Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Thursday that Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov has been chosen to direct a U.S. “Board of Peace” meant to oversee the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire, as Palestinian hospital officials and family members reported at least eight more deaths from Israeli strikes.
Netanyahu made the announcement after meeting Mladenov in Jerusalem, identifying him as the “designated” director-general for the board. A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the appointment had not been officially announced, confirmed that Mladenov is expected to serve as the board’s day-to-day administrator on the ground.
Trump has said he will head the board, and other appointments are expected next week, according to Israeli and American officials speaking on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement. The board’s mandate, under Trump’s plan, includes supervision of a new technocratic Palestinian government, Hamas disarmament, the deployment of an international security force, additional pullbacks of Israeli troops and reconstruction.
Israel’s prime minister linked the appointment to what Netanyahu described as the next and “far more complicated” phase of the ceasefire. The planned board role is meant to move beyond the initial arrangement and address issues the U.S. has reported as making little progress so far, including the governance and security components of the plan.
Mladenov, a former Bulgarian defense and foreign minister, previously served as the U.N. envoy to Iraq before being appointed U.N. Mideast peace envoy from 2015-2020. During that time, the report said he had working relations with Israel and frequently worked to ease tensions between Israel and Hamas.
The ceasefire’s first phase, delivered under an October agreement, halted fighting and involved an exchange of hostages held by Hamas for hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel. The deal has largely held, but it has been marred by mutual accusations of violations, and Hamas has not returned the remains of one hostage: an Israeli policeman killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war.
While the agreement has remained in place in its initial stage, the report said continued Israeli strikes in Gaza have killed over 400 Palestinians, according to local health officials, with Palestinian health officials saying scores of civilians have been among the dead. Israel has said the strikes were in response to violations of the deal, while Palestinian health officials dispute that characterization.
Separate from the board announcement, the report said Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip on Thursday killed at least eight people, according to Palestinian hospital officials and family members. Hamas called the deaths a “blatant violation of the ceasefire,” and the report described victims that included an 11-year-old girl, a teenage girl and two boys killed in a tent camp, along with other deaths tied to strikes reported by family members.
Israel’s military said it was not aware of any strike-related casualties in the northern Gaza’s Jabaliya area where an 11-year-old was reported killed, and it did not immediately comment on other reported deaths Thursday. It previously said actions since the ceasefire began were in response to violations of the agreement.
Egyptian and European Union leaders meeting in Cairo urged the deployment of an international stabilization force in the Gaza Strip to oversee the October ceasefire. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the situation was “extremely severe,” adding that “Hamas refuses to disarm,” and that it blocks progress to the next stage even as Israel restricts international NGOs that provide humanitarian aid access.
Kallas also said there’s “no justification for the humanitarian situation in Gaza to have deteriorated to the current level.” The report said efforts were also continuing to recover the remains of the final hostage in Gaza, with Israel’s Hostages and Missing Families Forum telling it had been notified that teams recommenced searching for Ran Gvili.
In Turkey, the head of UNRWA warned that Israeli pressure on the agency risks creating a “huge vacuum” in services. Philippe Lazzarini told reporters in Ankara that no other body has the capacity or “community trust” to provide health, education and social services, and he said, “If the agency cannot or has to stop to operate in Gaza or in the West Bank, this will create a huge vacuum.”
Lazzarini said he was in Turkey for talks on improving humanitarian access in Gaza. The report said Turkey and UNRWA signed an agreement in June for UNRWA to open an office in Ankara, and Lazzarini said the office is expected to open “within weeks,” initially as a liaison and advocacy hub before potentially taking on additional functions.