As Hamas refuses to disarm, stalling Trump’s peace plan, US-backed Board of Peace reportedly eyeing Gaza reconstruction in areas under IDF control.By World Israel News StaffThe US-backed Board of Peace is weighing a plan to begin implementing President Donald Trump’s Gaza reconstruction and governance framework in areas of the Strip outside Hamas control, as the terror group continues to reject demands to disarm, according to a report published by Axios Wednesday.The possible shift comes as Board of Peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov warned that Hamas is tightening its hold over parts of Gaza it still controls and obstructing efforts to move ahead with reconstruction.“Hamas is consolidating its grip on the population. It is taxing people in the street who have nothing left to give,” Mladenov told foreign reporters in Jerusalem.The former UN envoy, who now serves as the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, said the US-backed plan remains stalled over Hamas’s refusal to accept a disarmament framework. The deadlock has delayed reconstruction, the entry of a new Palestinian technocratic administration, further Israeli withdrawals and the deployment of an international stabilization force.“Diplomacy remains open, but the people of Gaza cannot be asked to wait indefinitely while the same questions are being discussed a second, third, fourth and fifth time,” Mladenov said.Axios reported that the Board of Peace is considering a “plan B” under which implementation of Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan would begin first in areas not controlled by Hamas.The move followed talks last week between Mladenov, US diplomat Aryeh Lightstone and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during which officials agreed to form working groups to examine next steps.A US official said Washington has told Israel it does not support renewing the war in Gaza as a way to break the impasse.“We do not think it is in the US or Israel’s interest that the war in Gaza resumes. We don’t think we exhausted all other options to implement the 20-point peace plan,” the official said.Under the reported alternative plan, the Palestinian technocratic government, which has been operating from Cairo, could be moved into areas outside Hamas control.Reconstruction work would begin there, alongside the deployment of an International Stabilization Force and a new Palestinian police force trained in Egypt. Residents from Hamas-controlled areas could later be encouraged to relocate there, according to Axios.Mladenov acknowledged that such an approach risks deepening Gaza’s division and appeared to distance himself from the idea of formally dividing the enclave.“We have not designated any color zones in Gaza,” he said.The issue has become more pressing after Hamas reportedly blocked Palestinian workers from reaching Rafah, where they had been contracted by the Board of Peace for construction work on the Israeli-controlled side of the yellow ceasefire line.Mladenov said the disarmament framework offered to Hamas is gradual and reciprocal, rather than a demand for immediate surrender to Israel. It would begin with heavy weapons and maps of Gaza’s tunnel networks, followed by the decommissioning of remaining personal weapons over an eight-month period.“Each step that we suggest be taken by one side triggers a step to be taken by the other, and each step is confirmed by an independent monitoring mechanism before the next step is taken,” he said.The framework includes a voluntary weapons buy-back program, “conditional amnesty” for armed Palestinians who agree to abide by the new order, reintegration assistance for Hamas officials who lose their jobs, and possible relocation to third countries for armed group members unwilling to accept the plan.“We’re not interested in retribution. We’re interested in transition,” Mladenov said.He also stressed that the plan would not require Hamas to vanish as a political movement, if it abandons armed activity.“We’re not asking Hamas to disappear as a political movement. A political party that disavows armed activity can compete in national Palestinian elections, and the [disarmament] roadmap preserves that possibility,” Mladenov said.Mladenov said the proposal is meant to place all weapons under a single Palestinian governing authority.“We’re not asking Palestinians to surrender their weapons to Israel. We’re asking them to consolidate institutions on which their future depends,” he said. “This is what reconstruction, Israeli withdrawal and the political horizon depend on.”Hamas has argued that it should not be expected to implement the disarmament provisions while Israel, in its view, has failed to meet commitments from the first stage of the ceasefire, including aid access, the reopening of Rafah Crossing, halting strikes in Gaza and withdrawing from agreed areas. Israel says it retains the right to strike Palestinians who threaten its forces.Pressed on allegations of Israeli violations, Mladenov said the Board of Peace does not view the plan as a menu of separate obligations.“You can talk about phase one and phase two, but there is one 20-point plan, and we cannot pick and choose what we implement,” he said.Mladenov said Gaza remains trapped between stalled diplomacy and continued hardship.“Seven months since the ceasefire, the door to the future of Gaza is still closed,” he said. “It is not what the Palestinians were promised, and it is not what they deserve. And it is not giving Israel the security to move forward, as the Israeli people also want.”The post Board of Peace preparing ‘Plan B’ for Gaza reconstruction as Hamas refuses to disarm appeared first on World Israel News.