All Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip must be disarmed for the enclave to have a path to a better future, Board of Peace’s High Representative for Gaza Nickolay Mladenov stated on Friday amid speculation on how far is the U.S.-appointed body prepared to go to force the issue.
Hamas disarmament — Report: Hamas delegation to visit Cairo on issue of arms
“We need to make sure that what is happening now with the violations of the ceasefire stops,” Mladenov says without placing blame on either side.
“I’ve made it very clear that all militants in Gaza need to be disarmed and there is no other option, unless we want to see a return to war or a continuation of the misery that is today,” Mladenov wrote on X is response to an assertion that he dodged the question during his remarks at the Munich Security Conference.
US firm eyes return to Gaza: Security contractor, UG Solutions, in talks with Board of Peace
He added, however, that “I will not speak publicly as to what our strategy is as there are too many moving parts at this point. I hope you understand. We have a framework that has been agreed by the mediators and the US and it needs to be implemented.”
In his earlier remarks in Munich Mladenov said that “if you put the committee tomorrow in Gaza and the violations of the ceasefire continue the way they are now. We’re only embarrassing the committee and ultimately making it ineffective,” not specifying who was guilty of the violations.
However, he further added that the path forward requires “the disarmament of all factions in Gaza, not just Hamas: Hamas, Islamic Jihad and others. There are plenty of them who have weapons and tunnels and production facilities inside Gaza,” he said.