Board of Peace, Netanyahu meet in Jerusalem to discuss disarming Hamas
by Darryl Coote · UPIAug. 4 (UPI) -- Board of Peace negotiators and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have met to discuss disarming Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza, as Israel has yet to commit to implementing President Donald Trump's plan to end the war.
The board's director general, Nickolay Mladenov, and his team met with Netanyahu and his team in Jerusalem on Monday "as part of the process of decommissioning weapons in Gaza and enabling the transition to civilian governance and creating a safe future in the region for both Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza," the board said in a statement.
"The meeting was constructive and detailed," it said. "Israel and the Board of Peace share a common understanding of the ultimate objectives."
Trump last week announced that his peace board had reached a tentative agreement with Hamas and other militant groups to disarm in Gaza on the condition that Israel withdraw its troops from the Palestinian enclave. It is part of the board's 15-point roadmap for implementing Trump's broader 20-point Gaza peace plan.
The meeting was held as Israel has appeared unwilling to accept the tentative agreement. Since it was announced Thursday, Israeli forces have continued attacking Gaza, while senior Cabinet officials have opposed halting operations and called for targeted killings of Hamas members to continue.
On Monday, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Settlements Minister Orit Strock urged Netanyahu to reject the roadmap, arguing it contradicts the goals of disarming Hamas, demilitarizing Gaza, eliminating threats to Israel and fulfilling U.S. commitments previously made to Israel.
In an online statement, Smotrich said he and Strock are demanding the immediate convening of the Security Cabinet on the grounds that the plan made public by the Board of Peace is not the same as the one they had earlier seen.
He said it does not guarantee the demilitarization of Gaza, restricts Israel Defense Forces operations, does not condition Gaza's reconstruction on demilitarization and "even restores the idea of a Palestinian state as a diplomatic objective."
"We must ensure that the roadmap fully meets the war's objectives and the security interests of the State of Israel," he said, saying the framework as it now stands does neither.
"I will not allow such a framework to erase the tremendous achievements won by our heroic IDF soldiers with their blood, bodies and souls."
In an apparent response to some of their claims, the Board of Peace said the plan states Israeli forces will only withdraw from Gaza after the decommissioning of weapons in Gaza is complete.
"Implementation will be overseen by the International Stabilization Force and by the Implementation Verification Committee, on which both the United States and the Board of Peace sit," it said.
"Continued progress toward implementation in full depends on each side fulfilling its obligations under the agreed framework."
Mladenov, in a separate statement, described Monday as a "long day in Jerusalem."
"This is the start of the hard phase and I have never pretended otherwise," he said.
"Not much of what we do now is dramatic. It is slow, grinding and technical work."
Trump's Board of Peace is a coalition of 28 countries, including Israel, weighted toward Middle Eastern and smaller or midsize nations. It was formed in January and is tied to a U.N.-backed 20-point plan for the stabilization and reconstruction of Gaza, which has been devastated by the war.