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Nikolay Mladenov met Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss a new Hamas disarmament deal and Gaza's postwar transition. The talks underscored pressure on Israel to stop strikes as the wider ceasefire framework faces security concerns.
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Jerusalem,UPDATED: Aug 4, 2026 01:06 IST
A Board of Peace official overseeing Gaza's postwar transition met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, with talks focusing in part on a new disarmament deal the board has reached with Hamas, according to a statement.
Nikolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza, held what the Board of Peace described as “constructive and detailed” talks with Netanyahu and his team. The board said, “The goal is clear and is not in question: the complete decommissioning of weapons in the Strip and the transition away from rule by the gun to civilian governance.”
According to two people familiar with the meeting, Mladenov also urged Netanyahu to stop Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip. Mladenov and his team, including senior adviser Aryeh Lightstone, are pressing Israel to halt the strikes as they push ahead with the agreement to decommission weapons held by Hamas.
US President Donald Trump announced the agreement late on Thursday. It is part of a broader ceasefire deal reached last year. The agreement called for Israel to stop its military operations and for Hamas and its allies in Gaza to halt all militant activity. It also set out, in general terms, how the decommissioning process would work.
After the text of the agreement was released, Israel said it had “serious security concerns” and that it had shared those concerns with the United States.
Israel also stepped up its strikes in Gaza, with local health officials saying 17 people were killed overnight from Saturday into Sunday. There were no recorded airstrikes in Gaza on Monday.
Israeli attacks have killed 1,250 people since the ceasefire deal was reached in October, the agreement that ended major fighting in a war that had lasted for two years.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Israel's military offensive in Gaza has since killed 73,375 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Its figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but the United Nations and other international organisations generally consider them reliable.
The meeting between Mladenov and Netanyahu came as efforts continued to advance the disarmament agreement with Hamas, alongside calls for an end to Israeli strikes in Gaza under the broader ceasefire framework.
With PTI Inputs
- Ends
Published By:
India Today Web Desk
Published On:
Aug 4, 2026 01:06 IST
