Gaza: The Board of Peace envoy criticizes both Israel and Hamas

Nickolay Mladenov, senior representative for Gaza on Donald Trump 's Board of Peace , warned the UN Security Council on Wednesday against a collapse of the ceasefire, which he described as a "point of no return" for the region.

Before the Security Council, Nickolay Mladenov spared neither side. He denounced the continued Israeli airstrikes on Gaza while pointing out Hamas's failures to meet its own commitments, including the continuation of military activities, the use of tunnels, and the obstruction of humanitarian convoys.

"Every weapon carried, every tunnel still in operation and every convoy still blocked sets back the process and gives ammunition to those who want to resume the war," he said.

Regarding the Israeli strikes, Mladenov was equally direct: "A ceasefire under which civilians are still buried is not yet a ceasefire that the people of Gaza can truly feel." He added that any use of force without responding to an immediate threat "costs the peace process something very difficult to redeem."

The high representative reiterated the terms of the fifteen-point roadmap announced last month by the Board of Peace: the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza "follows the verified disabling" of Hamas's weapons, handed over to a Palestinian technocratic committee under American supervision. "It's sequenced and reciprocal," he insisted.

This formulation contrasts with that of Jared Kushner, envoy of President Trump, who had declared two weeks ago, after meeting Benjamin Netanyahu, that the Israeli withdrawal would only be discussed once demilitarization was "completed", thus aligning his position with that of Israel.

The Israeli representative to the Security Council reaffirmed her country's commitment to the American plan of last October, but maintained that it could not succeed as long as Hamas retained its weapons, tunnels, and military infrastructure. "Disarmament must come first," she stated.

Hamas, for its part, has agreed to surrender its weapons in exchange for a gradual Israeli withdrawal, a position that Israel refuses, demanding complete disarmament before any movement of its troops.

Since the start of the ceasefire brokered by Washington, at least 1,303 Palestinians, including 300 children, have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza, according to the territory's Ministry of Health, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN. The Israeli army reports four soldiers killed in Palestinian attacks during the same period.

Mladenov concluded his remarks with a stark warning: if the ceasefire were to collapse, "there will be no roadmap to return to, no administration to deploy, and nothing on the ground to rebuild." "It wouldn't be a setback. It would be a point of no return for everyone."

The war was triggered by the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which left approximately 1,200 dead and 251 hostages. The subsequent Israeli military campaign killed more than 73,430 people in Gaza, according to the territory's Ministry of Health.