GENEVA (AP) — An international oversight committee monitoring the Gaza ceasefire will urge the United Nations Security Council to demand that Hamas surrender its weapons, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday.
The document from the Board of Peace, an international committee established by U.S. President Donald Trump to monitor the delicate truce between Hamas and Israel, is scheduled for Security Council discussion on Thursday during their Middle East session.
“At this stage, the principal obstacle to full implementation (of the ceasefire) remains Hamas’ refusal to accept verified decommissioning, relinquish coercive control, and permit a genuine civilian transition in Gaza,” the report said.
Hamas issued a statement dismissing the document and claiming it contains “fallacies.”
A diplomatic source familiar with the document verified its legitimacy, speaking anonymously since it remains unpublished.
The president’s 20-point truce agreement demands Hamas give up its weaponry and dismantle its extensive tunnel system. The plan also includes Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza, installation of a new technocratic Palestinian administration, deployment of international security personnel, and reconstruction of the devastated Palestinian territory following more than two years of conflict.
Last week, the Board of Peace leader, former U.N. Mideast envoy Nickolay Mladenov, admitted the ceasefire had stagnated since beginning in October, noting that the weapons dispute had frozen all advancement.
“Reconstruction cannot commence where weapons have not been laid down,” the board’s report to the Security Council says. “The critical variable — the single factor that unlocks every other element of the plan — is the conclusion of an agreement on the Roadmap for the full implementation of the plan that includes full decommissioning by Hamas and all armed groups in Gaza.”
The Palestinian militant organization, which orchestrated the Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel that triggered the Gaza conflict, has blamed Israel for not fulfilling its ceasefire duties and has attempted to tie any weapons surrender to Israeli military withdrawal. Israel’s forces have extended their Gaza presence since the ceasefire began and now occupy approximately 60% of the region.
The latest document urges the Security Council to “reiterate publicly, clearly and consistently that the decommissioning of weapons in Gaza is not merely a requirement (of the UN’s resolution to end the war) but critical for reconstruction to begin, for a timebound Israeli forces withdrawal, and for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood to be pursued.”
The Security Council approved the Board of Peace through a resolution in November.
Hamas stated the document “contains a number of fallacies that absolve the occupying government of its responsibilities for the daily violations of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.”
The organization claimed the document overlooked Israel’s “failure to uphold the majority of its commitments” in the ceasefire agreement, including ongoing border crossing limitations and blocking entry of materials and equipment necessary for basic infrastructure repairs and housing for the mostly displaced residents.
“The report’s adoption of the occupation’s conditions regarding disarmament is a dubious attempt to muddy the waters and derail the ceasefire agreement,” Hamas said in a statement.
The group urged the Security Council and Mladenov to force Israel to meet its first-phase ceasefire obligations, “foremost among them the cessation of the daily aggression against our Palestinian people in Gaza.”
The document highlighted almost daily ceasefire breaches, “some of which are serious, and their human consequences — civilians killed, families living in fear, and continued impediments to humanitarian access — cannot be minimized.”
Israel’s military continues conducting airstrikes in Gaza throughout the ceasefire and has advanced further into the territory, where it now holds more area than the ceasefire agreement permitted. Living situations remain desperate, with most of the territory’s 2 million residents housed in tent settlements without essential services.
Mladenov stated last week that his office addresses violations from both parties daily. However, he consistently highlighted the disarmament matter as a key obstacle, declaring Hamas’ duty to surrender its weapons is “not negotiable” and that advancement on all other matters was stalled.
