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The Board of Peace’s High Commissioner Nickolay Mladenov warned Israel that continuing to attack Gaza is extending the conditions that caused Hamas to attack on October 7, 2023.
“These strikes do not change the status quo that produced 7 October 2023. They preserve it.” Mladenov told the UN Security Council on Wednesday. “Will another strike on a munitions depot stop Hamas from rearming or loosening its grip on Gaza? It will not.”
His remarks follow Israel’s rejection of the Board of Peace’s plan to disarm Gaza that was endorsed by President Donald Trump. Late last month, Trump announced that the deal had progressed and Hamas was prepared to disarm in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
“Today, the Board of Peace reached a HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza,” the President wrote on Truth Social. “This agreement is a critical step towards Gaza finally being governed by a new Palestinian government that will work closely with the Board of Peace to help the Palestinian people.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explicitly rejected the proposal to disarm Hamas.
“Israel does not accept the 15-point document,” Netanyahu told members of the Israeli cabinet earlier this month. The military “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed … it means heavy weaponry, lighter weaponry, all weaponry.”
He continued, “And we are talking about genuine disarmament, not fictitious disarmament. [The US] have ideas, some of which are acceptable to us and some of which are unacceptable to us.”
Netanyahu also said he would not allow an international peacekeeping force under the Board of Peace to enter Gaza. Earlier this month, officers from Burundi and Uganda toured sites in Gaza with the IDF.
Israel strikes on Gaza continued this week. The Palestinian Health Ministry reported on Wednesday that at least eight people had died and ten were injured by Israeli attacks on Gaza. Additionally, the remains of 20 members of a single family were recovered in Gaza City.
In October, Hamas and Israel agreed to a ceasefire brokered by Trump. The deal established the Board of Peace. Under the pact, Hamas released all captive Israelis. Israel agreed to halt attacks on Gaza, allow aid shipments, and eventually withdraw from the Strip.
However, Israel has continued to attack the Strip and expand its control of the region.
Mladenov warned that “the distance between what has been signed and what is happening on the ground” could cause the ceasefire to fail. A cease-fire under which civilians are still buried is not yet one the people of Gaza can feel,” he added.
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