The United States’ high representative for Gaza, a member of President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, warned on Wednesday that the Israel‑Hamas ceasefire faces a critical turning point if it collapses.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, confronting a challenging re‑election campaign, publicly rebuffed the latest U.S. proposal intended to bring the Gaza conflict to an end earlier this month.
If fighting resumes, there will be no roadmap for a return, no governing administration to deploy, and no remaining infrastructure to rebuild—representing an irreversible point of no return for all parties, Mladenov told the UN Security Council.
The Hamas‑approved roadmap dated July 30 stipulates that weapon decommissioning will be overseen by the International Stabilization Force, a new unit tasked with deploying to Gaza once the situation stabilizes, and the force is headed by U.S. Major General Jasper Jeffers.
Hamas pledged to surrender its weapons to a newly formed Palestinian governing authority—a move that Netanyahu viewed skeptically while President Trump described as a breakthrough.
Mladenov noted that the second risk to the ceasefire emanates from Hamas, which has pledged to cease all military operations but has yet to fulfill that commitment entirely.
He added that each weapon, every functional tunnel, and each obstructed convoy further set back the process and give ammunition to those seeking to restart the war.
