Board of Peace envoy Mladenov warns Gaza ceasefire risks ‘collapse’

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Nicolay Mladenov says that a return to war would be ‘devastating’.The failure of both sides to adhere to the roadmap for peace “threatens a collapse of the ceasefire in Gaza”, Nikolay Mladenov, the high representative for the Board of Peace, has warned in an interview with Al Jazeera.There is “no better alternative to the current plan”, Mladenov said on Friday, adding that the “return to war would be devastating”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Gaza marks one year since Mariam Dagga was killed in Israeli strikelist 2 of 3Seven killed in Gaza as Israeli strike ‘destroys’ aid supply warehouselist 3 of 3Armed with a whistle, Gaza’s lifeguards do what they can to save swimmersend of listHis warning was “directed at both the Palestinian and Israeli sides”, he said, at a time when the besieged Strip is witnessing continued Israeli raids and attacks.Mladenov stressed that any retreat from the commitments of the roadmap will negatively affect overall security and humanitarian arrangements in Palestine, which may return the region to a spiral of violence with dire consequences.The Board of Peace has “determined the mechanism for deploying the International Stabilization Force [ISF] and its deployment locations in the Gaza Strip,” he said, noting that Morocco agreed to take part, though Turkiye will not participate after Israel vetoed Ankara’s involvement.He added that the force’s “advance elements should arrive in the Gaza Strip soon”.On reconstruction, Mladenov told Al Jazeera that the Board has received pledges worth $7bn, while crediting Qatar, Egypt and Turkiye with playing “an important role” in advancing the agreement with Hamas.He noted talks with Israel on increasing humanitarian aid are “good”, while expressing hope that a Palestinian national committee would “assume its responsibilities in the Gaza Strip soon”.