Official leading Trump's Gaza ceasefire effort criticizes Israel for its attacks

UNITED NATIONS – At a U.N. Security Council meeting on August 26, 2026, Nikolay Mladenov, the United Nations’ Board of Peace high representative, condemned Israel’s continued airstrikes in Gaza and warned that the U.S. ceasefire proposal would be the only way to avoid a new war. Mladenov said the 20‑point plan drafted by former U.S. President Donald Trump “has not stalled and has moved from the negotiating table to the engineering table,” but that Israel’s attacks were undermining the plan’s objectives. He added that the “only” alternative to the proposal “is the next war.”

The plan, which was released by the Trump administration in May 2026, calls for the disarmament of Hamas, the transfer of Gaza to civilian rule, and a credible pathway to a two‑state solution. Mladenov said Hamas had agreed to the key disarmament provision, but that Israel had not yet withdrawn its forces from Gaza. “Israel’s ongoing strikes since last October’s ceasefire are still killing Palestinians—though much fewer—and Gazans can’t feel that the conflict is ending,” he said. He questioned whether a strike on a munitions depot would stop Hamas from rearming, stating, “It will not. It only delays the demilitarization that would happen and obstructs the transfer to a civilian government.”

In a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jared Kushner, Mladenov said the U.S. side had addressed Israel’s concerns “one by one and narrowed the areas that still require technical work.” Netanyahu has maintained that Israeli forces will not withdraw until Hamas has handed over all its weapons. Israeli deputy U.N. ambassador Noa Furman echoed this stance, saying Israel was working closely with the U.S. to achieve Hamas’ disarmament, but that the plan could not succeed while Hamas remained armed. U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Mike Waltz, said concerns about the Trump plan were being addressed and that Hamas’ disarmament would be judged on its actions.

Mladenov warned of the distance between the roadmap and the reality on the ground. He said that if war resumed, there would be “no roadmap to return to or anything left on the ground to rebuild.” He added, “That would not be a setback. It would be a point of no return for everyone.” He framed the choice before the international community as either a Gaza that is disarmed, rebuilt and reconnected to the world, or a Gaza that is rearmed, divided, and in rubble, with a radicalized generation raised inside it and the next war already on the horizon.

The U.N. meeting also highlighted the humanitarian toll. Palestinians were seen walking past a food‑aid warehouse damaged in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a nearby house in Deir al‑Balah, central Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. The strike was part of a broader campaign that has continued since the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas in southern Israel, which sparked the current conflict.

The Trump ceasefire plan remains a controversial proposal. While it includes a two‑state solution, Netanyahu has vehemently opposed the establishment of a Palestinian state. The U.N. Security Council, the U.S. and Israel continue to debate the feasibility and timing of the plan’s implementation.

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