Nickolay Mladenov, the head diplomat in charge of the Board of Peace’s subcommittee on the Gaza ceasefire, stressed on Friday that all armed groups in the Gaza Strip must disarm.
Mladenov was responding on social media to a post by Aaron Goren, an analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, who wondered why Mladenov refused to respond to a question on whether reports that Hamas will only be partially disarmed as part of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan are accurate.
“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,” responded Mladenov.
“But,” he continued, “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.”
The comments follow a report in The New York Times that the US is considering allowing Hamas to retain light weapons.
Responding to the report, a senior official involved in the Board of Peace initiative told Ynet that disarmament would proceed in stages, with small arms being the last category addressed.
According to the official, Hamas has resisted surrendering all weapons at once, arguing that rival clans in Gaza could target its members if it disarms immediately.
Under the emerging framework, disarmament will begin with the dismantling of tunnels, followed by the destruction of weapons manufacturing facilities, then the removal of rocket-propelled grenades and mortars, and finally, small arms, according to the Ynet report.
Hamas has repeatedly refused to disarm, even though Trump’s peace plan stipulates that the terrorist group lay down its weapons. Hamas claims its weapons are used for “self-defense against the occupation.”
Senior Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal this week reaffirmed the terrorist group’s refusal to comply with Trump’s call to lay down arms, saying, “As long as our people are under occupation, talk of disarmament is an attempt to turn our people into victims, to make their elimination easier and to facilitate their destruction at the hands of the Israeli side, which is armed with every international means of warfare.”
Trump said last week that Hamas has to give up its weapons, warning that if it does not, it will be destroyed.
“Now [that the war has ended] they have to disarm,” Trump stated. “Some people say they won’t, but they will, and if they don’t, they’re gonna not be around any longer. But they agreed to disarm.”
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News’ North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)
Source link
