The implementation of the peace plan for the Gaza Strip presented by US President Donald Trump is causing tensions between the United States and Israel. Former UN Special Coordinator Nikolay Mladenov sharply criticized the recent attacks and pointed to the efforts of an international mediation body.
Washington, 04 August 2026
The implementation of the peace plan for the Gaza Strip presented by US President Donald Trump is causing open tensions between the United States and Israel.
The background to the controversy is Trump's announcement that the Israeli army would withdraw from the Gaza Strip. The declaration was received with astonishment on the Israeli side, as such a troop movement had neither been officially confirmed nor coordinated.
The former UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East, Nikolay Mladenov, addressed the public via the X platform. He wrote: "Two days of strikes across Gaza have killed civilians and destroyed medical supplies that people depend on. This comes after intense efforts by the @BoardOfPeace and the mediators (Egypt, Turkiye, Qatar and the US) to bring the Palestinian factions in Gaza to agree to a Roadmap…". In doing so, he criticized the recent attacks as a setback for the ongoing mediation efforts.
Mladenov explicitly referenced the work of the so-called Board of Peace as well as mediators from Egypt, Turkey, Qatar, and the United States. According to this, these countries are trying to commit various Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip to a common roadmap for ending the conflict.
The discrepancy between Trump's public statement and the actual situation on the ground is generating discussion in international media. Israeli government officials reportedly find themselves confronted with a position they had not previously confirmed.
The Israeli daily newspaper NZZ also reported that the well-known Israeli journalist and political commentator Amit Segal had taken up the US announcement in his analyses. Segal is considered one of the sharpest observers of the relationship between Washington and the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The differing interpretations between Washington and Jerusalem raise the question of the extent to which the peace plan is suitable at all for ending the fighting. International observers see the contradiction as evidence that coordination between the closest allies is currently lacking.
Signals within the US administration are also contradictory. While the president announced a withdrawal of the Israeli army, other parts of the government apparatus pointed out that such a decision could not be made without consultation with Israel.
Meanwhile, the situation in the Gaza Strip itself remains tense. International aid organizations have been warning for months of a deterioration in the humanitarian situation, which would be further exacerbated by renewed fighting.
Mladenow emphasized in his post that the destruction of medical supplies has immediate consequences for the civilian population. Such attacks undermine trust in the peace process and endanger the already fragile medical care in the coastal territory.
Diplomatic circles in Cairo, Doha, and Ankara expressed concern about the setback. The three countries had worked intensively together with Washington in recent months to achieve de-escalation.
The coming days are considered decisive for whether Trump's peace plan can actually result in a binding agreement. If the public dispute continues, the already complicated negotiations with the Palestinian factions threaten to stall further.
Observers point out that without a coordinated line between Washington and Jerusalem, none of the intended measures—from the ceasefire to the restoration of humanitarian supply—appear feasible. The gap between announcement and reality remains the biggest obstacle.
