US-backed envoy Nickolay Mladenov promoted a Hamas disarmament plan as Israel's 'sole guarantee' against future attacks. However, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the plan, vowing no troop withdrawal until Hamas is 'genuinely' disarmed.
Envoy Pitches Disarmament Plan as Israel's 'Sole Guarantee'
US-backed Board of Peace High Representative Nickolay Mladenov has attempted to counter scepticism in Israel regarding the board's proposed roadmap for disarming Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Times of Israel reported that Mladenov, in his interview with Channel 12, argued that fully implementing the plan is Israel's sole "guarantee" against a recurrence of the October 7, 2023, massacre, emphasising that the process relies on verifiable actions rather than trust in the terror group.
The roadmap aims "to make sure that Gaza is never again a threat to Israeli security, that what happened before October 7 never happens again," Mladenov told Channel 12, referencing the 2023 Hamas-led assault in southern Israel that triggered the ongoing conflict, Times of Israel reported. "What happened on October 7 will never ever be allowed to happen, as long as we have a full implementation of the Board of Peace's plan... The option that we are offering today is the only way that we move forward that guarantees that this tragedy will not occur again," he said.
Addressing security concerns, Mladenov stressed that verification would precede any strategic shifts on the ground. "Nobody is required to do anything - last of all Israel - before we actually have verified steps on the ground," Mladenov stated. "If there is verified decommissioning of weapons, that they are taken away from the factions, and stored, and ultimately rendered unusable, Israel then withdraws from Gaza."
Mladenov also emphasised that the framework would preserve Israel's freedom to act against "imminent" threats. "None of the plan that we are preparing limits Israel's options to react to a threat if it's imminent and if it's really endangering its troops," Times of Israel cited him as saying.
While noting that eradicating Hamas's vast network of tunnels in the Strip would normally require "more than a decade," Mladenov asserted that cooperating through the Board of Peace could expedite the timeline. "With the Board of Peace, together, it can be done much quicker and much more effectively," he added, according to The Times of Israel.
Netanyahu Rejects Plan, Vows No Withdrawal
Mladenov's interview aired just hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected US President Donald Trump's 15-point Gaza peace plan and denied to withdraw its forces from the enclave until Hamas is "genuinely" disarmed. "Israel rejects the 15-point document," Netanyahu said, referring to a proposal endorsed in late July by Hamas, according to Israeli media.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Netanyahu emphasised that the Israeli military "will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed, and will continue to thwart threats against our forces and our citizens."
Facing pressure from far-right coalition partners urging a fresh cabinet vote to abandon the peace plan, Netanyahu, who is locked in a competitive electoral race according to opinion polls, noted that Israel remains in discussions with Washington on the issue. "They have ideas; some of them are acceptable to us, and some are not, and we know how to stand our ground on these matters," he stated.
Trump's 15-point framework outlines a phased strategy aimed at terminating the Gaza conflict, disarming armed factions, withdrawing Israeli troops, and transitioning governance of the strip to a Palestinian technocratic body, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza. (ANI)
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