US-backed Gaza oversight board presses Hamas for weekend decision

The Peace Board, established under US leadership and expected to oversee the administration of Gaza, has given Hamas until the weekend to accept a disarmament proposal, it was reported.

According to a report by The Times of Israel, citing three different sources, the board remains determined to advance Gaza’s reconstruction even while the war with Iran continues.

According to the sources, the Peace Board’s High Representative for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, met a delegation of senior Hamas officials in Cairo on Friday.

Two Arab diplomats and a third source said Hamas was told that the Gaza oversight body wanted the disarmament agreement finalized by the weekend.

The sources said minor changes to the disarmament proposal could be considered, but Hamas’s demands for changes of a fundamental nature would not be accepted.

According to one of the Arab diplomats, Mladenov believes progress can be made in the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war.

However, the same diplomat acknowledged that mediators such as Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye were not nearly as optimistic.

The mediators were said to be exerting intense pressure on Hamas to accept the US-backed disarmament proposal.

However, a diplomat from one of the mediator countries said the group was “unlikely to simply say ‘yes’ without significant reservations.”

“And even if they accept, Israel is very unlikely to comply,” the same diplomat said.

According to the diplomat, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not approve an additional withdrawal from Gaza in an election year. The same diplomat cited the continued support of coalition partners for a permanent occupation of Gaza as the reason.

Hamas did not openly reject the proposal

According to the Arab diplomat, Hamas officials did not directly reject the disarmament proposal, which Mladenov first presented last month, during Friday’s meeting in Cairo.

Instead, they said Israel had failed to comply with the first phase of the Trump plan.

Hamas officials cited the limited operation of the Rafah border crossing, the low number of aid trucks entering Gaza, repeated Israeli military attacks deep inside Gaza, and the Tel Aviv government’s pushing of the ceasefire boundary known as the “Yellow Line” further into Gaza, thereby expanding the Israeli-controlled eastern zone.

According to the report, Israel waited several months after the October ceasefire before reopening the Rafah border crossing.

After reopening it, Israel also limited the number of passengers in each direction to 50 people.

During the war with Iran, the crossing point was again closed for roughly the first three weeks.

During the same period of fighting, daily aid deliveries, which under the ceasefire terms were required to reach 600 trucks a day, also fell far below that level.

The Arab diplomat said Mladenov had discussed some of these issues with Israeli officials in recent days.

According to the same diplomat, although the number of aid trucks has begun to rise again, the other alleged violations remain unresolved.

The same diplomat and a source familiar with the matter said the Peace Board’s Gaza representative was scheduled to hold another follow-up meeting with Hamas officials in Cairo today.

Final deadline is Saturday

The Saturday deadline conveyed to Hamas was said to have been given after the group moved slowly in responding to the proposal it received about four weeks ago.

The plan, parts of which were leaked to the media, contains an eight-month timetable.

That timetable begins with a committee of Palestinian technocrats taking over security control in Gaza under Peace Board supervision and ends with the full withdrawal of Israeli forces after Gaza has been “verified” as disarmed.

The entire reconstruction process for Gaza has been made conditional on Hamas accepting disarmament.

Mladenov also implied in a post on X last week that there would be consequences if the group did not join the process.

“He who does not cross the river drowns in the sea,” Mladenov wrote.

The leaked plan consists of two sections.

The first is a 12-point text titled “Steps Toward Completing the Implementation of Trump’s Comprehensive Peace Plan for Gaza.”

The second is a five-stage timetable under which Hamas would surrender its weapons within eight months.

The text states that all armed formations in Gaza, including groups such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad, will take part in the disarmament process under the supervision of Palestinian technocrats known as the Gaza National Administration Committee.

“Gaza will be governed in accordance with the principle of one authority, one law, one weapon. Accordingly, only persons authorized by (NCAG) will be permitted to carry weapons, and all armed groups will cease their military activities,” the text says.

It says the disarmament process will be overseen by a Weapons Collection Verification Committee to be established by Mladenov.

It also states that reconstruction will be permitted only in areas defined as disarmed.

Five-stage timetable

Under the plan’s timetable, the first stage will last 15 days.

During this stage, NCAG will assume security and administrative control in Gaza and begin preparatory steps for the collection of weapons.

The second stage will cover days 16 to 40.

During this period, Israel is to remove heavy weapons, including artillery systems and tanks, from the areas it controls, and an international security force is to be deployed.

The third stage, covering days 30 to 90, is defined as the most intensive period.

At this stage, Hamas will hand over all heavy weapons and military equipment in its possession to NCAG and will “allow the destruction of all tunnels, explosives and military infrastructure.”

In the fourth stage, from days 91 to 250, police forces affiliated with NCAG will collect and register all remaining weapons, including handguns and rifles.

During the same stage, Israeli forces will also begin a phased withdrawal.

The fifth stage is defined as “final verification.”

At this stage, “Israeli forces will fully withdraw from Gaza apart from their presence in the security perimeter, and comprehensive reconstruction efforts will begin.”