A foreign official involved in the attempt to implement the Board of Peace’s disarmament roadmap for Gaza said on Thursday that there has been some progress on the plan in recent days, as the Israel Defense Forces has shown restraint.

The official’s outlook came as a group of Muslim countries — including the United Arab Emirates, a close ally of Israel, and hostile Turkey — condemned Israeli “violations” in the Gaza Strip and accused Israel of undermining US President Donald Trump’s plan for postwar Gaza.

“After a challenging start, we’ve seen some steps in the right direction,” the foreign official said.

“We are seeing restraint now and a pullback in the military operations that is important to getting the sequencing rolling,” the official said of the IDF.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Tuesday that Israel has not agreed to the Hamas disarmament proposal, which the terror group accepted last week. While pushing back against the plan’s call for stopping IDF operations in Gaza, Netanyahu did not deny reports that Israel has agreed to tighten its rules of engagement, requiring the approval of IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen Eyal Zamir before any strike can go ahead.

The disarmament plan requires Israel to pull back to the original Yellow Line in Gaza. Israel withdrew to that line as part of the October 2025 ceasefire-hostage release deal with Hamas, but has since expanded its control of the Strip from 53 percent to over 60%.

While the Board of Peace indicated that Israel would not have to carry out withdrawals beyond the original Yellow Line until Hamas at least begins to hand over its weapons, Netanyahu asserted on Tuesday that Israeli forces will not move at all.

“This calm and stability is important and offers a platform to start accelerating implementation,” the official said. “But it is of........

© The Times of Israel