JERUSALEM (AP) — A former U.N. Mideast envoy has been chosen to direct U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace to oversee the ceasefire in Gaza, Israel’s prime minister said Thursday, as at least eight more deaths from Israeli strikes were reported there.
The appointment of Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov marks an important step forward for Trump’s Mideast peace plan, which has moved slowly since delivering an October ceasefire ending more than two years of fighting between Israel and Hamas.
Benjamin Netanyahu made the announcement after meeting Mladenov in Jerusalem, identifying him as the “designated” director-general for the board, which is meant to oversee the implementation of the second and far more complicated phase of the cease-fire.
A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the appointment has not been officially announced, confirmed Mladenov is the Trump administration’s choice to be the board’s day-to-day administrator on the ground.
Trump has said he will head the board. Other appointments are expected next week, according to Israeli and American officials, who both spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement.
Under Trump’s plan, the board is supposed to supervise a new technocratic Palestinian government, the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of an international security force, additional pullbacks of Israeli …