Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Jerusalem on Thursday with the designated director of the “Peace Council” in the Gaza Strip, ahead of the expected announcement early next week of the next phase of the US-sponsored ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.
Nikolay Mladenov, a Bulgarian politician and diplomat, served as the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process between 2015 and 2020, and cooperated with Netanyahu during the period that saw Israel’s normalization of relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Under the ceasefire plan, Mladenov is expected to assume the position of director of the “Peace Council,” which will oversee a committee of Palestinian technocrats and international experts tasked with managing the affairs of Gaza.
In a statement issued after the meeting, the Prime Minister’s Office stated that Netanyahu stressed the importance of disarming Hamas and demilitarizing Gaza, two essential conditions stipulated in the 20-point ceasefire plan presented by the administration of US President Donald Trump.
Axios reported on Wednesday that the Trump administration may announce the formation of the “Peace Council” as early as next week, in the context of US efforts to push the ceasefire towards the second phase of the agreement.
In a related context, Mladenov met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday, according to a statement by an Israeli official, without any official statement being issued regarding this meeting.
