Briefing UN Security Council, Mladenov pans Israeli restrictions on shelter supplies, argues that continued IDF strikes haven’t led to demilitarization, nor will they
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By JACOB MAGID FOLLOW26 August 2026, 7:58 pm
The Board of Peace’s High Representative for Gaza Nickolay Mladenov briefs the UN Security Council in New York on August 26, 2026. (Screen capture)
The Board of Peace’s Gaza envoy briefed the UN Security Council on the status of the US-run body’s efforts to rebuild Gaza on Wednesday, touting Hamas’s acceptance of a disarmament plan while effectively acknowledging that progress has since stalled amid Israel’s rejection of the proposal.
Nickolay Mladenov took particular issue with Israeli restrictions on shelter supplies for Palestinians living in squalid conditions in the Strip, while also calling out Jerusalem’s policy of continued strikes in Gaza, arguing that they have not led, and will not lead, to Hamas’s disarmament.
At the same time, he criticized the terror group for not fulfilling its own commitments under the disarmament plan, which required both sides to halt all military activities.Keep Watching
An Arab diplomat from one of the mediating countries told The Times of Israel earlier this month that the Board of Peace has been leaning on Hamas to cease deploying armed and uniformed men on the streets of Gaza. Those shows of force have intensified since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s public rejection of the disarmament plan, which would see Israel gradually withdraw from Gaza.
Netanyahu argued that the proposal accepted by Hamas on July 30 won’t actually lead to Hamas’s disarmament and declared that Jerusalem will therefore not adhere to its required phased pullouts from the Strip.
Mladenov told the Security Council that Israel is not being asked to accept the disarmament roadmap, but rather to reaffirm the commitments that it made as part of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan, which Netanyahu accepted in September ahead of a ceasefire the following month.
“While Israel has reaffirmed that framework, important questions of implementation still remain open,” Mladenov said, effectively acknowledging that Israel has not kept all of those commitments, which require ending military operations and surging humanitarian aid into the Strip.
Hamas’s acceptance of the disarmament was meant to trigger a 14-day period during which the sides would put together a timeline for the phased disarmament and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
But that two-week period has yet to commence, with little optimism for progress or flexibility from Netanyahu as the October 27 Knesset election approaches.
Mladenov noted that humanitarian conditions in Gaza have improved dramatically from last year, when a global hunger monitor declared for the first time that famine had struck the densely populated northern Gaza Strip.
Although it blocked the entry of aid into Gaza for more than two months last year, Israel has vehemently denied orchestrating a famine and accused Hamas of stealing supplies. Recently released data suggests that while devastating hunger was widespread, the threshold for famine was not met.
The Board of Peace envoy said needs in Gaza have shifted from food to sanitation, water and energy, which are being addressed by the UN, international organizations and Israel.
Shelter, on the other hand, remains sorely lacking in Gaza, where the majority of the population of 2 million people are still living in tents.
Mladenov laid blame directly on Israel for the situation, in rare and direct criticism of the Jewish state from the senior envoy of a US-controlled body.
r, and Israel’s present policy on quality shelter is not acceptable,” he said. “The Board of Peace urges the State of Israel to allow better shelter into the Strip for dignity, for health, and for safety.”
He also called out Israel for refusing to halt its strikes in Gaza, noting that the near-daily strikes, which Israel says are targeting Hamas operatives, have continued killing Palestinian civilians.
Questioning the logic of Israel’s policy of continued strikes in Gaza, Mladenov asked the Security Council, “Will another strike on a munitions depot stop Hamas from rearming or tightening its grip on Gaza?”
“It will not. It only delays the demilitarization that would happen, and it obstructs the civilian transition that should take place to ensure that remilitarization will not be possible in the future.”
While the Board of Peace has established a deconfliction mechanism with Israel to address potential threats as they emerge in Gaza before they escalate, Mladenov said Jerusalem is not always using that mechanism.
Mladenov and US special envoy Jared Kushner tried to convince Netanyahu during an August 17 meeting in Jerusalem to limit strikes in Gaza to imminent threats but failed to do so, with the premier insisting that the IDF would continue targeting all terrorists involved in Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, which launched the war in Gaza.
“Every use of force that does not answer an immediate threat, and every incident that the deconfliction mechanism was not asked to resolve, costs the process something that is very, very hard to buy back,” Mladenov warned.
While chiding Israel, Mladenov also reserved criticism for Hamas.
“Hamas has committed to cease all military activities. That commitment is still to be met in full,” Mladenov said.
“Every weapon carried, 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,” he lamented.
“Gaza does not have it in it to have another catastrophe. If the ceasefire collapses and the Strip spirals into another full escalation, there will be no roadmap to return to,” Mladenov warned. “It would be a point of no return for everyone.”
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