{"id":270199,"date":"2026-08-30T15:07:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T15:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/270199\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T15:07:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T15:07:22","slug":"trumps-gaza-peace-plan-trapped-between-hamas-disarmament-israeli-withdrawal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/270199\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Gaza peace plan trapped between Hamas disarmament, Israeli withdrawal"},"content":{"rendered":"

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz posted on X\/Twitter on August 28 that he had met with Board of Peace (BoP) High Representative Nikolay Mladenov<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a key partner in the work to secure Gaza\u2019s future, rid Hamas of its weapons, restore basic governance under a Committee of Palestinian technocrats, and build a real foundation for stability in the Middle East,\u201d the US diplomat noted.<\/p>\n

Waltz has posted several times about Gaza on social media recently. \u00a0A recent video he shared was of himself speaking at the United Nations. \u201cRemember the Security Council\u2019s pledge: Gaza cannot sustainably rebuild while Hamas retains the ability to plunge it back into war. We will be frozen in a cycle of humanitarian aid rather than rebuilding until Hamas disarms and demilitarizes.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said, \u201cFor the first time in modern history, a new future for Gaza without war or terrorist overlords is credibly in reach. To get there, we all must implement the 15-point plan for Hamas to disarm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Mladenov<\/a> has also been outspoken. He has posted about how the peace process can only move forward after an International Stabilization Force (ISF) is deployed. He says that Hamas also has to adhere to its commitments. Israel also has commitments under the 1999 Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum.<\/p>\n

In addition, Hamas has to disarm. Mladenov says this means every category of weapon in Gaza has to be decommissioned. Only after that happens will Israel redeploy or withdraw forces.<\/p>\n

\"NickolayNickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace\u2019s lead envoy for Gaza. The offer conveyed by Hamas presupposes that the Board of Peace and its Palestinian administrative committee are up and running, but this is not the case currently, the writer says. (credit: Christian Levaux\/Reuters)<\/p>\n

This is supposed to happen in \u201cphases\u201d that are \u201cperformance-based.\u201d Everything has to be verified along the way. He also posted that Hamas and other groups have agreed to hand over their weapons and transfer governance to a new \u201cfull governing authority.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the IDF continues almost daily strikes in Gaza<\/a>. Mladenov wrote in early August that \u201ctwo days of strikes across Gaza have killed civilians and destroyed medical supplies that people depend on. This comes after intense efforts by the Board of Peace and the mediators (Egypt, Turkey, Qatar, and the US) to bring the Palestinian factions in Gaza to agree to a roadmap on the full implementation of President Donald Trump\u2019s plan, to hand over civilian governance and to decommission their weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cBoth parties carry obligations under the Comprehensive Plan and the Sharm el-Sheikh deal that secured the release of all hostages.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear what progress has been made this month. \u00a0The AP reported that Burundi and Uganda had sent personnel to Israel to discuss deploying as part of the ISF. They are the latest to do this. Albania and Kosovo also did this several months ago. However, so far, not many troops have actually arrived for the ISF.<\/p>\n

Mladenov working hard on securing end to conflict<\/p>\n

THERE IS no doubt that those such as Mladenov are working hard. He wrote, \u201cMy team and I are working around the clock with the parties, the mediators, and regional partners to de-escalate and create the space for the full implementation of the president\u2019s plan. Achieving a lasting peace is hard but achievable if everyone makes their best efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The BoP has also posted Mladenov\u2019s UN comments. \u201cGaza\u2019s crisis<\/a> has never been only a security or humanitarian problem. It has always been a political and governance problem. The National Committee is composed of independent Palestinian professionals. Its purpose is to govern during the transition and restore effective administration,\u201d it noted, quoting the high representative.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis transition will ultimately be judged not by the structures we establish but by whether Palestinians experience greater security, more reliable services, and a measurable improvement in daily life,\u201d it shared.<\/p>\n

Despite all the statements, it continues to be clear there is a catch-22 in Gaza.<\/p>\n

No weapons have been decommissioned so far. Hamas has not handed over governance.<\/p>\n

Hamas continues to control the lives of 2 million people in Gaza. The people have no way to leave the Hamas-controlled area, because the rest of Gaza is either controlled by the IDF or has active armed militias.<\/p>\n

There is nowhere for civilians to go if they don\u2019t want to live under Hamas rule. The IDF won\u2019t withdraw at all unless all of Hamas\u2019s weapons are collected. Those weapons likely can\u2019t be collected unless civilians can leave the Hamas area and a new governance authority is established.<\/p>\n

THE ESSENCE of the Gaza peace plan now appears to be a catch-22. This is because it continues to trap two million civilians under Hamas rule with no way for them to actually receive the new governance they had been promised under the plan.<\/p>\n

The lack of deployment of the ISF into Gaza, and the inability to create any zone that is Hamas-free and also open to civilians, means that the plan can\u2019t proceed according to its vision.<\/p>\n

The plan has been in place for almost a year. In July and August last year, Israel was involved in operations in Gaza City. The IDF was also re-conquering areas it had previously taken in Gaza City. Israeli officials were saying that the IDF would raze these areas and blow up the high-rise buildings, as had been done in around 40% of Gaza. Hundreds of thousands of people from Gaza City were displaced again, as they had been several times during the war.<\/p>\n

The hostages were still being held in Gaza. The Trump administration, exasperated by the lack of progress and watching another IDF operation unfold that had only tactical goals, moved to pressure numerous states to get a ceasefire deal.<\/p>\n

The US-backed Gaza Peace Plan emerged in late September 2025 as President Donald Trump unveiled a 20-point framework designed to end the war in Gaza and create a roadmap for long-term stability. The plan was endorsed by the UN Security Council in Resolution 2803 on November 17, 2025, following a ceasefire that began in October 2025. The framework sought not only to halt fighting but also to establish a new political, security, and economic order in Gaza under international supervision.<\/p>\n

The Gaza plan was good on paper. It had all the ingredients of what needed to happen. Hamas was supposed to be replaced with a new technocratic National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), run by Palestinians.<\/p>\n

There was supposed to be a police force and security for ordinary people. Disarmament was going to happen, and then there would be investment for reconstruction.<\/p>\n

The Board of Peace would oversee implementation, coordinate donor funding, and verify compliance with the agreement.<\/p>\n

Iran war stalled situation in Gaza<\/p>\n

This seemed to proceed well into January 2026.<\/p>\n

However, the Iran war led to the US focusing instead on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. Gaza was largely forgotten along with the two million people living there. With no journalists allowed into Gaza, most of the world could move on and not recall that there were urgent needs for things to move forward.<\/p>\n

The US-backed CMCC, set up with the support of the Central Command in Kiryat Gaza, enabled humanitarian aid to flow. Numerous countries joined in the effort. This, along with a logistics hub being established near the Gaza border to support the ISF, all seemed like good progress. However, the thousands of personnel and troops that were supposed to be part of the ISF did not show up. Instead, only a handful arrived to cautiously examine how the ISF would deploy.<\/p>\n

The challenge has always been in the details of implementation. Hamas thrives by controlling the lives of two million people trapped under its rule. Without any way for those people to leave the Hamas-run zone, the continued role of Hamas is guaranteed.<\/p>\n

It will be difficult or impossible to collect weapons from Hamas so long as it controls 2 million people and can hide among them. The lack of creating a space in Gaza, with the ISF and NCAG, to enable people to move to a non-Hamas zone, means that the plan will face an endless catch-22.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration likely knows this. Israel\u2019s October 27 election may also play into this. Some will argue that Israeli political leaders can\u2019t do anything on Gaza because they have to look \u201cstrong\u201d for the election.<\/p>\n

Therefore, no progress can be made until after the election. Then, after the election, the argument may be that no one can do anything on Gaza because the coalition has to be kept together and some small parties may leave the coalition over objections to Gaza policy. Once again, this creates an endless catch-22 that looms over Gaza policy. For the US and others to break this cycle, they will need to provide more than statements about the process for Gaza.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz posted on X\/Twitter on August 28 that he had met with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[38,6437,496,6438,5656,6439,37,34785],"class_list":["post-270199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-donald-trump","tag-donald-trumps-gaza-deal","tag-gaza","tag-gaza-ceasefire","tag-gaza-war","tag-gazan-board-of-peace","tag-israel","tag-nickolay-mladenov"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117185088564153422","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}