JERUSALEM (AP) — Nickolay Mladenov, the top diplomat overseeing the U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal in Gaza, was in Jerusalem on Wednesday seeking to advance the ceasefire deal that Israel and Hamas agreed to more than seven months ago.
His appearance comes as efforts to advance the phased ceasefire have stalled, without much progress on its key tenets, including demilitarization and reconstruction. The truce envisioned Hamas handing over its weapons, Israeli forces withdrawing and rebuilding destroyed swaths of the coastal enclave after more than two years of war.
Instead, the seven months since the ceasefire have seen Israel and Hamas trade accusations of violations. Aid groups say Israel has not allowed the promised amount of aid in. Hamas has not disarmed and remains in control of roughly half the strip.
Israel has stepped up its attacks in Gaza in recent days, since the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, and many Palestinians fear a return of more airstrikes and full-scale war may be imminent.
Mladenov is a longtime U.N. diplomat and consultant who has also been a government minister in his home country, Bulgaria. Last year he was named high representative for Gaza for the President Donald Trump-led International Board of Peace designed to oversee post-war plans for the strip.
The Israel-Hamas war began when Hamas-led militants stormed Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 as hostages. Israel’s ensuing offensive has killed over 72,724 Palestinians, including at least 846 since a ceasefire took hold last October.
That’s according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the deaths were women and children. The figures by the ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.
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