Board Of Peace Envoy Nikolai Mladenov was highly critical of Israel’s policy in Gaza during remarks to the UN Security Council yesterday. According to The Times of Israel, he took particular issue with Israeli restrictions on shelter supplies for Palestinians living in squalid conditions in the Strip, while also calling out Jerusalem’s policy of continued strikes in Gaza, arguing that they have not, and will not, lead to Hamas’s disarmament.
At the same time, he criticized Hamas for not fulfilling its own commitments under the disarmament plan, which required both sides to halt all military activities. One might ask how could Hamas be expected to disarm when Israel is continuing its war and genocide under the cover of a supposed ceasefire agreement?
Mladenov told the Security Council that Israel is not being asked to accept the disarmament roadmap, but rather to reaffirm the commitments that it made as part of Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan, which Netanyahu accepted in September ahead of a ceasefire the following month. “While Israel has reaffirmed that framework, important questions of implementation still remain open,” Mladenov said, effectively acknowledging that Israel has not kept all of those commitments, which require ending military operations and surging humanitarian aid into the Strip.
Mladenov said needs in Gaza have shifted from food to sanitation, water and energy, which are being addressed by the UN, international organizations and Israel. Shelter, on the other hand, remains sorely lacking in Gaza, where the majority of the population of 2 million people are still living in tents. Mladenov laid blame directly on Israel for the situation, in rare and direct criticism of the Jewish state from the senior envoy of a US-controlled body. “Winter is around the corner, and Israel’s present policy on quality shelter is not acceptable,” he said. “The Board of Peace urges the State of Israel to allow better shelter into the Strip for dignity, for health, and for safety.”
