A Palestinian girl stands against the backdrop of buildings destroyed amid the ongoing conflict in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip on May 13, 2026. (AFP)
The high representative for Gaza in U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace has said the fragile ceasefire in the Palestinian territory was holding despite daily violations, as he urged Hamas to disarm.
Despite an October 2025 ceasefire, Gaza remains gripped by daily violence as Israeli strikes continue, with both the military and Hamas accusing one another of violating the truce.
“We have a ceasefire. It is holding... It is far from perfect. There are violations every day and some of them are very serious,” said Nickolay Mladenov during a press conference in Jerusalem on May 13.
The ceasefire officially came into force on Oct. 10, 2025.But the ceasefire has seen daily violations.
More than 850 Palestinians have been killed since the truce began, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.
Mladenov urged Hamas to relinquish power over the parts of the Gaza Strip it controls and lay down its weapons.
“We are asking the political leadership of those who govern Gaza now to step aside. This is required by the Security Council resolution in the 20-point plan,” said the envoy, referring to the peace plan for the territory sponsored by the U.S. president.
“We are not asking Hamas to disappear as a political movement. A political party that disavows armed activity can compete in national Palestinian elections,” he said.
Mladenov, who spoke to journalists after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pointed to the scale of destruction in the Palestinian territory, noting that it would take a long time to rebuild.
“If we look at the tens of millions of tons of rubble that needs to be removed, at the number of people, over a million people, who need some sort of permanent shelter and basic water and sanitation, this is, by any scale, a generation of work for Gaza,” he said.
