Board of Peace envoy warns of 'point of no return' as ceasefire strains
A senior official on US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace has criticised Israel's continuing air strikes on Gaza, as well as the actions of the Palestinian armed group Hamas, warning that a collapse of last October's ceasefire would be "a point of no return" for the region.
Nickolay Mladenov, the Board's High Representative for Gaza, was speaking to the UN Security Council after Israel rejected the 15-point roadmap for Hamas's disarmament, which was announced by the Board of Peace last month. He warned that failure to comply with the roadmap developed by the Board of Peace threatens to derail the Gaza ceasefire, and stressed that his warning "applies to both the Israeli and Palestinian sides."
"There is no better alternative to the current plan for the Gaza Strip, and a return to war will have devastating consequences," he added.
Sticking points: disarmament and withdrawal
The roadmap hinges on a delicate trade-off. Hamas has agreed to give up its weapons in exchange for a phased Israeli troop withdrawal, but Israel has insisted that the group must fully disarm before any pullout. Mladenov repeated that under the new roadmap, Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza "follows verified decommissioning" of Hamas weapons, which would be handed over to the Palestinian technocratic committee that will govern Gaza under the Board of Peace's supervision. He said Israeli withdrawal would be discussed only once the demilitarisation of Gaza was "done" — appearing to align the plan with Israel's demands.
Mladenov acknowledged that Hamas too had yet to meet fully its commitment to cease all military activities. "Every weapon carried, every tunnel still worked and every convoy still obstructed sets the process back and hands an argument to those who oppose the plan," he said.
He also told the Security Council that he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed at their last meeting on a mechanism through which his government's remaining questions would be settled, and that committees had been established for that purpose. Mladenov said that process had not stalled, but warned that risks remained, including the continued killing of Palestinian civilians in Israeli strikes.
"A ceasefire in fact under which civilians are still buried is not yet one that the people of Gaza can really feel," he said. "Every use of force that does not answer an immediate threat, and every incident that the deconfliction mechanism was not asked to resolve, costs this process something very hard to buy back."
Humanitarian toll and reconstruction pledges
Since the US-brokered ceasefire began, at least 1,303 Palestinians, including 300 children, have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN. The Israeli military says four of its soldiers have been killed in Palestinian attacks in Gaza over the same period.
Mladenov warned that if the ceasefire was allowed to collapse, "there will be no roadmap to return to, there will be no administration to deploy, and there will be nothing left of the ground to rebuild."
He reported that the Board of Peace has received pledges totaling $7 billion for Gaza's reconstruction, and that talks were ongoing with the Israeli side on increasing humanitarian aid deliveries to the enclave.
International Stabilization Force
Mladenov said the Board of Peace has determined the mechanism for deploying the International Stabilization Force and the locations where it will be stationed in Gaza. "An agreement has been reached with Morocco on the participation of the kingdom's contingent in the International Stabilization Force in Gaza, while Turkey will not take part," he added. "The advance contingent of the International Stabilization Force should arrive in the Gaza Strip soon."
Background: October ceasefire and the war
The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was reached in October 2025 through mediation by Egypt, Qatar, the United States and Turkey. The initiative consisted of three stages: the first provided for an end to hostilities, the release of detainees, and a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops; subsequent stages envisioned a final settlement of the conflict and reconstruction of the enclave.
The war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. Israel responded by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 73,430 people have been killed, according to the territory's health ministry.
On August 9, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel rejected the Board of Peace's 15-point Gaza plan and would not withdraw its troops from the Palestinian enclave until Hamas is genuinely disarmed.
Perspectives
Israel's representative to the UN Security Council
Israel's representative told the Security Council meeting that it was committed to last October's US-brokered plan for ending the Gaza war, but insisted it could not succeed while Hamas still had weapons, tunnels and other military infrastructure.
Palestinian representative to the UN Security Council
The Palestinian representative said Israel was killing Palestinian civilians with impunity in Gaza and called on the international community to protect them without delay.