UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The international official monitoring the Gaza ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States called on the UN Security Council Thursday to utilize all available resources to pressure Hamas into giving up its weapons, cautioning that continued acts of violence threaten to collapse the fragile truce.
Nickolay Mladenov, high representative of the Board of Peace, an international organization created by President Donald Trump, emphasized that Israel must also fulfill its ceasefire commitments, highlighting Palestinian deaths and limitations on humanitarian assistance.
Hamas and Israel face a choice between “a deteriorating status quo” or a fresh start for Palestinians currently enduring “desperate conditions,” he stated. “There is no third option. There never was, and the people of Gaza should not be made to wait while some pretend that there is.”
Mladenov elaborated on the Board of Peace’s initial assessment, which identified the primary barrier to complete ceasefire implementation as “Hamas’ refusal to accept verified decommissioning, relinquish coercive control, and permit a genuine civilian transition in Gaza.”
Hamas issued a statement condemning the assessment and argued it overlooked Israel’s failure to meet ceasefire requirements.
The Palestinian militant organization, responsible for the Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel that triggered the Gaza conflict, has attempted to connect any weapons removal to Israeli military withdrawals. Israel’s forces have increased their presence in Gaza following the truce and now occupy approximately 60% of the region.
Mladenov, an experienced Bulgarian diplomat, indicated that should Israel and Hamas reject the implementation plan for Trump’s peace proposal, the Board of Peace would explore methods to deliver humanitarian assistance and support territorial recovery.
Without action, he warned, Gaza would stay fragmented, with Hamas maintaining administrative and military authority over 2 million Palestinians confined to less than half the Gaza Strip, likely remaining surrounded by debris, dependent on aid, and without prospects for rebuilding or their children’s future.
“This is a version of the future that Israelis, Palestinians and the region should all fear and all mobilize to avoid,” Mladenov stated.
He explained that weapons removal “will be gradual, sequenced and time-bound against an agreed timetable” — noting that arms from Hamas and other Palestinian armed factions would go to Gaza’s transitional government rather than Israel.
The implementation plan merits the Security Council’s “clear, consistent and unequivocal support,” he declared.
“I ask the council to use every means at its disposal to urge Hamas to accept the roadmap without further delay, and Israel to uphold its obligations under the ceasefire,” Mladenov stated. “Diplomacy must continue, cannot be used as an excuse for delay while 2 million people wait in desperate conditions.”
