The Peace Board, the international body overseeing the cease-fire in Gaza, created with the support of the United States, in which Albania and Kosovo also participate, will ask the UN Security Council to pressure Hamas to disarm. This is revealed in a report provided by the Associated Press, which is expected to be discussed on Thursday during the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East.

The document states that the main obstacle to the full implementation of the agreement remains the refusal of Hamas to accept verifiable disarmament, relinquish military control and allow a real civilian transition in Gaza.

A diplomat familiar with the content of the report confirmed its authenticity in conditions of anonymity, as the document has not yet been made public. The 20-point U.S. cease-fire plan calls for Hamas to hand over weapons, destroy the tunnel network, gradually withdraw Israeli forces from Gaza, establish a new Palestinian technocrat government, deploy an international security force and rebuild the territory after more than two years of war.

Last week, the head of the Peace Board and former UN envoy for the Middle East, Nickolay Mladenov, admitted that the ceasefire process has stalled since it came into force in October. According to him, the impasse over the disarmament of Hamas has paralyzed the progress of the agreement. The report states that the reconstruction of Gaza cannot begin without the disarmament of the armed groups.

“The critical factor, the one that unlocks every other element of the plan, remains the achievement of an agreement on the full implementation of the plan, which includes the total disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza,” the document notes.

Hamas rejected the report, stating that it contains “inaccuracies” and that it is trying to justify Israel’s daily ceasefire violations in Gaza. The Palestinian group accused Israel of failing to comply with most of the agreement’s obligations, including restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid and materials needed to rebuild basic infrastructure and house the displaced population.

According to Hamas, the insistence on disarmament is an attempt to sabotage the ceasefire agreement. The organization called on the Security Council and Mladenov to compel Israel to implement its obligations under the first phase of the agreement, especially a halt to daily attacks on Palestinians in Gaza.

The report also mentions almost daily violations of the ceasefire, some of them considered serious, with severe humanitarian consequences for civilians. The document states that families in Gaza continue to live in fear and that obstacles to humanitarian aid remain high. Meanwhile, the Israeli military continues airstrikes and has expanded territorial control in Gaza, currently holding about 60% of the territory.

Humanitarian conditions in Gaza are described as dramatic, with most of the nearly two million residents living in camps lacking basic services. Mladenov stated that his office is dealing daily with violations by both sides, but reiterated that the disarmament of Hamas remains a “non-negotiable” condition for the peace process to move forward. /topic

Source: prizrenpost