Mladenov says Hamas must disarm

Nickolay Mladenov said on May 13 that the Gaza ceasefire had stalled over Hamas’s refusal to disarm, casting the issue as the central obstacle to reconstruction, Israeli troop withdrawals and the formation of a new Palestinian government. Speaking in Jerusalem, the senior diplomat overseeing the U.S.-brokered truce said Hamas giving up its arsenal was “not negotiable,” even as he said the group did not have to vanish as a political movement. The remarks laid out the clearest public account yet from the ceasefire’s overseers of why the next phase has not begun seven months after the truce took effect in October. Mladenov said both sides were violating the agreement, but he argued the deadlock over disarmament had paralyzed the broader plan promised to Palestinians and Israelis. (pbs.org) ### What exactly did Mladenov say Hamas must do? Mladenov told reporters in Jerusalem on Wednesday that Hamas’s obligation to surrender its weapons and dismantle its military capacity was a core condition of the ceasefire framework. He said reconstruction could not proceed while armed groups remained active in Gaza and described the disarmament clause as essential to moving the deal into its next stage. (pbs.org) Al Jazeera and PBS, citing Mladenov’s remarks, reported that the ceasefire’s next phase envisions Hamas handing over its weapons, Israeli forces withdrawing and a technocratic Palestinian government taking shape alongside rebuilding efforts. Mladenov said that sequence had stopped because Hamas had not disarmed. (pbs.org) ### Did he say Hamas had to disappear from Gaza politics? Mladenov said the answer was no. He told reporters, “We are not asking Hamas to disappear as a political movement,” while insisting that armed groups could not continue operating in postwar Gaza. That distinction framed the demand as demilitarisation rather than the elimination of Hamas as a political actor. (pbs.org) Mladenov said a future role was possible if the group disarmed, but he did not outline a mechanism for how that would be implemented or enforced if Hamas refused. ### What has Hamas said in response? (aljazeera.com) Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesperson, said Mladenov should identify Israel as the side violating the ceasefire and press it to carry out the commitments in the first phase before moving to the second. He said Hamas had responded positively to proposals from mediators and accused Israel of failing to implement what had already been agreed. (aljazeera.com) The Palestinian group has linked any demilitarisation to Israeli troop pullbacks, according to PBS. Mladenov, by contrast, said Israeli withdrawal to the perimeter depended on “the full elements of the plan unfolding in Gaza,” tying the two issues together but not accepting Hamas’s sequencing. ### Has the violence actually eased under the ceasefire? (aljazeera.com) ACLED said on May 13 that Israeli attacks in Gaza rose 35% in April from March, according to a report cited by Al Jazeera. The same report said at least 120 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since April 8, when the U.S.-Israel war on Iran paused, citing Gaza’s Health Ministry figures. (pbs.org) Al Jazeera also reported that Israeli forces still control more than half of Gaza and that more than 850 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire took effect in October. Mladenov said the truce had largely held and prevented a return to full-scale war, but he also said conditions for Gaza’s roughly 2 million residents remained dire. (aljazeera.com) ### What is stuck now, in practical terms? Seven months after the ceasefire began on October 10, reconstruction has not moved as promised and the political transition envisioned by the plan has not taken hold, according to Mladenov’s public remarks. He said the impasse was blocking housing, aid-linked recovery and the broader roadmap discussed with Hamas representatives. (pbs.org) The next test is whether mediators can bridge the sequencing dispute between Hamas and the ceasefire sponsors. Mladenov said the roadmap had been discussed with Hamas multiple times, while Qassem said pressure should now fall on Israel to implement the first-phase terms and enter second-phase talks. (egypttoday.com)