Board of Peace Envoy Says Two-State Solution Impossible If Hamas Is Not Disarmed
ABU DHABI — Nickolay Mladenov, the High Representative of the Board of Peace (BoP) for Gaza, has said that a two-state solution cannot be achieved unless the situation in Gaza improves. The crisis in Gaza has been accompanied by rising settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
“I would say that if Gaza continues as it is now, or does not move towards the implementation… of the plans we have under the comprehensive plan, the two-state solution will become practically impossible,” Mladenov said whilst speaking at the Hili Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Monday (7 September 2026), as quoted by the Al Arabiya website.
“Because, with everything that is happening in the West Bank, and with more than 50 per cent of Gaza now under the control of the Israeli military and less than 50 per cent under the control of Hamas, there is no credible path forward for a political resolution of the conflict,” Mladenov added.
In his view, the situation in Gaza can only progress if the parties, namely Israel and Hamas, are willing to honour their commitments. For instance, Hamas would hand over its weapons and Israel would withdraw from Gaza. “The only way we can build back to that is if we have a transitional government, if we have the deactivation of weapons, if we have a withdrawal in Gaza,” he said.
At a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday (6 September 2026), the US President’s Special Envoy, Jared Kushner, acknowledged that Israeli leaders were acting somewhat irrationally in Gaza. According to him, this was connected to the election Israel is due to hold in October 2026. “But we are very determined and we are working through these things,” Kushner said.
He added that Gaza could not be entered as long as weapons remained. “We are now beginning to understand the scope of the militarisation of Gaza. It is beyond your comprehension. And demilitarisation will not be easy,” he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is known to have rejected the 15-point peace plan for the Gaza Strip approved by the Board of Peace established by US President Donald Trump. Netanyahu said he would not withdraw his military forces from Gaza before Hamas’s weapons were fully dismantled.
“Israel rejects the 15-point document issued by the Board of Peace for Gaza,” Netanyahu said in a video statement after a cabinet meeting began on 9 August 2026.
“The Israeli military will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed,” Netanyahu added.
He said the disarmament of Hamas must cover both heavy and light weapons. Netanyahu stressed that Israel wants genuine disarmament. “Not fake disarmament,” he said.
Unlike Israel, Hamas has declared its readiness to undertake the next phase of the Gaza peace plan as set out by the Board of Peace. “Hamas and other factions have confirmed to the mediators their readiness to begin implementing the agreement and to move to the second phase, provided it receives Israel’s approval and that Israel begins to implement the agreement,” a Hamas official said on 8 August 2026.