Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative of the Board of Peace, on Thursday urged the Security Council to use “every means at its disposal” to press Hamas to disarm and called on Israel to honour its ceasefire commitments.
“It is a deteriorating status quo or a new beginning. There is no third option," he said. "There is no third option. There never was, and the people of Gaza should not be made to wait while some pretend that there is.”
He said the main obstacle to full implementation of the ceasefire remains "Hamas’ refusal to accept verified decommissioning, relinquish coercive control, and permit a genuine civilian transition in Gaza.”
Mr Mladenov said if Israel and Hamas refuse to accept the roadmap to implement Donald Trump's peace plan, the Board of Peace will discuss ways to provide humanitarian relief and promote recovery in the territory.
“This is a version of the future that Israelis, Palestinians and the region should all fear and all mobilize to avoid,” he added.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, stressed that all sides must fulfill their obligations under the ceasefire deal.
He said the agreement presents a chance to end the war and secure lasting peace, security and prosperity for Palestinians, Israelis and the broader region.
“International law is not optional,” Mr Mansour said. "There should be only one path, compliance or enforcement.”
On the humanitarian front, the Bulgarian diplomat said conditions had improved significantly since the ceasefire.
“The hunger situation has improved meaningfully for the population, and humanitarian aid diversion has fallen to around 1 per cent,” he said. “The number of people receiving food assistance has risen from 400,000 to roughly 2 million.”
After the Security Council meeting, the leaders of three major humanitarian groups told UN reporters that the board’s findings overlooked the hardships Palestinians continue to endure on a daily basis despite the ceasefire.
Janti Soeripto, president and chief executive of Save the Children US, said Israeli authorities continued to restrict most UN and NGO assistance despite some improvement since the ceasefire.
“While a trickle of lorries has entered the strip, deliveries remain far below the 600 lorries per day stipulated in the peace plan,” she told reporters. “There is more food in Gaza thanks to the ceasefire.
"Most people, though, cannot afford it. The price of flour is still up by 50 per cent and food that is available is not always nutritious. Eggs disappeared from the market months ago.”
Ms Soeripto said the plan “on paper is a good thing” because it brings together several states and stakeholders.
But, she said, it “must be allowed to do its work; to work with organisations like ours and many others to help implement and provide that humanitarian assistance.”
Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees International, said the ceasefire framework could significantly improve conditions if fully implemented, but the parties were failing to uphold its provisions.
“The problem is not the ceasefire plan itself,” he said. “The problem is that it is failing. The parties are failing to uphold it, particularly when it comes to humanitarian response.”
Mr Konyndyk accused Israel of continuing to block aid deliveries and said guarantors of the agreement, “most importantly the United States”, had failed to hold Israel accountable.
What is in the 15-point Gaza road map?
According to Mr Mladenov the road map is built on “reciprocity and verification”, with each step by one side bringing a corresponding step by the other and requiring certification before implementation proceeds.
1) Commitment to UNSC Resolution 2803 and the Comprehensive Plan aimed at ending the conflict, restoring civilian life, enabling Palestinian governance and reconstruction, and opening a pathway to Palestinian statehood.
2) Complete ceasefire obligations first, including aid deliveries, fuel, border crossings, shelter and humanitarian commitments before advancing to the next phase.
3) Independent verification mechanism. No phase begins until commitments from the previous stage are certified by a verification committee comprising guarantors, the stabilisation force and the Board of Peace.
4) Transitional governance framework. The Board of Peace oversees governance, reconstruction and redevelopment through the high representative [Mr Mladenov], NCAG and an International Stabilisation Force until a reformed Palestinian Authority returns.
5) Hamas excluded from governing Gaza. Hamas and other factions would have no direct or indirect governing role, while civil servants retain their rights and employment protections.
6) “One authority, one law, one weapon." This point establishes the governing principle of the transition: that only authorised Palestinian institutions would exercise security authority inside Gaza; only authorised personnel carry weapons; armed groups cease military activity; and governance and security structures become unified under one civilian authority.
7) Police restructuring and vetting focuses on rebuilding civilian policing and preventing a security vacuum during the transition. The road map calls for vetting police personnel, integrating trained officers into civilian structures, offering non-armed roles or compensation where appropriate, and transferring police weapons to NCAG control as soon as it enters the Gaza Strip.
8) Gradual decommissioning of weapons. The proposal does not call for immediate surrender or unilateral disarmament. It outlines a phased, Palestinian-led and internationally verified process carried out gradually and according to an agreed timetable.
9) Regulation of personal weapons. NCAG becomes the sole authority for licensing, registration and collection of unlicensed firearms, supported by buy-back and reintegration programmes.
10) Security guarantees during transition. Individuals would not surrender personal weapons until agreed security milestones are verified.
11) Social peace agreement. Immediate halt to internal violence, armed displays, reprisals and factional score-settling.
12) International Stabilisation Force would act as a buffer between Israeli forces and NCAG-controlled areas, support decommissioning and protect humanitarian operations.
13) Phased Israeli military withdrawal to Gaza's perimeter according to an agreed timetable linked to verified disarmament and stabilisation force deployment.
14) Palestinian security responsibility. NCAG assumes responsibility for security violations in fully decommissioned and certified areas.
15) Reconstruction tied to disarmament. Large-scale reconstruction can proceed only in areas certified as decommissioned and effectively administered by NCAG.
