The Board of Peace, led by Donald Trump, unveiled a 15-point roadmap designed to end the Gaza Strip conflict. however, the proposal has met immediate resistance from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas negotiators, leaving the path to peace stalled.
The IVC and NCAG's role in the 15-point roadmap
The Board of Peace recently released a 15-point roadmap on X aimed at transforming the Gaza Strip through a phased approach to security and governance. As the report notes, the plan relies on a complex choreography involving an International Verification Committee (IVC) to certify progress and a UN-mandated group of technocrats known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG). To maintain order, an International Stabilization Force (ISF) would be deployed to separate Israeli forces from areas managed by the NCAG, while also training Palestinian police.
Nickolay Mladenov, representing the Board of Peace, suggested that Israeli withdrawal would occur in lockstep with the disarmament of Hamas. This mechanism is designed to prevent a security vacuum, ensuring that the IDF does not leave while Hamas maintains its military infrastructure, and conversely, that Hamas does not surrender arms without a guaranteed Israeli exit. The goal is to create a sequential, time-bound process where each step is verified by the IVC before the next phase begins.
Netanyahu’s "Hamas first" demand vs. Ghazi Hamad’s withdrawal requirement
The fundamental obstacle to this plan is the irreconcilable positions held by the primary combatants. According to the report, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the proposal, characterizing it as a mere draft rather than a finalized agreement. Netanyahu has maintained that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will remain in Gaza until Hamas is completely disarmed, effectively stalling the "phased" aspect of the roadmap.
On the other side of the divide, Hamas negotiator Ghazi Hamad insists that no disarmament can occur until Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory. This "who goes first" deadlock effectively nullifies the Board of Peace's sequential timeline.. While the roadmap attempts to bridge this gap with phased transitions, the current reality is a cycle of fresh Israeli strikes and continued combat ,leaving the 15-point plan in a state of diplomatic limbo .
The impossible math of rocket counts and IDF withdrawals
Even if both parties were to accept the framework, the roadmap contains significant technical ambiguities regarding how progress is measured.. The plan defers specific implementation details to a 14-day window following approval, yet it fails to define the metrics for success. For instance, it remains unclear how many surrendered Hamas rockets would trigger the withdrawal of specific Israeli military units from a particular sector.
The verification process faces a massive asymmetry in difficulty. while the IVC can physically monitor the movement of IDF vehicles and troops, verifying the total disarmament of Hamas is far more complex. The report highlights that while inspectors might confirm the surrender of 500 rockets, proving the absence of a 501st rocket hidden in a tunnel remains a near-impossible task. This ambiguity provides both sides with the leverage to claim non-compliance and stall the process indefinitely, as Israel can argue for more tunnel searches while Hamas can claim disarmaent is being used as a pretext to keep the IDF in place.
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