The lead representative for Gaza on United States President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace has issued a stark warning, stating that the failure of current ceasefire efforts would represent a “point of no return.” Nickolay Mladenov, the board’s high representative, delivered this assessment to the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday, cautioning that a return to active conflict would leave no viable roadmap, no administration to manage the territory, and nothing remaining to rebuild.
This warning follows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s public rejection of the 15-point peace plan, which Washington maintains is intended to conclude the war in Gaza. While Hamas agreed on July 30 to a roadmap that includes the decommissioning of weapons under the supervision of an International Stabilization Force—a unit led by US Major General Jasper Jeffers—Netanyahu has insisted that Israel will not withdraw its forces until Hamas fully disarms.
The proposed transition involves the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, a body of independent Palestinian technocrats tasked with managing civil services and humanitarian relief. Mladenov highlighted that, for the first time, Hamas and other armed factions have committed to transferring both civilian and security authority to a transitional administration recognized by the UN. However, he noted that Hamas has yet to fully meet its commitment to cease all military activities, emphasizing that ongoing tunnel work and obstructed aid convoys continue to undermine the process.
The human toll of the conflict remains severe. Since the US-brokered ceasefire began in October, Gaza’s Ministry of Health reports that at least 1,288 Palestinians have been killed and 4,290 wounded. These figures follow the broader conflict that began on October 7, 2023, when attacks by Hamas and other groups in southern Israel resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and 240 abductees, leading to a total Palestinian death toll of at least 73,422.
Diplomatic tensions are further complicated by actions in the occupied West Bank. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, told the Security Council that Israeli land annexations are actively destroying prospects for regional peace. He specifically pointed to the recent release of bidding tenders for the E1 settlement project as evidence that the Israeli government is intentionally working to dismantle the 15-point peace plan. The report also notes that there will be no administration to deploy and there will be nothing left on the ground to rebuild, a resumption of fighting in Gaza would mean there would be “no roadmap to return to. The report also notes that a framework that Netanyahu immediately opposed even as Trump hailed the plan as a breakthrough, hamas has pledged to hand over its weapons to a new Palestinian governing body. The report also notes that he added that “the second risk [to the ceasefire] runs in the opposite direction. The report also notes that that commitment is still to be met in full.”. The report also notes that every tunnel still worked on and every convoy still obstructed sets the process back and hands an argument to those who want to resume war.”, mladenov emphasised that “every weapon carried.
