Mladenov: Gaza tunnels could take decade to clear

Gaza's tunnel network could require more than a decade to dismantle under a proposed postwar plan being developed by the Board of Peace, the body tasked with shaping the territory's future, according to its high representative for Gaza.

Nikolai Mladenov said in an interview that the 15-point roadmap, negotiated between the Board of Peace led by U.S. President Donald Trump and Hamas, aims to ensure Gaza "is never again a threat to Israeli security." The plan rests on three elements: full decommissioning of all weapons in Gaza, Board of Peace governance through a national committee, and large-scale reconstruction supported by an international security force.

Mladenov stated that Israel would not be required to withdraw forces "before we actually have verified steps on the ground." He noted that IDF troops are positioned along the Yellow Line inside Gaza, with any pullback toward the border fence proceeding sector by sector only after weapons are collected, stored and rendered unusable by the national committee and international forces.

He emphasized that the plan does not restrict Israel's ability to respond to imminent threats or evidence of Hamas rearming. If commitments are not met, the process would freeze and "we do not progress to the next stage." Under the arrangement, personal weapons in Gaza would not include Kalashnikov rifles or be held in large quantities.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Jerusalem rejects the 15-point roadmap announced by the Board of Peace on July 30. He stressed that disarming Hamas requires the group to give up its "heavy weapons, the less heavy weapons, all the weapons," Emphasizing there must be "real disarmament, not fictitious disarmament."

Netanyahu said Jerusalem is discussing the matter with the Trump administration and that the Americans "have ideas, some of them acceptable to us and some not acceptable to us." He pledged the IDF would continue to thwart threats against Israeli forces and civilians.