The Board of Peace’s lead envoy for Gaza admitted Monday that talks with Hamas on disarmament are going to take more time, even though the ultimatum he gave for the terror group to accept his proposal on handing over its weapons expired nine days earlier.

“We’ve had some very serious discussions with Hamas over the last few weeks. They’re not easy,” Nickolay Mladenov told Reuters in an interview during a visit to Brussels. “I’m fairly optimistic that we will be able to come up with an arrangement that works for all sides and, most importantly, works for the people in Gaza.”

US President Donald Trump introduced the Board of Peace in September to oversee his plan to end the Israel-Hamas war, subsequently saying it would tackle other conflicts.

The UN Security Council went on to recognize the board, which is chaired by Trump, though many major powers have not joined.

Trump’s Gaza ​plan, which was initially embraced by Israel and Hamas, calls for Israeli troops to withdraw from Gaza and reconstruct to ⁠start as Hamas lays down its weapons.

The disarmament of Hamas has been a key sticking point in talks to implement the plan and cement the ceasefire reached in October, which halted two years of full-blown war triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel. Violence has continued in the Gaza Strip, much of which remains in ruins.

Mladenov has been holding talks with Hamas leaders for weeks, and toward the beginning of the month gave the group until April 11 to accept the Board of Peace’s proposal for it to gradually hand over all of its arms.

The plan, partially leaked to the media, follows an eight-month timeline, beginning with Hamas handing over its heavy weaponry in addition to maps of its tunnel network within 90 days.

Hamas said willing to give up automatic rifles, ‘other weapons’

The New York Times reported Monday that Hamas has countered with its own proposal through which it would give up thousands of automatic rifles and “other weapons” held by its internal security forces, while maintaining the rest of its arsenal.

While the offer marked the first time Hamas has expressed willingness to give up at least some of weapons, it still falls well short of the Board of Peace’s proposal, which requires the complete disarmament of all Gaza terror groups.

The counteroffer would also allow Hamas to hold onto its heavy weapons, such as rockets and missiles, which are supposed to be handed over first along with maps of Gaza’s underground tunnel network, according to the Board of Peace’s proposal.

The Hamas proposal also stipulates that its internal security forces will hand over their weapons to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, the technocratic panel set up by the Board of Peace to govern the Strip.

The two Hamas officials cited by the New York Times did not provide a clear answer when asked if the NCAG could seize weapons belonging to Hamas’s military wing.

Hamas claims to target Israeli-backed militias in Khan Younis

While the NCAG was formally established in January, the Board of Peace has held off on installing the new government in Gaza until enough progress has been made in stabilizing the situtation there and........

© The Times of Israel