Nearly two-and-a-half years after the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre in Israel, the Islamist terror group is still firmly entrenched in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas remains armed, organized, and committed to its declared goal of destroying Israel through jihad (holy war). Yet instead of confronting this reality, international diplomats continue to indulge in dangerous fantasies about negotiating Hamas out of existence.
The latest example comes from former United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, who has presented to the UN Security Council a 15-point "Roadmap to Complete the Implementation of President Trump's Gaza Comprehensive Plan."
Mladenov chairs the so-called "Board of Peace," an international organization established by Trump with the stated purpose of overseeing the processes of his Gaza peace plan.
Mladenov urged the Security Council to use "every means at its disposal" to press Hamas to disarm and called on Israel to honor its ceasefire commitments. "There is no third option," he said. "There never was, and the people of Gaza should not be made to wait while some pretend that there is." Mladenov added that the biggest obstacle to full implementation of the ceasefire remains "Hamas's refusal to accept a verified decommissioning, relinquishing coercive control, and permit a genuine civilian transition in Gaza."
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