Mladenov after talks with Netanyahu: Gaza plan entering ‘hard phase’

Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza tasked with overseeing the ceasefire with Hamas, said after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday that implementation of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan had entered the “hard phase.”

“Long day in Jerusalem, sitting down with Prime Minister Netanyahu and his team,” Mladenov wrote on X. “This is the start of the hard phase and I have never pretended otherwise. Not much of what we do now is dramatic. It is slow, grinding and technical work.”

Earlier on Monday, the Board of Peace said that Mladenov and his team held a “constructive, detailed” meeting with Netanyahu. “Israel and the Board of Peace share a common understanding of the ultimate objectives,” it stated. “Contrary to inaccurate reports, we note that the withdrawal of the IDF beyond the Yellow Line will take place only once decommissioning [of weapons] is complete, as Hamas committed to the mediators.”

The statement came shortly after an Israeli political source told JNS that the Israel Defense Forces “will not withdraw from its current lines in the Gaza Strip.”

The Jewish state “will continue to thwart any threat to our civilians and soldiers,” the source added.

Israel conveyed “comments and concerns” to the White House after Trump last week announced an agreement to implement Hamas’s disarmament under the peace plan, Doron Spielman, a spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, told JNS separately on Monday.

“The version that has been made public does not reflect Israel’s positions,” Spielman stressed.

“Over the past eight months, according to Israeli intelligence, Hamas has used the ceasefire to rearm, recruit thousands of additional terrorists, rebuild its military infrastructure, and prepare for further Oct. 7-style massacres,” he said, in reference to the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of 1,200 people in the Jewish state.

“The indispensable first step toward any lasting arrangement is the genuine, verifiable and irreversible demilitarization of Hamas,” Spielman continued. “Demilitarization means Hamas physically surrendering its weapons,” Spielman emphasized.

“Anything short of full demilitarization will leave Hamas with the capability to threaten Israel again,” he added.

Trump announced on July 30 that the Board of Peace had reached an agreement with Hamas for the complete disarmament of the terrorist groups that control the Gaza Strip.

It was a “major milestone in the implementation” of his 20-point plan to bring an end to the Israel-Hamas war and begin the recovery process in the enclave, he said.

The pact will be implemented in phases as the Israel Defense Forces withdraw while disarmament progresses, according to Trump.

An International Stabilization Force under the auspices of the Board of Peace is set to work in tandem with a newly built Palestinian police force to provide security in the Gaza Strip.

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