War could return to Gaza if it remains divided between Israeli and Hamas control, the top diplomat working to implement US President Donald Trump's peace plan for the enclave has told The National.
"Right now, we have two Gazas," Nickolay Mladenov said in Brussels, where he was scheduled to meet the EU's 27 foreign ministers to discuss the bloc's contribution to bringing the second phase of the ceasefire into action.
"We have one part of Gaza, which is under Hamas control, where only humanitarian aid and some commercial goods are allowed to go in, and we have another part of Gaza, which is controlled by the Israeli army," he said. "Now, if this situation continues for a long period of time, I don't think this is in the interest of anyone."
EU nations are divided over participating in the Board of Peace, but Germany and other countries want close co-ordination on the ground with their own support efforts.
Mr Mladenov, director general of the Board of Peace, embraces shared expertise, including EU missions to train Palestinian police, as well as providing judges and border guards. "It's important today to assure Europe that the Board of Peace has no intention to sidestep or to overtake the United Nations," he said.
Mr Mladenov, 54, a former UN special co-ordinator for the Middle East peace process and widely viewed as well-connected across the region, was appointed last week as its high representative for Gaza. His remit is to steer Gaza through a peaceful civilian transition despite Hamas's rejection of disarmament and Israel's refusal to withdraw from the enclave.
One plan
Analysts have described the job as the toughest in international diplomacy at the moment, a contention with which the former foreign minister of Bulgaria said he did "not disagree".
"It is very obviously a very difficult job because we have a lot of stakeholders, a lot of moving parts and a lot of challenges to make this happen," he said. "But what gives me encouragement is that this is the only plan that has been put on the table."
Based in the UAE since 2022, where he heads the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy, Mr Mladenov said he is now "on an aeroplane everywhere" and divides much of his time between Cairo – where the launch of the Palestinian technocratic committee was announced last week – and Israel. The board's headquarters will ultimately be set up in southern Israel, in the US-led Civilian Military Co-ordination Centre for Gaza, which may need to be "restructured a little bit to make it much more effective".
"Reconstruction can really begin once the committee is in control of Gaza and we have significant progress on the question of disarmament," Mr Mladenov said. "My guiding thought in this is that nobody should want Gaza to go back to what it was just before the war started, because that was a pretty desperate place."
Gaza access
He pushed back on reports that the technocratic Palestinian committee that is set to manage day-to-day life in Gaza was unable to leave the Egyptian capital, where its members are currently located. The committee is facing administrative and security hurdles from both Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported this month.
"No, they're not stuck in Cairo," Mr Mladenov said. "They're preparing to go into Gaza. But for them to go in, some conditions need to be met. This is not just a transition from one government to another. This is a much more complicated process."
Another hurdle is reducing the threat of violence on the ground. More than 600 Gazans have been killed since the ceasefire was announced in October. Hamas so far has retained its arms.
Israeli media have reported that the technocratic committee is set to present a six-month disarmament plan to Hamas next month. A week ago, an aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas had 60 days to disarm or the Israeli army would "complete" its mission.
For the board chief, the issue is crucial. "The question of disarmament is something that still needs to be negotiated and agreed, but it will be Palestinian-led," Mr Mladenov said. "Nobody wants to take responsibility for Gaza if you're going to be responsible for paying the bills – if I can use that term – while somebody else controls the street with Kalashnikovs and weapons. Ultimately, that is a very significant risk for Palestinians."
It will be the role of the international stabilisation force (ISF) "to support this process and to support also the training of the police and all other functions that are necessary in this environment", he added.
Disarmament impasse
Mr Mladenov also denied media reports that the Hamas negotiator Khalil Al Hayya had refused to discuss disarmament at a recent meeting in Cairo. "That's not true," he said. "We have a UN Security Council Resolution that very clearly says what needs to happen," he said, referring to resolution 2803, which endorses Mr Trump's peace plan for Gaza. "We have [Mr Trump's] 20-point plan, which has been agreed by everybody."
Disarmament will be a "rather long process" that will "not happen overnight", he said. "We now have very good architecture for that, because we have a good agreement with Turkey, Qatar, the United States and Egypt, the key mediators on the disarmament file, and we're moving forward to see how this process will be implemented in the coming weeks."
Indonesia announced last week at the BoP's first meeting in Washington that it would send up to 8,000 army personnel to Gaza by June for humanitarian purposes, with no combat role.
"I think you'll see the beginning of the ISF start coming together in the coming days and weeks, with deployments on the ground," Mr Mladenov said. Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania have also pledged to send troops.
Last week, Mr Mladenov announced that 2,000 Gazans had signed up to join the new Palestinian force within hours of recruitment starting. Now, there are "significantly more applicants", Mr Mladenov said, though he declined to give an updated figure.
Egypt training
"Our focus will be primarily to work in Egypt, because Egypt has put forward a very good proposal on how training can happen quickly and effectively."
The EU has a two-decade-old training mission for Palestinian police named Eupol Copps in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which could "could be very handy", EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said before Monday's foreign ministers' meeting. "We have had agreements also with Jordan and Egypt on how we can best do this, but we also need the approval from the Israeli side."
Ms Kallas has previously been sceptical about the BoP's governing structure and ambitions for a role beyond Gaza. But she has also said the EU wants to work with it for a "sustainable peace in Gaza."
Mr Mladenov warned there was "very limited time to make this a success". He added: "If we don't implement this plan, the terrible catastrophe in Gaza is going to continue and, if it continues, there is no viable way towards a two-state solution, towards reunification of Gaza and the West Bank under one legitimate Palestinian National Authority."
