Hopes for a renewed push for peace in Gaza hung in the balance on Monday as US President Donald Trump's envoy visited Israel after one of the deadliest days in the Palestinian territory since a ceasefire halted two years of all-out war last October.
Nickolay Mladenov, high representative of the Trump-led Board of Peace, and Aryeh Lightstone, its senior adviser, met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to press him to agree to stop military operations in Gaza, according to the Axios website.
A statement issued by the Board said the meeting was held "as part of the process of decommissioning weapons in Gaza and enabling the transition to civilian governance, and creating a safer future in the region for both Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza".
However, it made no mention of Israel's immediate intensified strikes after the board announced on Friday that Hamas had agreed to a 15-point plan that involved a halt to attacks by both sides, and the handover of its weapons alongside Israel's eventual withdrawal from Gaza.
"Israel and the Board of Peace share a common understanding of the ultimate objectives. The goal is clear and is not in question: the complete decommissioning of weapons in the strip and the transition away from rule by the gun to civilian governance. Reaching it will be a process. And that process will be set out in the next phase of the work," the board said.
Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 18 Palestinians on Sunday, according to the local civil defence. “Children and civilians were among those killed, while crews were overwhelmed and unable to respond effectively to all of the strikes because of the lack of equipment. Some attacks also triggered fires that continued burning for hours,” spokesman Mahmoud Bassal told The National.
The strikes, which the Israeli military said were aimed at members of Hamas, came after Mr Trump and the board said they had secured an agreement for the Palestinian militant group to disarm alongside an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza – a significant step in the wider plan to bring peace to Gaza.
US officials and regional mediators hailed the progress, fuelling optimism among the Gaza residents that the territory could move towards rebuilding from two years of devastating war.
Mr Mladenov had addressed Israel's intensified attacks in a post on X late on Sunday, noting that they came after "intense efforts by the Board of Peace and the mediators (Egypt, Turkey, Qatar and the US) to bring the Palestinian factions in Gaza to agree to a road map on the full implementation of President Trump's plan, to hand over civilian governance and to decommission their weapons”.
“My team and I are working around the clock with the parties, the mediators and regional partners to de-escalate and create the space for the full implementation of the President's plan,” he wrote.
Doron Spielman, a spokesman for Mr Netanyahu, said on Monday that the version of the deal “that has been made public does not reflect Israel’s positions”. Mr Spielman accused Hamas of using the months since the ceasefire to rearm in preparation for a future attack against Israel.
Meanwhile, Israeli President Isaac Herzog welcomed the deal as “a very positive step, with the clear caveat and undertaking that Hamas must be disarmed fully”.
The board's statement on Monday said that "contrary to inaccurate reports", the full withdrawal of the Israeli military beyond the ceasefire line would take place "only once decommissioning is complete, as Hamas committed to the mediators. This applies to light weapons, heavy weapons and the tunnels alike".
The issue of Hamas's disarmament is considered to be one of the most difficult issues in Mr Trump's push to get peace in the Gaza Strip.
For many Palestinians, the violence of recent days reinforced a pattern in which optimism raised by ceasefire negotiations is followed by intensified military operations.
Mohammad Abu Al Qumsan, 35, who lives in the Jabalia refugee camp, said his family believed the fighting was about to stop after senior Palestinian figure Mohammed Dahlan announced on Saturday night that an agreement had been reached to halt the escalation.
“We were very happy,” Mr Abu Al Qumsan told The National. “But what happened was the exact opposite. The bombing, destruction and killing intensified.”
He said his neighbour, Mohammed Al Ar, died in one of the Israeli strikes, becoming the fourth sibling in his family to be killed during the war.
“Every time there is talk of a ceasefire, the attacks become more intense and more blood is shed,” Mr Abu Al Qumsan said.
Palestinian writer and journalist Abdullah Al Maghari said negotiations had not stopped despite the escalation and that increasing US pressure on Israel could still produce a reduction in military operations in the coming days.
He said the possibility of an American delegation travelling to Israel reflected Washington’s efforts to push for de-escalation, although he noted that Israel had repeatedly avoided allowing temporary understandings on reducing military operations to take effect before any formal public announcement.
Mr Al Maghari said Sunday’s escalation may also have been caused by premature public statements by several figures, including Mr Dahlan, suggesting that a ceasefire had already entered into force.
Mr Dahlan later amended his statement to say that efforts were continuing to achieve de-escalation rather than declaring that a ceasefire had begun.
Political analyst Mustafa Ibrahim said the latest attacks reflected a broader Israeli strategy.
“What happened cannot be viewed as routine military activity,” Mr Ibrahim told The National. “It represents a continuation of Israel’s policy of mass violence and demonstrates that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not committed to the road map agreed upon between Hamas and the mediators.”
He said Israel continued to prioritise military pressure over diplomatic negotiations and paid little attention to mediation efforts, including the recent announcement that Hamas had accepted a road map proposed by mediators and endorsed by the US.
Mr Ibrahim said the escalation sends a message that Israel remains unwilling to commit to a ceasefire unless its own conditions are fully met.
“The American promises regarding a ceasefire remain only words on paper in light of Israel’s continued military operations,” he said.
Sunday’s bombardment revived memories of Israel's intense military campaign that preceded the October 2025 ceasefire agreement. The campaign killed more than 72,00 people, destroyed large parts of Gaza and displaced most of the population of two million.
The war was triggered by a Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which militants killed nearly 1,200 people and took about 250 as hostages.
Besides continuing attacks, the Israeli military has expanded its area of control to two-thirds of the territory, from just over half at the start of the ceasefire.
Thomas Helm contributed to this report
