World

Hamas not required to disappear politically: Board of Peace envoy

Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative of the Board of Peace overseeing the Gaza ceasefire, has said that the body was not seeking Hamas’ disappearance as a political movement.

Speaking at a news conference in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday, Mladenov said “we are not asking Hamas to disappear as a political movement.”

But he repeated demands for Hamas and other armed groups to disarm, describing the issue as “not negotiable.”

Seven months after the ceasefire took effect in October 2025, “the door to the future of Gaza is still closed,” he said.

“It is not what the Palestinians were promised and it is not what they deserve. And it is not giving Israel the security to move forward, as the Israeli people also want,” Mladenov added.

“We have a ceasefire. It is holding. It is not perfect. It is far from perfect. There are violations every day, and some of them are very serious,” he said, referring to the Israeli army’s continued violations of the truce.

RelatedTRT World – What’s next for the Gaza peace plan?

🚨BREAKING: Watch the full clip here ➤