[Salon] BoP claims Israel is set to withdraw only after Hamas disarms, contradicting its own roadmap" (DROP SITE NEWS)

[Chas Freeman <cwfresidence@gmail.com>]

FM: John Whitbeck

The brief DROP SITE news item transmitted below confirms that, after taking instructions from his boss, Nikolay Mladenov, the high representative of the "Board of Peace", has effectively consigned the "historic breakthrough" announced a few days ago by Donald Trump to the shredder.

The statement issued by the "Board of Peace" after a "constructive, detailed" meeting between Mladenov and Benjamin Netanyahu reads in part: "Israel and the Board of Peace share a common understanding of the ultimate objectives. Contrary to inaccurate reports, we note that the withdrawal of the IDF beyond the Yellow Line will take place only once decommissioning is complete."

NOTE: While the Northern Ireland peace process offers some conceptual precedents for "decommissioning" weapons, it is far from clear how one might "decommission" hundreds or thousands of tunnels. Of course, the extreme utility and charm of the concept of "decomissioning" tunnels is that Israel can assert that it has never been completed and, therefore, it will never be obligated to withdraw from Gaza or even, it now appears, "beyond the Yellow Line" within Gaza.

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BoP claims Israel is set to withdraw only after Hamas disarms, contradicting its own roadmap: The U.S.-led “Board of Peace” put out a statement on Monday after a meeting between its envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that Israeli withdrawal from Gaza would come only after Hamas fully disarms.

• The statement said that Israeli forces would withdraw “beyond the Yellow Line…once decommissioning is complete,” and that this applied to “light weapons, heavy weapons, and the tunnels alike.”

• A roadmap previously published by the board, however, said that the disarmament process would begin only after a phased Israeli withdrawal from the Strip, as well as the decommissioning of Israeli-backed militias. The roadmap also limited disarmament to “heavy weapons, military production sites, depots of weapons, and tunnels,” but did not include “light weapons.