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Representatives of the international Board of Peace, the US-backed governance body established under President Donald Trump's initiative to end the war in Gaza, are expected to enter the enclave in the coming days, marking the first such visit since the body was created earlier this year, Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported Wednesday.
The broadcaster said envoys of Nickolay Mladenov, the Bulgarian diplomat Trump appointed as the board's high representative for Gaza, have formally requested entry clearance from the Israeli military.
According to KAN, the visit would be the first by Board of Peace representatives to the embattled territory since the body was formed months ago. Representatives of a planned multinational security force connected to the initiative are also expected to visit Gaza next month.
KAN reported that Mladenov last week presented a 15-point roadmap aimed at implementing Trump's Gaza initiative, including the proposed deployment of what the plan describes as an "International Stabilization Force."
The plan is part of the second phase of Trump's broader 20-point framework for ending the war, which received backing from a UN Security Council resolution passed last November.
The transitional governance structures underpinning the initiative, including the Board of Peace, the Gaza Executive Council, the National Committee for Gaza Administration, and the International Stabilization Force, were announced by the White House on Jan. 16. The board's inaugural meeting on Gaza was held on Feb. 19 at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, with Trump presiding.
A source within the board, quoted by KAN, said Hamas "has not understood that it must disarm," and characterized the killing of commanders of the group's military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, as "part of the process of disarming Hamas." On Tuesday evening, Israeli strikes targeting western Gaza City killed Mohammed Awda, described as the head of the brigades.
The disarmament of Hamas has remained the central and most contentious pillar of the Trump initiative since its inception. Mladenov, a former UN Middle East peace envoy who served in that role from 2015 to 2020, was tasked with overseeing a transition away from Hamas rule toward a new technocratic Palestinian administration.
KAN reported that Washington is expected to deepen its engagement in Gaza affairs following the winding down of its confrontation with Iran, with the anticipated visit by Board of Peace representatives viewed as an early signal of that broader re-engagement.
The war in Gaza began in October 2023. According to Palestinian figures cited in the report, more than 72,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 172,000 injured since the outbreak of hostilities, the majority of them women and children.
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