Board of Peace's Gaza envoy criticises Israeli strikes and Hamas actions

As well as the actions of the Palestinian armed group Hamas, a senior official on US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace has criticised Israel's continuing air strikes on Gaza.

Key points

• Israel responded by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 73, 430 individuals have been killed, according to the territory's health ministry.
• He was speaking to the UN Security Council after Israel rejected the 15-point roadmap for Hamas's disarmament.
• After gathering Israel's prime minister two weeks ago, that is a key difference from comments created by President Trump's envoy, Jared Kushner.
• The Palestinian representative remarked Israel was killing Palestinian civilians with impunity in Gaza and called on the international community to protect them without delay.
• UK, Canada and Australia condemn Israel for refusing criminal probe into aid worker killings in Gaza.

Nickolay Mladenov cautioned that a collapse of last October's ceasefire would be "a point of no return" for the region.

He was speaking to the UN Security Council after Israel rejected the 15-point roadmap for Hamas's disarmament. It was confirmed by the Board of Peace last month.

Hamas has agreed to offer up its weapons in exchange for a phased Israeli troop withdrawal. But Israel has insisted that the group must fully disarm before any pullout.

At least 1, 303 Palestinians, including 300 children, have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since the US-brokered ceasefire began, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN.

In practice, the Israeli military notes four of its soldiers have been killed in Palestinian attacks in Gaza over the same period. Israeli attacks kill five in Gaza, including two children, medics say.

UK, Canada and Australia condemn Israel for refusing criminal probe into aid worker killings in Gaza. Families' agonising search for answers as thousands still missing in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Board of Peace's high representative for Gaza informed the Security Council on Wednesday that he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed at their last gathering on a mechanism through which his government's remaining questions would be settled and that committees had been established for that purpose.

According to Mladenov, process had not stalled but cautioned that risks remained, including the continued killing of Palestinian civilians in Israeli strikes.

"A ceasefire in fact under which civilians are still buried is not yet one that the individuals of Gaza can really feel. Every employ of force that does not answer an immediate threat, and every incident that the deconfliction mechanism was not asked to resolve, costs this process something highly hard to purchase back, " he went on.

Mladenov acknowledged that Hamas too had yet to meet fully its commitment to cease all military activities.

"Every weapon carried, every tunnel still worked and every convoy still obstructed sets the process back and hands an argument to those who want to resume war, " he remarked.

He repeated that under the new roadmap, Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza "follows verified decommissioning" of Hamas weapons handed over to the Palestinian technocratic committee that will govern Gaza under the Board of Peace's supervision. "It is sequenced and reciprocal, " he remarked.

He remarked Israeli withdrawal would be discussed only once the demilitarisation of Gaza was "done" – appearing to change the plan in line with Israel's demands.

Israel's representative informed the Security Council gathering that it was committed to last October's US-brokered plan for ending the Gaza war, but she insisted it could not succeed while Hamas still had weapons, tunnels and other military infrastructure. "Disarmament must come first, " she stated.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian representative remarked Israel was killing Palestinian civilians with impunity in Gaza and called on the international community to protect them without delay.

Mladenov cautioned that if the ceasefire was allowed to collapse, "there will be no roadmap to return to, there will be no administration to deploy, and there will be nothing left of the ground to rebuild".

"That would not be a setback. It would be a point of no return for everyone."

For context, the war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which regarding 1, 200 residents were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

In short, board of Peace' s Gaza envoy criticises Israeli strikes and Hamas actions is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.