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<\/a><\/p>\nPublished On 13 May 202613 May 2026<\/p>\n
Nickolay Mladenov, the top diplomat overseeing the United States-brokered \u201cceasefire\u201d in Gaza as part of US President Donald Trump\u2019s International Board of Peace, has said he could envision a political role for Hamas in post-war Gaza if the Palestinian group disarms.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not asking Hamas to disappear as a political movement,\u201d Mladenov told reporters on Wednesday at a rare news conference in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
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He said the phased ceasefire deal was paralysed over Hamas not yet disarming, calling it \u201cnot negotiable\u201d.<\/p>\n
Disarmament remained a sticking point that stalled progress on other fronts, while Hamas blamed Israel for continuing to violate the truce.<\/p>\n
The first phase of the agreement saw the release of the last captives seized in southern Israel in October 2023, in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.<\/p>\n
The transition to the second phase envisioned Hamas handing over its weapons, Israeli forces withdrawing, and the rebuilding of destroyed swaths of the coastal enclave after more than two years of war.<\/p>\n
Seven months since the \u201cceasefire\u201d came into force on October 10, Israeli forces have killed at least 856 Palestinians and control more than 50 percent of the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n
Humanitarian groups say Israel has not allowed the promised amount of aid in, while Hamas refuses to give up its arsenal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only way that we believe that we can ensure that Israeli withdrawal takes place to the perimeter is if we have the full element of the plan unfolding in Gaza,\u201d Mladenov said.<\/p>\n
Hamas points finger at Israel<\/p>\n
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem responded to Mladenov, saying he should \u201cidentify the party violating the ceasefire\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cPressure must be exerted on the occupation to implement what was stated in the first phase and to enter into discussions regarding the second phase,\u201d Qassem said, adding that more than 850 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the \u201cceasefire\u201d came into effect.<\/p>\n
\u201cHamas responded positively to the proposals put forward by the mediators in order to reach reasonable and logical approaches,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), which tracks Israeli attacks in Gaza, said in \u2060a report<\/a> on Wednesday that Israel had carried out 35 percent more attacks in April than in March.<\/p>\n It added that Israel has been redirecting its firepower to the devastated Palestinian enclave in the five weeks since halting its joint bombing with the United States of Iran.<\/p>\n According to Gaza\u2019s Ministry of Health, 120 Palestinians, including eight women and 13 children, have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since the truce with Iran on April 8.<\/p>\n