Board of Peace's Gaza envoy criticises Israeli strikes and Hamas actions

Senior official of President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, Nickolay Mladenov, warned at the United Nations Security Council that a collapse of the Gaza ceasefire would be a “point of no return” for the region, calling for an immediate end to Israeli air strikes and a full disarmament of Hamas. The remarks came after Israel rejected a 15‑point roadmap for Hamas’s demilitarisation that the Board of Peace unveiled last month.

Mladenov said that the ceasefire, which began after the United States brokered a truce in October, remains in place but is undermined by continued Israeli attacks that kill civilians in Gaza. He added that the United Nations estimates that two‑thirds of Gaza’s two million residents live in tents or makeshift shelters, highlighting the humanitarian toll of the fighting. According to the Hamas‑run health ministry, which the UN recognises as a reliable source, at least 1,303 Palestinians, including 300 children, have been killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire. The Israeli military reported that four of its soldiers were killed in Palestinian attacks over the same period.

The Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza told the Security Council that he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed on a mechanism to address Israel’s remaining concerns and that committees had been set up for that purpose. Mladenov said the process had not stalled, but warned that risks remained, including the continued killing of Palestinian civilians in Israeli strikes. He argued that “a ceasefire in fact under which civilians are still buried is not yet one that the people of Gaza can really feel” and that every use of force that does not answer an immediate threat costs the process something difficult to recover.

Mladenov also acknowledged that Hamas had not yet fully complied with its commitment to cease all military activities. “Every weapon carried, every tunnel still worked and every convoy still obstructed sets the process back and hands an argument to those who want to resume war,” he said. He reiterated that under the new roadmap, Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza would follow verified decommissioning of Hamas weapons, which would be handed over to a Palestinian technocratic committee that would govern Gaza under the Board of Peace’s supervision. “It is sequenced and reciprocal,” he added.

The Board of Peace’s approach differs from statements made by President Trump’s envoy, Jared Kushner, who said Israeli withdrawal would be discussed only once the demilitarisation of Gaza was “done.” Kushner’s comments appeared to shift the plan in line with Israel’s demands, according to Mladenov.

Israel’s representative at the meeting said the country was committed to the last October US‑brokered plan for ending the Gaza war, but insisted that it could not succeed while Hamas still possessed weapons, tunnels and other military infrastructure. “Disarmament must come first,” she stated.

The Palestinian representative accused Israel of killing Palestinian civilians with impunity in Gaza and called on the international community to protect them without delay.

Mladenov warned that if the ceasefire were allowed to collapse, “there will be no roadmap to return to, there will be no administration to deploy, and there will be nothing left of the ground to rebuild.” He added that such a collapse would be a “point of no return for everyone.”

The conflict began with a Hamas‑led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023 that killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. Israel responded by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which the territory’s health ministry reports more than 73,430 people have been killed. The United Nations and other international bodies continue to call for a comprehensive ceasefire, humanitarian aid delivery, and a negotiated settlement that addresses both security concerns and the rights of civilians on both sides.