Mladenov: Cairo Agreements are the Palestinians’ Last Chance

 United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov, speaks during a press conference in Gaza, Feb. 17, 2016 (AP)
United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov, speaks during a press conference in Gaza, Feb. 17, 2016 (AP)
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Mladenov: Cairo Agreements are the Palestinians’ Last Chance

 United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov, speaks during a press conference in Gaza, Feb. 17, 2016 (AP)
United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov, speaks during a press conference in Gaza, Feb. 17, 2016 (AP)

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov said on Monday that the Cairo agreements represented the last chance for intra-Palestinian reconciliation.

“This opportunity must be well used,” Mladenov said during a visit to the Gaza Strip.

His remarks followed a meeting with the head of Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas leader in Gaza, Yehya al-Senwar, and other officials, with whom he discussed reconciliation efforts between Fatah and Hamas and the implementation of understandings which have been recently reached in Cairo under the auspices of Egyptian intelligence.

The UN coordinator held a closed meeting with Haniyeh and the Hamas leadership, away from the media.

However, well-informed sources told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that the officials have discussed the possibility to form a UN team to facilitate the implementation of the recent Cairo understandings, adding that Hamas has welcomed the proposal.

Earlier on Monday, Mladenov met with the leaders of Palestinian factions, in the absence of Fatah movement.

The meeting gathered senior officials of the Islamic Jihad, the Popular and Democratic fronts, the People’s Party and other factions to discuss the Cairo agreements, the security situation and siege imposed on Gaza.

In comments afterwards, the UN official said: “The Cairo understandings represent the last chance to complete the Palestinian reconciliation”, calling on all parties to grab this opportunity and achieve its success.

He also noted that he discussed with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a plan through which a UN delegation would contribute to the successful implementation of the agreements and enable the Palestinian government to take over its duties in Gaza.

He pledged that he would personally monitor, along with officials in his office, the process of handing over Gaza’s functions to the government and work together to resolve crises in the area.

Mladenov called on all factions to facilitate the task of the government, especially as it would be dealing with many difficult files, including Gaza employees, the humanitarian needs and the complex living conditions.



52 Palestinians Including Children Killed in Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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52 Palestinians Including Children Killed in Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including four children, hospital officials said Saturday. Also, 24 others were fatally shot on their way to aid distribution sites.

The children and two women were among at least 13 people who were killed in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli airstrikes pounded the area starting late Friday, officials in Al-Aqsa Martyr's Hospital said. Another four people were killed in strikes near a fuel station, and 15 others died in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital.

The Israeli military said in a statement that over the past 48 hours, troops struck approximately 250 targets in the Gaza Strip, including militants, booby-trapped structures, weapons storage facilities, anti-tank missile launch posts, sniper posts, tunnels and additional Hamas infrastructure sites. The military did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' request for comment on the civilian deaths.

The Hamas-led group killed some 1,200 people in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and abducted 251. They still hold 50 hostages, less than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s offensive has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.

US President Donald Trump has said that he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war. But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu there were no signs of a breakthrough.