UN envoy urges Israel to admit technocratic committee to Gaza

GAZA — The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, on Sunday asked Israel to "immediately allow" a technocratic committee and an international stabilisation force into the Gaza Strip, according to The New Arab.

The outlet, which cited a report by Haaretz, said the demand is in line with US President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza. This account is based on that single source. Zenga News has not independently verified it.

The letter to COGAT

According to The New Arab, Mladenov made the request in a letter to Yoram Halevi, the head of COGAT, the Israeli body that coordinates government activities in the Palestinian territories. The letter responded to Halevi's announcement that goods would stop entering Gaza through private traders "until further notice", Haaretz reported. The New Arab described this as the main channel through which goods reach the territory.

Mladenov wrote that "Hamas's extortion of traders and importers (which the movement denies) is not a new problem," according to the report. He also said that if private-sector imports stopped, similar pressure would be applied to humanitarian aid that the United Nations and international organisations bring into Gaza.

Rafah pilot project

The UN envoy also asked the Israeli government to approve a pilot project immediately, The New Arab said. Under it, the Palestinian technocratic committee and the international stabilisation force would start work in a limited area of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. The report said the Israeli army currently controls that area and Hamas has no presence there.

Mladenov ended the letter by asking Israel to work with the self-styled Peace Board on a new mechanism for managing the supply of goods to Gaza, according to the report. He said staff of the board and Israel are discussing the matter, The New Arab reported.

Hamas response

The New Arab reported that Hamas criticised Mladenov's statements on Friday. In a statement, the group accused him of "aligning himself with Israel's pretexts for obstructing the entry of goods into the Gaza Strip and deepening the humanitarian crisis there", according to the outlet. The report said Hamas described his position as an adoption of the Israeli narrative on the Netanyahu government's decision to suspend the entry of goods. The source text is cut off at that point, and the rest of the Hamas statement was not available.

Background

The New Arab said Mladenov's letter followed an earlier decision by the Israeli Security Cabinet. In late July, before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travelled to Washington, the cabinet approved sending a limited number of international peacekeeping troops to Rafah, according to the report.

The outlet said the decision was later reversed under pressure from ministers of the religious Zionist movement. It reported that Netanyahu announced in late August that the deployment had not been approved.

The New Arab's report did not include a response from Halevi, COGAT or the Israeli government to Mladenov's letter. It also did not say whether the suspension of goods through private traders has taken effect or how long it has lasted.