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While attention remains focused on the Israel-US war with Iran, efforts to build on the shaky ceasefire agreement for Gaza — which was brokered by the Trump administration almost six months ago — took a tentative step forward at the United Nations on Tuesday.
Among the sticking points since the agreement was reached between Isreal and Hamas has been the issue of weapons decommissioning by Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza.
On Tuesday, the man charged with making it happen, High Representative Nickolay Mladenov, shared first details of the process by which it is supposed to take place.
Speaking to a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, Mladenov said the most dangerous weapons — rockets, heavy munitions, explosive devices and assault rifles — would be addressed first, with arms being placed under the control of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, a transitional Palestinian authority set up under the auspices of the ceasefire agreement.
Decommissioning, Mladenov underlined, would proceed “in parallel with staged withdrawal” of Israeli forces from Gaza.
He said this framework had been approved by all four of the agreement’s guarantor states — the United States, Egypt, Turkey and Qatar — and he appealed to the international community to pressure militant groups to hand over their arms.
In addition, Mladenov said the framework includes “pathways for individuals currently affiliated with armed groups to re-enter civilian life with dignity, through structured amnesty arrangements and reintegration programs.”
When any of this might happen, however, he did not reveal.
“I will not go into the operational details of the timelines or the status of our discussions with the parties. Agreement on the implementation of the framework requires space, and I ask all to respect that space,” Mladenov said.
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