A two-state solution will become “practically impossible” unless U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza is implemented, Board of Peace High Representative Nickolay Mladenov said on Monday, pointing to conditions in Judea and Samaria and to the division of the Gaza Strip.
More than 50% of Gaza remains under Israel Defense Forces control and less than 50% under the control of Hamas, Mladenov told the Hili Forum in Abu Dhabi.
Under those conditions, and “with everything that is happening in the West Bank,” there is “no credible pathway forward to a political resolution of the conflict,” he said.
A path forward requires transitional governance in Gaza, the decommissioning of weapons and an Israeli withdrawal, according to the envoy.
Nearly a year has passed since the adoption of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2803 that implemented Trump’s peace plan, he said. Since then, the parties have established the Palestinian-led National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) and held seven months of talks with Hamas on disarmament, mediated by Egypt, Turkey and Qatar.
The Board of Peace is making “good progress” on the International Stabilization Force for Gaza, Mladenov said, but is “a little bit stuck” on Israel’s commitments. He said the Israeli election campaign was “making things perhaps a bit complicated for domestic political reasons.”
Mladenov said political leaders and the international community face only three choices: continuing the current policy, an Israeli reoccupation of Gaza, or the Board of Peace road map, which he said was the only reasonable one.
IDF kills Hamas, Islamic Jihad terrorists in Gaza strikes
The IDF announced on Monday the elimination of two terrorists in separate strikes in the Gaza Strip.
Sabhi Hadr Al-Atham Al-Batrihi, whom the IDF identified as an Islamic Jihad operative involved in planting explosives targeting troops, was killed on Sunday in the Al-Shati area of Gaza City, according to the statement. Ahmad Fuad Khalil Khalas, identified by the military as a Hamas Nukhba terrorist who also planted explosives and operated against troops, was killed in a separate strike the previous week.
Both had advanced attacks against Israeli troops and civilians in violation of the ceasefire, according to the military.
