Board of Peace envoy warns Israel’s Gaza strikes risk irreversible collapse
At the United Nations Security Council, Nickolay Mladenov, the senior envoy for the US President Donald Trump‑backed Board of Peace, criticised ongoing Israeli air‑strikes in Gaza and urged that the Palestinian extremist group Hamas must fully disarm before any Israeli forces leave the Strip.
Mladenov said a collapse of the October ceasefire would mark a “point of no return” for the region, citing the death toll of 1,303 Palestinians, including 300 children, and the continued use of force against civilians. He warned that each strike that does not meet an identified threat “costs this process something very hard to buy back.”
The senior official reiterated the Board’s new roadmap, which stipulates a strictly sequenced, reciprocal process: Israeli troops withdraw only after Hamas’s weapons are verified as decommissioned and handed over to the Palestinian technocratic committee that will govern Gaza under Board supervision.
Mladenov contrasted this provision with the earlier statement of President Trump’s envoy, Jared Kushner, who appeared to shift the plan to align with Israel’s demands for a “full” Gaza demilitarisation first. Israel’s representative at the meeting underscored its commitment to the last October plan, insisting that disarmament is a precondition for withdrawal.
The Palestinian envoy criticised Israel for killing civilians with impunity, calling on the international community to step in swiftly. He warned that allowance of a ceasefire collapse would leave no plausible roadmap, no administration to deploy, and no material left to rebuild.
The conflict, sparked by Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, has resulted in an estimated 73,430 Israeli fatalities according to the territory’s health ministry. Israel’s military reported four soldier deaths amid the same period.
