Mladenov says Hamas must disarm

Nickolay Mladenov said on May 13 that progress in Gaza’s ceasefire talks depends on Hamas giving up its weapons, describing disarmament as a non-negotiable condition for moving into the next phase of the U.S.-brokered deal. Speaking in Jerusalem after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mladenov said Hamas did not have to vanish as a political movement, but could not continue as an armed force if reconstruction, Israeli troop pullbacks and a new governing arrangement were to proceed. Mladenov’s formulation matters because it tries to separate Hamas’s political future from its military wing. “We are not asking Hamas to disappear as a political movement,” he said, while also saying the group’s obligation to surrender its arsenal was “not negotiable,” according to reports from Jerusalem. He linked that issue directly to other parts of the ceasefire package, including Israeli withdrawal to a perimeter, the arrival of a technocratic Palestinian administration and the start of large-scale rebuilding in Gaza. (pbs.org) The ceasefire Mladenov was discussing has been in place since October 10, 2025, but implementation has stalled on the transition to phase two. Under the framework described by AP and Al Jazeera, the next stage was supposed to pair Hamas disarmament with further Israeli withdrawals and reconstruction steps. Instead, Mladenov said seven months after the truce took effect, the process was still blocked, with his office handling violations by both sides on a daily basis. (pbs.org) A 35% increase in Israeli attacks in Gaza in April compared with March has added to evidence that the ceasefire is holding only in a limited sense. ACLED, the conflict monitor cited by Reuters and Al Jazeera, said Israeli attacks rose after the Iran war was paused on April 8. Reuters also reported, citing the Gaza Health Ministry, that 120 Palestinians were killed in Gaza in the five weeks after that pause, 20% more than in the previous five-week period. (pbs.org) Israeli officials have tied the stepped-up strikes to what they say is Hamas’s effort to rebuild its forces. Reuters reported that four Israeli defense officials said the military had warned Netanyahu’s government in recent weeks that Hamas was tightening its grip, rebuilding forces and making weapons. An Israeli military official, speaking anonymously to Reuters, said the ceasefire still allowed Israel to act against imminent threats and that wider battle plans had been prepared in case fighting resumed. (usnews.com) Hamas has rejected the demand that it disarm first and says Israel is the side failing to carry out the agreement. Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said pressure should be put on Israel to implement first-phase commitments and enter talks on the second phase, according to Al Jazeera. That position leaves the core dispute unchanged: Hamas wants movement on withdrawals and other commitments, while Mladenov and Israel are insisting that weapons cannot remain outside the control of a new authority. (usnews.com) An April 7 analysis by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies described a phased disarmament proposal under which a transitional Gaza authority would take over security and administration, heavier Hamas weapons would be surrendered, and a committee led by Mladenov would oversee verification. The same analysis said Hamas had rejected disarmament and was attempting to rearm, though that account came from a policy institute rather than from the ceasefire parties themselves. (aljazeera.com) The next test is still the second phase of the Gaza deal. Mladenov said in Jerusalem that Israeli withdrawal to the perimeter required “the full elements of the plan” to unfold in Gaza, while Hamas continues to argue that Israel must first meet earlier commitments. As of May 13, the named participants in that next step remained Mladenov, Netanyahu, Hamas representatives and the mediators handling the ceasefire track. (fdd.org) (pbs.org)