Board of Peace official says ceasefire breaches threaten Gaza transition plan

Board of Peace envoy for Gaza and former UN envoy to the Middle East, Nickolay Mladenov, warned on Friday that repeated violations of the Gaza ceasefire are undermining the work of the technocratic committee intended to serve as Gaza’s future governing body in place of Hamas.

“We need to make sure that what is happening now with the violations of the ceasefire stops,” Mladenov said at the Munich Security Conference without specifying whether he was referring to Israel or the Hamas terrorist group.

Hamas has repeatedly violated the ceasefire by attacking Israeli soldiers or trying to cross the Yellow Line, which currently separates the Israeli-controlled part of Gaza. The IDF has responded with military force against Hamas combatants in Gaza.

The committee, officially known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) under the U.S. Gaza ceasefire plan, reportedly consists of local officials who are neither affiliated with Hamas nor with the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Under the current proposal, the NCAG would assume responsibility for civilian governance and coordinate large-scale reconstruction efforts once security conditions allow its deployment inside Gaza. However, its members have not yet entered the territory due to ongoing instability.

“If you put the committee tomorrow in Gaza and the violations of the ceasefire continue the way they are now. We’re only embarrassing the committee and ultimately making it ineffective,” Mladenov added.

Mladenov outlined several prerequisites for the committee’s entry, stating, “The first condition is that Hamas must transfer civilian control of the institutions in Gaza.” He emphasized that the transition process is complex, adding, “This is not a government coming in after an election. This is far much more complicated.”

He said that Hamas must transfer the control of institutions in Gaza to the NCAG, while acknowledging that the process is complex and “requires a little bit more careful planning and verification.”

He also stressed that improvements in humanitarian access are essential, calling for “a radical increase in the aid going into Gaza – materials that have been long needed: temporary housing, tents, caravans, medicine, food – everything that is required … so people can quickly see some basic change in their lives.”

The envoy also said, “We need to make sure that we have the framework agreed in place on the decommissioning of weapons in Gaza.”

Mladenov further noted that future governance arrangements would require effective security mechanisms on the ground, saying a restructured Palestinian police force, supported by an international stabilization presence, would be necessary to help maintain order once the transition begins.

Earlier on Friday, Israeli IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir warned that Israeli troops would “respond to any violation” and not back down from the goal of disarming Hamas as a military force in Gaza.

The Gaza ceasefire stipulates that Hamas must be disarmed as part of the efforts to demilitarize the coastal strip. However, senior Hamas leaders, including Khaled Meshaal, have so far rejected the international demands for disarmament. Hamas has said that it is also opposed to an international administration governing Gaza.