site.btaBoard of Peace High Representative Nickolay Mladenov Urges UN Security Council to Pressure Hamas to Disarm

Nickolay Mladenov, the High Representative of the U.S.-established Board of Peace for the Gaza Strip, called on UN Security Council members to pressure Hamas to agree to disarm, according to a post on his personal Facebook profile. 

“I asked Security Council members for two things: to publicly affirm that disarmament is the only way forward - the only path to reconstruction, the withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and statehood. I requested that they use all their influence to convince Hamas and all factions to disarm, without delay,” Mladenov wrote.  

Every lost hour carries a human cost, the Bulgarian diplomat emphasized during his first speech to the Security Council as the Board of Peace Representative.

Mladenov warned of the consequences of failure: Gaza split in two, one part with two million Palestinians destroyed and under Hamas control, leading to despair and radicalization with no real path to Palestinian statehood. Conversely, he described the potential success: Gaza with freely moving goods, young Palestinians attending universities rather than waiting for humanitarian aid, and children growing up in homes and schools rather than tents and shelters. 

In a post on X, Mladenov said that he briefed the UN Security Council on the implementation of Resolution 2803 and the transition underway in Gaza. "We now have a real opportunity to move from conflict to a structured path toward recovery and stability," he said.

The second phase of the Trump plan for Gaza envisions Hamas disarmament, gradual Israeli troop withdrawal, and deployment of international forces to stabilize the territory. However, the Islamist movement refuses to disarm under the conditions set by Israel, AFP noted.

During the Security Council session on the Palestinian issue, UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Ramiz Alakbarov described escalating violence in the West Bank as extremely worrying, highlighting increased attacks by settlers, sometimes near or supported by Israeli security forces, contributing to Palestinian displacement.

Prior to the session, a group of nine Security Council member states (Bahrain, Denmark, France, Greece, Latvia, Pakistan, Somalia, and the United Kingdom) denounced the “continuous and increasingly violent attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians” as unacceptable.

Mladenov, who is former Bulgarian Foreign Minister, was appointed High Representative for the Gaza Strip on January 17 by the US.