The failure of the Gaza ceasefire process would mark a “point of no return,” the United Nations envoy for the region warned Wednesday. Nickolay Mladenov, the UN's high representative for Gaza, stated that a resumption of fighting would leave nothing left to rebuild and no clear path forward.

Mladenov's stark assessment came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly rejected a 15-point peace plan proposed by the United States, which Washington has presented as a roadmap to end the conflict in Gaza. The plan includes Hamas handing over its weapons.

The UN envoy informed the United Nations Security Council that a complete breakdown of the truce process would have irreversible consequences. He described the potential outcome as a situation where there would be “no roadmap to return to, there will be no administration to deploy and there will be nothing left on the ground to rebuild.”

Netanyahu's rejection of the US plan follows Hamas's agreement on July 30 to the roadmap, which also involves the decommissioning of weapons supervised by a nascent International Stabilization Force. This force is intended to be deployed to Gaza if conditions stabilize. The plan envisions a new Palestinian governing body composed of technocrats to manage civil services and humanitarian relief.

Netanyahu has stated that Israel will not withdraw its forces until Hamas is fully disarmed. This stance directly opposes the framework presented by the US, even as President Donald Trump hailed the plan as a significant breakthrough. The US plan aims to establish a transitional administration recognized by the UN, to which Hamas has pledged to transfer full governing authority, both civilian and security.

The conflict has resulted in a significant loss of life. Gaza's Ministry of Health reported at least 1,288 Palestinians killed and 4,290 wounded since a previous US-brokered ceasefire began in October. Since the attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian groups on October 7, 2023, which killed approximately 1,200 people and led to about 240 captives, Israel's war on Gaza has led to a total of at least 73,422 Palestinian deaths.

Mladenov highlighted the unprecedented nature of Hamas's agreement to disarm and transfer governing authority. He noted that this was the first time Hamas and other armed factions in Gaza had agreed to hand over their weapons and cede full control to a UN-recognized transitional administration.

The envoy also pointed to a second significant risk to the peace process, though details were not fully elaborated in the provided material. The ongoing failure to secure a comprehensive ceasefire and a viable path toward reconstruction threatens to exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and further destabilize the region.