Hamas accuses Israel of 'coup'

Hamas said on May 23 that Israel was carrying out a “coup” against the October 2025 Gaza agreement and said it rejected a proposal associated with Nickolay Mladenov, the envoy tied to the U.S.-backed “Board of Peace” process. The group said the proposal rewrote the terms of the existing ceasefire by shifting the focus to Hamas’s weapons instead of Israeli obligations on crossings, reconstruction and military withdrawals. Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said the dispute came after months in which the truce reduced major fighting but did not deliver the civilian measures promised for Gaza. The argument has become one of the clearest signs that the ceasefire’s unresolved second phase remains contested. ### What exactly is Hamas accusing Israel of changing? Hamas said the Mladenov-linked paper altered the sequence and substance of the October 10, 2025 ceasefire arrangement. According to the Palestine Chronicle, Hamas said Israel was trying to replace agreed commitments on reopening crossings, reconstruction and broader implementation with a narrower demand centered on disarmament. Nickolay Mladenov has been described in multiple reports as the “High Representative for Gaza” for the Board of Peace, a body linked to President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan. Reports in March and April said the proposal under discussion called for the decommissioning of Hamas weapons and the transfer of security control in Gaza to a technocratic body, making disarmament a central condition for longer-term rebuilding. (palestinechronicle.com) ### Where do the casualty and reconstruction figures come from? Basem Naim said roughly 900 Palestinians had been killed and about 2,600 wounded since the ceasefire took effect in October, according to the Palestine Chronicle report cited in the initial claim. He also said reconstruction supplies such as cement, wood and glass had not entered Gaza in any meaningful way. (usnews.com) Gisha, an Israeli rights group that tracks movement and access restrictions, published lower figures through March 29, saying Gaza health authorities had recorded 702 people killed and 1,913 injured since the October 10, 2025 ceasefire. That gap suggests Naim was referring to a later date range, but both accounts describe continued deaths and injuries after the formal truce began. (palestinechronicle.com) ### What is Mladenov’s proposal supposed to do? March reporting by the Associated Press, republished by U.S. News, said the proposal was central to plans for Gaza’s future administration and reconstruction and called for the “complete decommissioning” of Hamas weapons. Other reporting said the paper was presented in Cairo meetings involving Mladenov and other Board of Peace officials. (gisha.org) April and May reports from Palestinian and regional outlets said Hamas and other factions rejected the paper as a reversal of the understandings reached last October. Hamas spokesmen said Mladenov was adopting Israel’s narrative and ignoring what they described as Israeli violations of the first phase of the agreement. ### Has the ceasefire delivered any of its promised civilian terms? (usnews.com) Al Jazeera reported in April that food aid flows had improved after the ceasefire but remained limited and below needs, while border crossings continued to operate intermittently. J Street, in an April assessment, said the 20-point Trump ceasefire plan had largely stalled beyond the initial pause in fighting, hostage exchanges and an early increase in aid. (english.palinfo.com) Those accounts match Hamas’s core complaint that the truce has existed on paper more fully than in day-to-day civilian life. The available reporting does not show large-scale reconstruction moving ahead, and the main dispute now appears to be whether disarmament must come before the broader commitments on rebuilding and crossings. (aljazeera.com) ### Who is involved in the next round of talks? Cairo has been the reported venue for meetings involving Hamas delegates, Mladenov and other Board of Peace officials, including Aryeh Lightstone, according to Al Manassa and other reports. Hamas officials said in those meetings that the current paper was unacceptable unless it was changed. No new public timetable for a revised proposal was clear in the reporting available on May 24, 2026. (palestinechronicle.com) The next concrete step to watch is whether Mladenov or Board of Peace mediators circulate an amended paper that addresses crossings, reconstruction supplies and the sequencing of any disarmament demand. (english.palinfo.com) (manassa.news)