Board Of Peace Envoy Says Hamas Could Still Have Role In Gaza If It Disarms

a messenger with International Peace Board The ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hamas in October has so far failed to meet the demands of both Israelis and Palestinians, the former Israeli army said on Wednesday, continuing its deadly offensive. human rights groups, academics and activists It is a genocide that has long been concluded.

Longtime diplomat Nickolay Mladenov speaks at Foreign Press Association event in Jerusalem expressed disappointment He said repeated violations of the US-brokered ceasefire by both sides had led to a halt in reconstruction efforts and prolonged the suffering of Palestinians. Israeli forces Continue attacking the Palestinian people, preventing adequate assistance from entering the areaHamas remains armed and controls about half of the strip.

“I believe that the people of Gaza cannot wait any longer,” he said. “This is the impatience of the Palestinians and it is my impatience, and I will own it.” [that] “It’s because there are 2 million people in Gaza still living in tents, still living among rubble, still living with violence, still living with deep uncertainty.”

Mladenov focused on an issue that remains at the heart of the stalled negotiations: the disarmament of Hamas and its withdrawal from Gaza as a ruling power. 15-item framework The diplomat said it was based on President Donald Trump’s original 20-point plan, which included voluntary gun buybacks in Gaza as well as conditional amnesty for those who surrender their weapons.

Hamas leaders who do not accept the framework will be offered safe passage to certain countries, the official said, emphasizing that the board is “not interested in revenge” but rather in transition. He added that disarmament could allow the group to maintain its role in Gaza’s future.

Mladenov said, “We do not want Hamas to disappear as a political movement. A political party that rejects armed activities can compete in national Palestinian elections. The road map foresees this possibility.” “It is indisputable that armed groups or militias with their own military command and control systems, their own arsenals and tunnel networks can exist alongside an interim Palestinian administration.”

The idea that disarmament could allow Hamas to maintain a role in Gaza’s future conflicts is at odds with messages from Israel and most of the U.S. government calling for the destruction of the militant group. Neither the U.S. State Department nor Netanyahu’s office responded to HuffPost’s requests for comment.

The years-long campaign was launched after Hamas killed approximately 1,200 people and took 250 hostages in its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Israeli forces have since leveled much of Gaza and killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, including at least 846 since the ceasefire, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Hamas cited the Israeli army’s ongoing occupation of about half of Gaza as the reason for remaining armed. There is a group previously expressed opposition Instead, proposing that an interim administration and law enforcement agencies help restore order in parts of Gaza until a technocratic government steps in, as Mladenov and other ceasefire mediators have talked about.

But Mladenov said on Wednesday that Hamas had in fact “consolidated its rule” over the half of Gaza it controls, describing taxes on civilians who already have nothing and efforts to prevent Palestinian workers from building temporary housing for displaced people. living in rodent-infested camps.

“For what purpose? To extract better terms from a negotiation?” said the diplomat. “To prove that nothing moves in Gaza without your permission? To prevent Palestinians in Gaza from making a choice about the future that they could otherwise make before they make it themselves?”

Head of Gaza State Media Office, Ismail El Sawabta, he refused it Hamas uses threats or force to thwart workers’ relief efforts and has emphasized that “any Israeli-controlled move aimed at reshaping the geographical and demographic reality of the Gaza Strip is met with broad public rejection.”