran, said he also heard gunshots in the streets of Tehran on Friday last week, but did not see shooters himself.  “It wasn’t shotgun (fire), it was an assault rifle, automatic bursts of fire… every 10 minutes we heard a row of gunshots,” the 33-year-old said. But “people were not scattering”, he added. “They were just staying.” Kaveh had felt a palpable change in Tehran’s streets before protests last week — shops closed and usually packed roads emptied. Then the internet went dark. People started to gather in the streets, putting up blockades and setting fires in trash bins, Kaveh said. He sent a text to his wife: “No internet, I’m good, Love u”. But the message wasn’t delivered.Videos have filtered out despite the internet blackout showing large demonstrations in which people shouted slogans against Khamenei and for the return of the monarchy ousted by the Islamic revolution, with some showing police cars and mosques on fire. A video geolocated by AFP to Kermanshah in western Iran was punctuated by the crack of what sound like gunshots. “Since the start of the protests I saw many bodies in the streets and people being shot,” a 39-year-old artist in Tehran said in a message to a friend. “Tehran looked like a war zone.” Mohammad, a 30-year-old Iranian photojournalist in Tehran, said he was “afraid of the possibility of a war or civil war” after “these peaceful protests turned extremely violent”.- Identified ‘by his tattoos’ – Saleh Alavizadeh, an Iranian actor and director based in France, said he knew two people who had been killed during the protests. “A young theatre actor was shot in the head, and because they couldn’t recognise him from his face… they had to recognise him by his tattoos,” he told AFP. “Everyone knows at least one person who has been killed,” Alavizadeh said of the several people he’d spoken to in Iran in recent days during spurts of connectivity.Canada said on Thursday that Iranian authorities had killed a Canadian citizen, and France said a French-Iranian woman had been injured in Iran, without providing further details.Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said only “hundreds” were killed in what authorities have deemed “riots” and a “terrorist operation” that hijacked peaceful protests over the economy and was fuelled by Tehran’s arch-foes the United States and Israel.State television has been awash with images of large pro-government demonstrations called by authorities, funeral processions for security forces and reports of thousands of arrests. Billboards have appeared in Tehran with an image of a burnt public bus with the words: “This is not a protest”.Even as government-approved media shares floods of clips online, ordinary Iranians have remained mostly cut off, leaving relatives abroad wracked with worry. Fearing messages sent by Starlink or landlines could be intercepted or mark them as spies, many Iranians stick to simple messages of reassurance. Kaveh gave friends with Starlink access several numbers to call. “Just report back if they’re good or not,” he told them. “We don’t go into details.” The government has said it has control of the streets and rights groups say there have been no verifiable reports of protests in recent days. Some Iranians said they were certain it is only a matter of time before protests flare up again despite — or as a result of — the high death toll. But for Kiarash, one thing was certain as he headed to the airport in Tehran to leave his homeland: for the city and the people, “nothing will be normal again”.

Argentina’s Luciano Benavides won the Dakar Rally bike title by a mere two seconds in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.Second in the 13th and closing stage was enough for the 30-year-old KTM rider to deny Honda’s American two-time champion Ricky Brabec and secure his debut Dakar crown.”I’ve dreamed of this moment my whole life,” said the winner.Brabec, winner in 2020 and 2024, was on target for a third title but lost time when going the wrong way close to the finish of the 105km ride around Yanbu.”Even yesterday, it seemed impossible, but I still felt it could happen, and today Ricky took the wrong line and I took the right one,” Benavides said.”It was a glimmer of hope.”I saw it was him and that he had to pull a U-turn to get back on the right line because crossing between the two was impossible. I saw the opening and I went for it.”Edgar Canet won the stage, with Spain’s Tosha Schareina (Honda) finishing third and also taking the number-three spot in the overall standings.Benavides’s older brother Kevin won the marathon race in 2021 and 2023.The 2026 champion said he had given his all “from start to finish today”.”I’d told everyone before the start that this Dakar was mine,” he added.”Nine years in the Dakar and my first win. My brother and I are making history.”He won by 43 seconds and I’ve won by two. I think I have him beaten on that front! It’s a dream come true.”

The son of Iran’s late shah said Friday he was confident that mass protests would topple the Islamic republic and urged international action, as US President Donald Trump holds off on intervening in the unrest.Reza Pahlavi, who lives in exile in the Washington area, has presented himself as leader of the opposition as the cleric-run state ruthlessly represses mass protests.”The Islamic republic will fall — not if, but when,” Pahlavi told a news conference in Washington.Since the demonstrations erupted in late December with a rallying cry of solving Iran’s severe economic woes, Pahlavi has pleaded for US intervention.Trump had repeatedly warned Iran that if it kills protesters, the United States would intervene militarily. He also encouraged Iranians to take over state institutions, saying “help is on the way.”But two weeks after he first suggested help, he has not acted. Security forces in the meantime have killed at least 3,428 protesters, according to Norway-based group Iran Human Rights, with other estimates putting the toll at more than 5,000 or possibly as high as 20,000.Trump instead has highlighted what he said was an end to the killing of protesters, as the size of demonstrations diminished in recent days.Trump wrote Friday on his Truth Social platform that Iran had called off executions of hundreds of protesters and said to the clerical state, “Thank you!”Pahlavi also took to social media Friday, with posts on X and Instagram calling for Iranians across the country to “raise your voices in anger and protest with our national slogans” at 8:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday.Pahlavi, seeking to touch a nerve with Trump, called on him not to be like Democratic predecessor Barack Obama who negotiated with Tehran.”I believe that President Trump is a man of his word and ultimately he will stand with the Iranian people as he has said,” Pahlavi said when asked if Trump had given false hope.”Iranian people are taking decisive actions on the ground. It is now time for the international community to join them fully.”Gulf Arab monarchies, despite frequent friction with Iran, have urged Trump to show caution.- ‘Surgical’ strikes -Pahlavi called for targeting the command structure of the elite Revolutionary Guards, as it is key to “instituting terror at home or terrorism abroad.””I’m calling for a surgical strike,” said Pahlavi, who controversially backed Israel’s military campaign on Iran in June.He also urged all countries to expel diplomats from Iran and to help restore internet access, which has been severely hampered.Many protesters have chanted the name of Pahlavi, whose pro-Western father fled in 1979 in the Islamic revolution.While Iran’s last Shah presented a glamorous image of the oil-rich nation to the world — replete with caviar, glittering crown jewels and a jet-setter lifestyle — domestically, repression and the brutality of his secret police force as well as a lack of economic mobility opened the door to political challenge.Asked about repression under his father, Pahlavi told reporters, “I let historians write history. I’m here to make history.”Pahlavi, 65, said he wants to be a figurehead to lead a transition to a secular democracy, with a popular referendum to choose the next system of government.He also has plenty of detractors who suspect a desire by his supporters to restore the monarchy and say changes should come from the opposition within Iran.”I reaffirm my lifelong pledge to lead the movement that will take back our country from the anti-Iranian hostile force that occupies it and kills its children,” Pahlavi said.”I will return to Iran.”Pahlavi promised that a new Iran would have better relations with the leadership’s sworn enemies — the United States and Israel — and integrate into the global economy.He said Iran would quickly normalize relations with Israel in a “Cyrus Accord,” a reference to Cyrus the Great, the celebrated Persian emperor who freed Jews from Babylonian captivity.”Iran today should have been the next South Korea of the Middle East,” he said. “Today we have become North Korea.”

US President Donald Trump on Friday gave a key role in post-war Gaza to former British prime minister Tony Blair and appointed a US officer to lead a nascent security force.Trump named members of a board to help supervise Gaza that was dominated by Americans, as he promotes a controversial vision of economic development in a territory that lies in rubble after two-plus years of relentless Israeli bombardment.The step came after a Palestinian committee of technocrats meant to govern Gaza held its first meeting in Cairo which was attended by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who plays a key role on the Middle East.Trump has already declared himself the chair of a “Board of Peace” and on Friday announced its full membership that will include Blair as well as senior Americans — Kushner, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, Trump’s business partner turned globe-trotting negotiator.Blair is a controversial figure in the Middle East because of his role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Trump himself said last year that he wanted to make sure Blair was an “acceptable choice to everybody.”Blair spent years focused on the Israeli-Palestinian issue as representative of the “Middle East Quartet” — the United Nations, European Union, United States and Russia — after leaving Downing Street in 2007.The White House said the Board of Peace will take on issues such as “governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding and capital mobilization.”Trump, a real-estate developer, has previously mused about turning devastated Gaza into a Riviera-style area of resorts, although he has backed away from calls to forcibly displace the population.The other members of the board are World Bank President Ajay Banga, an Indian-born American businessman; billionaire US financier Marc Rowan; and Robert Gabriel, a loyal Trump aide who serves on the National Security Council.- Israel strikes -Israel’s military said Friday it had again hit the Gaza Strip in response to a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire declared in October.The strikes come despite Washington announcing that the Gaza plan had gone on to a second phrase — from implementing the ceasefire to disarming Hamas, whose October, 2023 attack on Israel prompted the massive Israeli offensive.Trump on Friday named US Major General Jasper Jeffers to head the International Stabilization Force, which will be tasked with providing security in Gaza and training a new police force to succeed Hamas.Jeffers, from special operations in US Central Command, in late 2024 was put in charge of monitoring a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, which has continued periodic strikes aimed at Hezbollah militants.The United States has been searching the world for countries to contribute to the force, with Indonesia an early volunteer.But diplomats expect challenges in seeing countries send troops so long as Hamas does not agree to disarm fully.- Committee begins work -Gaza native and former Palestinian Authority deputy minister Ali Shaath was earlier tapped to head the governing committee.The committee’s meeting in Cairo also included Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov, who was given a role of high representative liaising between the new governing body and Trump’s Board of Peace. Committee members are scheduled to meet again Saturday, one of them told AFP on condition of anonymity.”We hope to go to Gaza next week or the week after; our work is there, and we need to be there,” he said.Trump also named a second “executive board” that appears designed to have a more advisory role.Blair, Witkoff and Mladenov will serve on it as well as Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.Israel has refused a Turkish role in the security force, owing to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s fiery denunciations of Israel’s actions in Gaza. The board will also include senior figures from mediators Egypt and Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, which normalized ties with Israel in 2020.Trump also named to the board Sigrid Kaag, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Gaza, despite his administration’s efforts to sideline the world body.