Hamas agreed to key disarmament terms; Netanyahu demands full handover
Nikolay Mladenov, the high representative of President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that Israel’s continuing attacks on Gaza risk derailing the U.S.-backed ceasefire plan, and warned that the alternative to the proposal is the next war. Mladenov insisted that Trump’s 20-point plan has not stalled and “has moved from the negotiating table to the engineering table.”
He said Hamas has agreed to the plan’s key provision to disarm and turn Gaza over to civilian rule. But Israel’s ongoing strikes since last October’s ceasefire are still killing Palestinians — “though much fewer,” Mladenov said — and Gazans cannot feel that the conflict is ending.
“After three years of war and 20 years of military operations, I ask, will another strike on a munitions depot stop Hamas from rearming or tightening its grip on Gaza?” Mladenov said. “It will not. It only delays the demilitarization that would happen” and obstructs the transfer to a civilian government.
A recent U.S. deal with Hamas to disarm was seen as a potential breakthrough to end the war, which was sparked by the militant group’s deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in southern Israel. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his forces won’t withdraw from their current lines in Gaza until Hamas has handed over all its weapons.
Mladenov said that at a meeting he took part in last week with Netanyahu and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, “we went through his government’s concerns one by one and narrowed the areas that still require technical work.”
Noa Furman, Israel’s deputy UN ambassador, reiterated to the Security Council the country’s commitment to Trump’s plan, but stressed that it can’t succeed while Hamas remains armed. He said Israel is working closely with the U.S. to achieve Hamas’ disarmament. The U.S. ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, said concerns about Trump’s plan are being addressed and Hamas’ disarmament will be judged on its actions.
Mladenov also warned of the distance between the roadmap and conditions on the ground, and said a return to war would leave nothing left to rebuild.
“That would not be a setback,” he said. “It would be a point of no return for everyone.”
Mladenov stressed the need for political will to overcome the differences and said there is a choice to be made: “A Gaza disarmed, rebuilt and reconnected to the world. Or a Gaza rearmed, divided and in rubble, with a radicalized generation raised inside it and the next war already on the horizon.”
As for the Palestinians, Mladenov said, the Trump plan includes a “credible pathway to a political horizon” and a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict. Netanyahu, according to Mladenov, opposes a Palestinian state.