Israel steps up Gaza attacks 35%

Nickolay Mladenov said on May 13 that the Gaza ceasefire had stalled over Hamas' disarmament, underscoring a deadlock that has also halted reconstruction in the devastated enclave. The Bulgarian diplomat, serving as the lead envoy for the U.S.-backed Board of Peace in Gaza, said progress on the truce's next phase had failed to meet expectations on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides. At the same time, Israeli attacks in Gaza have intensified in the five weeks since Israel halted its joint bombing campaign with the United States in Iran, according to Reuters reporting and conflict-monitor data. Israeli military officials say they believe Hamas is using the pause in broader regional fighting to regroup and rearm. ### Why did the ceasefire stop moving? Mladenov said in Jerusalem on Wednesday that the central obstacle is Hamas' refusal to disarm, a condition he described as essential to moving the process forward. He said the issue was "not negotiable" and linked it directly to delays in reconstruction, Israeli troop-withdrawal steps and political arrangements for postwar Gaza. (pbs.org) PBS and AP reported that Mladenov said months without progress had benefited neither Israelis nor Palestinians. Al Jazeera, citing the same developments, reported that Mladenov said Hamas could still have a political role in Gaza if it gave up its weapons. ### How much have Israeli attacks increased? ACLED, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project, said Israeli attacks in Gaza rose 35% in April from March, according to reports published on May 13. (pbs.org) Reuters reported that the increase followed Israel's April 8 halt to its joint campaign with the United States against Iran, after which Israeli fire was redirected back toward Gaza. The Gaza Health Ministry said 120 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli attacks since April 8, including eight women and 13 children, according to Reuters and Al Jazeera. Those reports said the death toll represented a 20% increase compared with the prior five-week period, when Israeli forces were also striking Iran. ### What is Israel saying about Hamas? (aljazeera.com) Israeli military officials told Reuters they believe Hamas fighters are tightening their grip in parts of Gaza and trying to rebuild capabilities after months of war. That assessment has been used to explain the renewed pace of Israeli attacks, even as ceasefire diplomacy remains formally in place. (aljazeera.com) Reuters reported from Cairo, Jerusalem and Gaza that Israel sees a risk of Hamas rearming while negotiations drag on. That position aligns with Mladenov's public insistence that disarmament must come before wider recovery steps can proceed. ### What does the deadlock mean for rebuilding Gaza? Reconstruction has been paralyzed because the ceasefire's later phases were supposed to open the way for rebuilding, governance arrangements and further military pullbacks, according to AP's account of Mladenov's remarks. (usnews.com) Instead, the dispute over weapons has left those steps pending while much of Gaza remains in ruins. Bloomberg reported that the Board of Peace for Gaza was preparing a 15-point plan centered on Hamas' disarmament, which it described as a key obstruction to rehabilitation efforts. Reuters and AP both said Mladenov tied practical recovery measures directly to that unresolved demand. ### What happens next in the talks? Mladenov said the next phase still depends on whether mediators can bridge the dispute over Hamas' weapons, and he presented that as the threshold issue for reconstruction and political planning. (pbs.org) No new breakthrough date was announced on May 13, according to the published reports. The next public markers are likely to come from statements by Mladenov, Israeli officials or Hamas representatives as negotiations over phase two continue. (bloomberg.com) Reuters reported on May 13 that Israeli operations were still intensifying even as those talks remained unresolved. (usnews.com) (pbs.org)