Nickolay Mladenov, President Donald Trump’s top official overseeing Gaza, warned Wednesday that continued Israeli strikes could jeopardize the ceasefire with Hamas and undermine efforts to disarm the terrorist group.
Speaking before the UN Security Council, Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, sharply criticized Israel’s recent operations in the territory.
“These strikes do not change the status quo that produced 7 October 2023,” Mladenov said. “They preserve it.”
His comments came a day after other Board of Peace officials criticized both Israel and Hamas for violating Trump’s 20-point agreement. Against the backdrop of a wave of incendiary kite launches from Gaza toward Israeli border communities, the officials said every violation was being addressed directly with the responsible party through a mechanism led by the U.S. military.
“Every violation is handled immediately with the side responsible,” the officials said. “We established a mechanism led by the U.S. military that deals with this quickly. The violating side understands there are serious consequences if the violations continue.”
Board officials said the goal was to return both sides to implementing the agreement as quickly as possible so the next stage, disarming Hamas of both heavy and light weapons, could begin.
“The sooner we implement the 20-point agreement, the sooner we can begin disarming Hamas,” the officials said. “Alternatively, if Hamas does not disarm, Israel will be able to act forcefully and with international diplomatic backing. It is a shame Israel is missing this enormous opportunity for a small number of tactical operations that will not really lead to Hamas’ disarmament.”
Officials on the Trump-established board also sharply criticized recent IDF operations in Gaza, arguing that they were producing limited security gains while causing significant strategic damage.
“The IDF’s actions in recent weeks have generated a lot of media attention, but they are tactical operations with no meaningful security value that cause significant strategic damage,” the officials said. “These actions perpetuate Hamas’ civilian and military rule and do not really eliminate Hamas. For every operative killed, Hamas recruits 100 new young people.”
Mladenov made a similar argument at the UN.
“Will another strike on a munitions depot stop Hamas from rearming or loosening its grip on Gaza?” he asked. “It will not.”
He said such attacks were delaying rather than advancing the demilitarization of Gaza, while also stressing that Hamas must fulfill its own commitments by fully halting military activity and dismantling its underground tunnel networks.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, meanwhile, made clear that Israel would not ease its campaign against Hamas before Gaza is demilitarized.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir during a tour of the Gaza Strip
(Photo: IDF)
During a tour of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Zamir said the military had changed its approach following the failures that preceded the October 7 attack.
“We are implementing lessons, we have changed the concept. The IDF will not return to October 6,” Zamir said.
He added that the military would not give up its overriding objective in Gaza: demilitarizing the territory and stripping Hamas of its weapons “by all necessary means.”
“We continue to act systematically to continuously damage Hamas and its leaders everywhere, including through an ongoing campaign to prevent its military buildup,” he said.
Despite Israeli operations, Hamas has continued rebuilding parts of both its military and civilian infrastructure in Gaza. In recent months, indications have accumulated that the group retains significant governing and military capabilities, continues paying employees, recruits new members and is positioning itself to re-enter the Palestinian political system.
Reuters reported during the war that Hamas recruited between 10,000 and 15,000 new members, including young men with little significant military training. Subsequent assessments said the organization sought to recruit around 30,000 young Palestinians into its military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
Israeli assessments published in 2026 also said Hamas had added about 12,000 new recruits in an effort to replenish ranks depleted during the war.
The differing estimates cover different periods and categories and do not establish the current size of Hamas’ military force, but they indicate that its recruitment apparatus remains active.
Hamas operatives in Rafah
(Photo: AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Hamas has also continued operating civilian institutions in Gaza. Sources in the territory told ynet that the group is still paying salaries to tens of thousands of government employees, while its institutions continue policing, tax collection and regulation of economic activity in areas where it retains influence.
This month, it was reported that Hamas’ administration had collected as much as $100 million in taxes on goods entering Gaza since the ceasefire, including levies of up to 20% on declared goods and as much as 80% on undeclared goods that were seized. Hamas denies that the revenue is transferred to its military wing.
Mladenov warned that the growing gap between the terms of the ceasefire and events on the ground threatened the entire process.
“The distance between what has been signed and what is happening on the ground” poses a risk to both the ceasefire and the disarmament plan, he said.
While casualties in Gaza have “fallen sharply” since the ceasefire took effect, Mladenov said Israeli strikes were still killing people.
“A ceasefire under which civilians are still buried is not yet one the people of Gaza can feel,” he said.