Board of Peace will ask UNSC to press Hamas to disarm

The US-established Board of Peace will ask the UNSC to press Hamas into disarming to revive a stalled Gaza ceasefire plan. Hamas rejected the report, accusing Israel of violating terms, while ongoing military actions continue to devastatingly affect displaced civilians

Geneva: The body overseeing the US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza will ask the United Nations Security Council to press the Hamas militant group to disarm.

The report by the Board of Peace, an international body set up by US President Donald Trump and tasked with overseeing the fragile ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, is expected to be discussed by the Security Council on Thursday when it meets on the situation in the Middle East.

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“At this stage, the principal obstacle to full implementation (of the ceasefire) remains Hamas’ refusal to accept verified decommissioning, relinquish coercive control, and permit a genuine civilian transition in Gaza,” the report said.

Hamas in a statement rejected the report and said it contains “fallacies”.

A diplomat familiar with the report confirmed its authenticity, speaking on condition of anonymity because it has not been made public.

Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan calls on Hamas to surrender its weapons and destroy its vast network of tunnels. It also envisions Israeli forces withdrawing from Gaza, the arrival of a new technocratic Palestinian government, deployment of an international security force and the rebuilding of the battered Palestinian enclave after more than two years of war.

Last week, the head of the Board of Peace, former UN Mideast envoy Nickolay Mladenov, acknowledged that the truce had stalled since taking effect in October, saying the deadlock over disarming Hamas had paralysed progress.

“Reconstruction cannot commence where weapons have not been laid down,” the board’s report to the Security Council says. “The critical variable – the single factor that unlocks every other element of the plan – is the conclusion of an agreement on the Roadmap for the full implementation of the plan that includes full decommissioning by Hamas and all armed groups in Gaza.”

The Palestinian militant group, which led the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza, has accused Israel of failing to meet its obligations under the first phase of the ceasefire and has sought to link any demilitarisation to Israeli troop pullbacks.

Israel’s military has expanded its control of Gaza since the truce took effect and now controls some 60 per cent of the territory.

The new report calls on the Security Council to “reiterate publicly, clearly and consistently that the decommissioning of weapons in Gaza is not merely a requirement (of the UN’s resolution to end the war) but critical for reconstruction to begin, for a timebound Israeli forces withdrawal, and for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood to be pursued”.

The Security Council endorsed the Board of Peace in a resolution in November.

Hamas said the report “contains a number of fallacies that absolve the occupying government of its responsibilities for the daily violations of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza”.

The group said the report ignored Israel’s “failure to uphold the majority of its commitments” in the ceasefire deal, including the continued restrictions on crossings into the Palestinian territory and preventing the entry of material and equipment needed to repair basic infrastructure and shelter for the largely displaced population.

“The report’s adoption of the occupation’s conditions regarding disarmament is a dubious attempt to muddy the waters and derail the ceasefire agreement,” Hamas said in a statement.

It called on the Security Council and Mladenov to compel Israel to fulfill its commitments under the ceasefire’ deal’s first phase, “foremost among them the cessation of the daily aggression against our Palestinian people in Gaza”.

The report noted near-daily ceasefire violations, “some of which are serious, and their human consequences – civilians killed, families living in fear, and continued impediments to humanitarian access – cannot be minimised”.

Israel’s military still carries out airstrikes in Gaza despite the ceasefire and has pushed deeper into the territory, where it now controls more than it was granted under the ceasefire agreement. Living conditions are dire, with most of the territory’s 2 million people living in tent camps lacking basic services.

Mladenov last week said his office is addressing violations by both sides on a daily basis. But he repeatedly cited the disarmament issue as a central sticking point, saying Hamas’ obligation to give up its arsenal is “not negotiable” and that progress on all other issues was being held up.