World News
UN envoy warns of 'point of no return' if Gaza ceasefire plan fails
The warning follows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rejection of a U.S. peace plan, despite Hamas agreeing to disarm and cede governance.
The short version
- Nickolay Mladenov, the Gaza representative on the U.S. Board of Peace, told the UN Security Council that a failure in the ceasefire process would leave no roadmap or administration to rebuild the territory.
- Hamas agreed to hand over its weapons and transfer civilian and security authority to a transitional administration of independent technocrats, a move Netanyahu quickly opposed.
- The Palestinian UN ambassador accused Israel of actively undermining the peace process by issuing new bidding tenders for West Bank settlements.
Key facts
- Nickolay Mladenov, representing U.S. President Donald Trump's Board of Peace, cautioned the UN Security Council that a collapse of the Gaza ceasefire process would represent a point of no return.[Al Jazeera]
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the U.S. 15-point peace plan, declaring that Israel will not withdraw its forces from Gaza until Hamas fully disarms.[Al Jazeera]
- Hamas agreed on July 30 to hand over its weapons to a new Palestinian governing body and transfer civilian and security authority to a transitional committee of independent technocrats.[Al Jazeera]
- The Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, accused Israel of sabotaging the peace plan by opening bidding tenders for the E1 settlement project in the occupied West Bank.[Al Jazeera]
- According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, at least 1,288 Palestinians have been killed and 4,290 wounded since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire started in October, bringing the total conflict death toll in Gaza to at least 73,422 since October 7, 2023.[Al Jazeera]
What remains uncertain
- It remains uncertain whether Hamas will fully meet its commitment to cease all military activities, as Mladenov noted that outstanding issues like tunnel maintenance and convoy obstructions still threaten the process.[Al Jazeera]