A top official on the US-backed Board of Peace (BoP) in Gaza has confirmed that negotiations with Hamas over disarmament have effectively stalled.
"We’ve had some very serious discussions with Hamas over the last few weeks. They’re not easy,” Nickolay Mladenov, the BoP’s High Representative for Gaza, told Reuters.
During the interview on Monday, he confirmed that no disarmament agreement has been reached as yet, despite the New York Times reporting earlier this month that he had given the terror group a one-week ultimatum to sign up to his terms.
These, the report added, would be based on the proposal outlined by Washington, which would see Hamas give up its heavy weaponry immediately and then relinquish smaller arms progressively, matching pace with the planned IDF withdrawal from Gaza. That deadline, though, expired ten days ago.
Per the New York Times, Hamas produced its own counter-proposal last week, which would see it give up thousands of automatic rifles and “other weapons” currently used by its internal security forces.
But it would see the group retain much of its artillery and other heavy armaments, including rockets and missiles.
The group also said it would only give its weapons to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), the technocratic Palestinian committee set up under the BoP to govern Gaza day-to-day following a permanent ceasefire, but it is not clear whether the committee has the power to enforce any deal.
Nonetheless, Mladenov insisted he was “fairly optimistic that we will be able to come up with an arrangement that works for all sides and, most importantly, works for the people in Gaza”.
"It obviously will take time, but we’re trying to make sure that the arrangements for the implementation of the plan are agreed to as quickly as possible,” he went on.
"We have a matter of days, maximum a couple of weeks, that is my assessment. Because otherwise we will lose the momentum of what we have, and then every decision will become even more difficult…. [but] a good way forward that is being discussed with both sides.”
And he also insisted that the estimated $71 billion required to redevelop Gaza in accordance with the US plan would be available, saying: “All the monies that were committed in Washington are there for the Board of Peace.
"We don’t have any financial issues related to the work of the Board of Peace.”
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