Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair makes surprise visit to Donald Trump

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is in Washington to advise Donald Trump on his "comprehensive plan" on the future of Gaza after the US president's call to turn it into a "Middle East Riviera", the "Times" newspaper reported.

The former prime minister is said to have been working for months with Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and former Middle East peace broker, on plans to rebuild the devastated territory as a modern shopping mall and resort destination, which will be part of discussions with Trump at a White House meeting on the enclave's fate.

It comes as Britain prepares to follow France in recognising a Palestinian state at the UN next month if Israel fails to meet several conditions, including a ceasefire. But a halt to the fighting is unlikely after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans for a military offensive to clear Gaza of Hamas.

A White House official said all aspects of the situation in the Palestinian territories were on the table for talks involving Blair, Kushner and senior officials, including the hostage crisis and increasing aid to the territory.

Blair, 72, has a long-standing interest in the region and built deep ties as special envoy to the Middle East Quartet - a group of the UN, EU, US and Russia that brokered the Israeli-Palestinian peace process from 2007 to 2015. He has been in contact with Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy, and sources told the news website "Axios" that Blair visited the White House in the same day as Netanyahu last month and told the president that he had nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize.