Israel to Withdraw from Gaza After Verifiable Demobilization

JAKARTA - The main envoy of the Board of Peace (BoP) for Gaza, Palestine, Nickolay Mladenov, said on Sunday, Israel would withdraw from the Gaza Strip if a "verified" disarmament had been achieved.

"The road map aims to ensure that Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel's security so that the events before October 7 will not be repeated," Mladenov told Israel's Channel 12.

"No party is obliged to do anything - especially Israel - before we actually have verified steps on the ground," he explained, quoted by Anadolu (10/8).

"If there is a verified disarmament - where the weapons are taken from various factions, stored, and ultimately made unusable - then Israel will withdraw from Gaza," he claimed.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday morning announced his rejection of the 15-point road map proposed by the Board of Peace to implement the second phase of US President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza.

He stressed that Israeli forces would only withdraw if Hamas had been disarmed.

Mladenov said the plan was based on three main elements: a total disarmament in Gaza, the transfer of the territory's government responsibilities to the Board of Peace through a Palestinian national committee, and the deployment of international security forces to verify the implementation of the agreement.

Although the roadmap published on July 31 called for the disarmament of Hamas and the gradual and parallel withdrawal of Israel, Mladenov said Israel was not obliged to withdraw before concrete disarmament measures were taken on the ground.

He further explained that the plan does not require Israel to withdraw from its current position along the "Yellow Line" at this stage.

"What we are asking is that the IDF (Israeli army) does not place troops further from the Yellow Line, because the Yellow Line has been agreed upon in the comprehensive plan," he said.

"So, we want them to stay in that position and make sure they don't shoot people unless those people are a real threat to the Israeli army," he said.

Mladenov said the withdrawal would be carried out region by region, with Israeli forces gradually retreating as the disarmament in each area was completed, until it reached the border fence surrounding the Gaza Strip.

He stressed that the roadmap does not prevent Israel from responding to any direct threat to its forces. The process can be suspended

Mladenov stated that the process would be stopped and would not proceed to the next stage if the commitments that had been agreed upon were not fulfilled, or if Hamas members continued to train and rearm themselves.

He estimated that the destruction of all the tunnels in Gaza at the current rate could take "more than a decade," but he said the Peace Council was considering using machines and contractors to speed up the process.