\u201cDiplomacy remains open, but the people of Gaza cannot be asked to wait indefinitely while the same questions are being discussed a second, third, fourth and fifth time,\u201d he said, indicating that negotiations with Hamas have not ceased completely.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/t.co\/HmhIeqYtQG<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Nickolay E. MLADENOV (@nmladenov) May 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018No color zones\u2019<\/p>\n The Board of Peace envoy insisted that he was committed to moving forward, but did not specify how he planned to do so in light of Hamas\u2019s intransigence.\n<\/p>\n A US official told The Times of Israel that Washington \u2014 which wields significant power within the Board of Peace chaired by President Donald Trump \u2014 is considering shifting from an all-or-nothing approach on reconstruction to focusing on first rebuilding the eastern half of the Strip still controlled by Israel.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s 20-point plan for ending the Gaza war envisions Israel gradually withdrawing from that part of the territory, but conditions that pullback on Hamas disarming.<\/p>\n The US initially explored the framework that prioritized construction in the IDF-controlled \u201cgreen zone\u201d over the Hamas-controlled \u201cred zone,\u201d hoping to entice the vast majority of the Strip\u2019s 2 million Palestinians living in the coastal zone to move there by offering housing solutions and jobs.<\/p>\n However, Washington abandoned the strategy after facing massive pushback from potential Arab donor countries, which warned it would exacerbate the division of the Strip.<\/p>\n While the US may be reconsidering, Mladenov revealed Wednesday that returning to the original plan would not be simple either.<\/p>\n \t He confirmed during the briefing a Tuesday report in the Kan public broadcaster that Hamas recently blocked Palestinian workers from reaching the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where they were contracted by the Board of Peace to build the first new community on the Israeli side of the yellow ceasefire line.<\/p>\n However, Mladenov did not go as far as the US official, appearing to reject the idea of concentrating reconstruction efforts on a part of Gaza rather than the whole Strip.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have not designated any color zones in Gaza,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u2018Not asking Hamas to disappear\u2019<\/p>\n Mladenov tried to frame the Board of Peace\u2019s disarmament proposal as something that Hamas need not view as a concession.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a message of coercion. It offers the Palestinians in Gaza, for the first time in a very long while, a real choice,\u201d he said, highlighting the reconstruction projects that are ready for implementation if Hamas agrees, adding that tens of thousands of public sector jobs will be created for Palestinians within the first year.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing in this framework asks you to give up your identity, your faith, your history, your dignity \u2014 in fact, it asks exactly the opposite,\u201d Mladenov argued.<\/p>\n \t \u201cWe\u2019re not asking Hamas to disappear as a political movement. A political party that disavows armed activity can compete in national Palestinian elections, and the [disarmament] roadmap preserves that possibility,\u201d Mladenov added.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear whether Israel would be on board with Hamas\u2019s continued participation in Palestinian politics, though the Trump administration has managed to curb some of Jerusalem\u2019s veto power.<\/p>\n Israel had demanded an immediate handover of all Hamas weapons, but the framework<\/a> that the US-led Board of Peace adopted was a gradual one that starts with the handover of heavy weapons and maps of Gaza tunnel networks, followed by the decommissioning of all remaining personal weapons over an eight-month period.<\/p>\n \u2018One authority, one law, one weapon\u2019<\/p>\n Offering some new details on the disarmament framework presented to Hamas earlier this year, Mladenov said it is \u201cbased on the principle of reciprocity.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEach step that we suggest be taken by one side triggers a step to be taken by the other, and each step is confirmed by an independent monitoring mechanism before the next step is taken,\u201d he explained, adding the process doesn\u2019t require trust between Israelis and Palestinians in the absence of any.<\/p>\n The framework includes a voluntary buy-back option for armed Palestinians to be compensated for returning their weapons, offering \u201cconditional amnesty\u201d for those who participate and agree to live as law-abiding citizens moving forward. \u201cWe\u2019re not interested in retribution. We\u2019re interested in transition,\u201d Mladenov said.<\/p>\n \t Hamas officials who will lose their jobs as a result of their replacement by the new technocratic government, called the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), will be offered reintegration support, including direct financial provisions.<\/p>\n Members of armed groups unwilling to accept the framework will be given the opportunity to relocate to third countries, Mladenov said.<\/p>\n Framing the disarmament proposal as being in line with a long-held Palestinian Authority principle, Mladenov summarized it as \u201cone authority, one law, one weapon\u201d and insisted that all weapons in Gaza be under the control of the NCAG.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not asking Palestinians to surrender their weapons to Israel. We\u2019re asking them to consolidate institutions on which their future depends,\u201d he continued. \u201cThis is what reconstruction, Israeli withdrawal and the political horizon depend on.\u201d<\/p>\n The 12-member NCAG has yet to enter Gaza since being established in January, with the Board of Peace hoping that Hamas accepts the disarmament proposal first.<\/p>\n Hamas has argued that it shouldn\u2019t be expected to implement the second phase disarmament portion of Trump\u2019s 20-point plan, accusing Israel of violating first phase commitments, with daily strikes deep into the Hamas-controlled side of Gaza, routinely missed humanitarian aid benchmarks, the unilateral expansion of the side of Gaza it controls and the limited operation of the Rafah Crossing.<\/p>\n Israel says it maintains the right to target Palestinians posing a threat to troops.<\/p>\n \t The Israel Defense Forces announced on Wednesday that it killed a Hamas terrorist last week who participated in the raid on the military\u2019s Nahal Oz base during the October 7, 2023, onslaught.<\/p>\n The IDF said the strike targeted Hamza Sharbasi, a commander in Hamas\u2019s Shejaiya Battalion, who had posed a threat to Israeli troops in Gaza. While not the target, the strike also killed Azzam al-Hayya, the 23-year-old son of Hamas\u2019s chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya.<\/p>\n According to the military, Azzam al-Hayya was a member of Hamas\u2019s elite Nukhba Force, \u201cwho recently held a central role in the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRecently, Sharbasi operated near the Yellow Line and, in the framework of his role, worked to advance terror plots against IDF troops operating in the area,\u201d the IDF said.<\/p>\n Pressed on the alleged Israeli ceasefire violations, Mladenov acknowledged them without explicitly naming Israel but said the Board of Peace does not divide the 20-point plan into phases the way Hamas does.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can talk about phase one and phase two, but there is one 20-point plan, and we cannot pick and choose what we implement,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/bead2f4b-c612-4e9d-ba5f-52f6714fce29-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with the Gaza Board of Peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov in Jerusalem on May 13, 2026. (Maayan Toaf\/GPO)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP26122384429413-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tPalestinians take part in a protest against the limited access to medical spare parts and batteries for deaf and hearing-impaired individuals in the Gaza Strip, as they gather in Gaza City, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (AP Photo\/Abdel Kareem Hana)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AFP__20260122__93M84XR__v1__HighRes__SwitzerlandUsPoliticsEconomyDiplomacy-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tNickolay Mladenov, Bulgarian High Representative for Gaza, speaks at the \u201cBoard of Peace\u201d meeting during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 22, 2026. (Photo by Mandel NGAN \/ AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/a472a1c2-18ff-4fe1-99a6-c314bed05de5-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tHamas terrorist Hamza Sharbasi is seen at the IDF\u2019s Nahal Oz base during the October 7, 2023, onslaught, in a photo released by the IDF on May 13, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)<\/p>\n
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