The high representative for Gaza in US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace yesterday said the fragile ceasefire in the Palestinian territory was holding despite daily violations.
“We have a ceasefire. It is holding... It is far from perfect. There are violations every day, and some of them are very serious,” said Nickolay Mladenov during a meeting with the Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem.
The ceasefire officially came into force on October 10.
Gaza remains gripped by violence, as Israeli strikes continue and both sides trade blame over ceasefire violations.
The first phase of the truce saw the release of the last hostages seized in October 2023, in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.
The transition to the second phase — involving Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual withdrawal of the Israeli army, which still controls more than 50% of the Gaza Strip — has been stalled for weeks, while international attention has been focused on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.
Mladenov urged Hamas yesterday to relinquish power over the parts of the Gaza Strip it controls and lay down its weapons.
“We are asking the political leadership of those who govern Gaza now to step aside. This is required by the Security Council resolution in the 20-point plan,” said the envoy, referring to the peace plan for the territory sponsored by the US president.
“We are not asking Hamas to disappear as a political movement. A political party that disavows armed activity can compete in national Palestinian elections,” he said.
“What is not negotiable, however, is that armed factions or militias... can exist alongside a transitional Palestinian authority,” he continued.
For those who refuse disarmament, the plan offers the option of “safe passage to third countries”, he added.
Mladenov meanwhile pointed to the scale of destruction in the Palestinian territory, noting that it would take a long time to rebuild.
“If we look at the tens of millions of tons of rubble that needs to be removed, at the number of people, over a million people, who need some sort of permanent shelter and basic water and sanitation — this is, by any scale, a generation of work for Gaza,” said Mladenov.
