The Israeli prime minister announced Thursday that Bulgarian diplomat Nikolai Mladenov, a former United Nations special envoy to the Middle East, has been chosen as executive director of U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace commission to oversee the Gaza peace process.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the announcement after meeting with Mladenov in Jerusalem. The announcement included a photo of the two and a short video of them shaking hands.
In his announcement, Prime Minister Netanyahu named Mladenov the “designated” secretary-general of the board. The Council is intended to oversee the implementation of the second, more complex phase of the ceasefire.
Although there was no immediate confirmation from the U.S. government, the appointment is a significant step forward for President Trump’s Middle East peace plan, which has stalled since the October ceasefire that ended more than two years of fighting between Israel and Hamas.
Trump is expected to name board members later this month, with Mladenov serving as the company’s representative on the ground.
A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the appointment has not been formally announced, confirmed that Mladenov was the Trump administration’s choice to run the peace commission’s day-to-day management.
Under President Trump’s plan, the board would oversee a new technocratic Palestinian government, the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of international security forces, the withdrawal of additional Israeli troops, and the rebuilding of the Strip.
Mr. Mladenov is a former Bulgarian defense and foreign minister who served as UN special envoy for Iraq before being appointed UN special envoy for Middle East peace from 2015 to 2020. During that time, he frequently worked to ease tensions between Israel and Hamas.
The first phase of the ceasefire, which began on October 10 last year, saw a halt to fighting and the exchange of hostages held by Hamas with hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel.
The agreement has largely remained in place, but has been marred by accusations of mutual violations.
Hamas has not yet returned the body of one hostage. Israeli police officer killed in the October 7, 2023 invasion that triggered the war.
Meanwhile, continued Israeli offensives in the Gaza Strip have left more than 400 Palestinians dead, according to local health officials.
Israel says the strikes are in response to a violation of the agreement, but Palestinian health officials say the dead include many civilians.
Hamas refuses to disarm
Egyptian and European Union leaders meeting in Cairo on Thursday called for an international stabilization force to be sent to Gaza to monitor the October ceasefire.
“The situation is extremely difficult. Yet Hamas refuses to disarm. Hamas is preventing progress to the next stage of the peace plan, and at the same time Israel is also restricting the activities of international NGOs, putting access to humanitarian aid at serious risk,” said EU foreign policy chief Kaja Karas.
“There is no justification for the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza to its current level,” she said.
UNRWA warns of ‘huge gap’ in aid
Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency warned on Thursday that Israeli pressure on the organization risks creating a “major vacuum” in services.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), told reporters in Ankara that no other organization has the capacity or “local trust” to provide health, education and social services in Ankara.
“If government agencies cannot or must stop operations in Gaza and the West Bank, there will be a huge vacuum,” he said.
Lazzarini traveled to Turkey to discuss improving humanitarian access in the Gaza Strip with officials.
Additional sources of information • AP
