An envoy with the International Board of Peace said Wednesday that the ceasefire agreement brokered between Israel and Hamas in October has so far failed to meet both Israelis’ and Palestinians’ demands, as the former’s military continues its deadly campaign that human rights groups, scholars and activists have long concluded is a genocide.
Speaking at a Foreign Press Association event in Jerusalem, longtime diplomat Nickolay Mladenov expressed frustration that repeated violations of the U.S.-brokered truce from both parties has led to stalled reconstruction efforts and prolonged Palestinian suffering. Israeli forces continue to attack the Palestinian people, preventing sufficient aid from entering the territory, while Hamas remains armed and in control of about half the strip.
“I believe that the people of Gaza can no longer wait,” he said. “It is Palestinian impatience ― and my impatience, and I will own it ― [that] comes from the fact that there are 2 million people in Gaza still living in tents, still living among the rubble, still living with violence, with lots of profound uncertainty.”
Mladenov zeroed in on a deadlocked issue central to stalled negotiations: for Hamas to disarm and step aside as Gaza’s ruling power. A 15-point framework the diplomat said was created from President Donald Trump’s original 20-point plan includes voluntary gun buybacks in Gaza, as well as conditional amnesty for those who surrender their arms.
