The Board of Peace's lead envoy for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, said Sunday that Israel would withdraw from the Gaza Strip if "verified" disarmament was achieved.
The roadmap aims "to make sure that Gaza is never again a threat to Israeli security — that what happened before October 7 never happens again," Mladenov told Israel's Channel 12.
"Nobody is required to do anything-last of all Israel-before we actually have verified steps on the ground," the envoy added.
"If there is verified decommissioning of weapons, that they are taken away from the factions, and stored, and ultimately rendered unusable, Israel then withdraws from Gaza," he claimed.
Early Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his rejection of a 15-point roadmap proposed by the Board of Peace to implement the second phase of US President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza. He claimed that his army will withdraw only when Hamas is disarmed.
Mladenov said the plan is based on three principal elements: the complete disarmament of Gaza, transferring responsibility for governing the territory to the Board of Peace through a Palestinian national committee, and deploying an international security force to verify implementation of the agreement.
Although the roadmap issued on July 31 calls for Hamas' disarmament and a gradual, parallel Israeli withdrawal, Mladenov said Israel would not be required to withdraw before concrete disarmament measures were taken on the ground.
He further claimed the plan does not require an Israeli withdrawal from its current positions along the "Yellow Line" at this stage.
"What we are asking is that the IDF (Israeli army) do not position troops further from the Yellow Line, because the Yellow Line was agreed under the comprehensive plan," he said. "So we would like them to stay at those positions, and to make sure that they do not shoot across at people unless they are a real threat to Israeli soldiers."
Mladenov said the withdrawal would proceed area by area, with the Israeli army gradually pulling back as disarmament is completed in each area, until it ultimately reaches the fence surrounding the Gaza Strip.
He claimed that the roadmap does not prevent Israel from responding to any immediate threat to its forces.
Mladenov said the process would be halted and would not advance to the next phase if the agreed commitments were not fulfilled or Hamas members continued training or rearming.
Mladenov estimated that destroying all tunnels in Gaza at the current pace could take "more than a decade," but said the Board of Peace was considering using machinery and contractors to accelerate the process.
On the role of regional mediators, Mladenov said the contributions of Türkiye and Qatar, alongside Egypt, were "critical" in securing Hamas' approval of the roadmap.
He said the plan also had the support of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, other Gulf countries and Morocco.
The Israeli army has killed more than 73,000 people and injured over 174,000 others in a brutal offensive in Gaza since October 2023.
Despite a ceasefire that took effect on Oct. 10, 2025 as part of the first phase of Trump's Gaza plan, Israel has continued its daily attacks, killing at least 1,258 people and wounding 4,139 others, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
The second phase of Trump's plan envisages the transfer of administration in Gaza to a Palestinian technocratic committee, deploying an international stabilization force, placing weapons under the responsibility of the National Committee for Gaza Administration under international supervision, alongside a phased Israeli withdrawal and reconstruction efforts.
On Sunday, Hamas reaffirmed its commitment to the roadmap agreed with mediators and the Board of Peace to complete the second phase of Trump's plan for Gaza.
