Israel-Gaza live updates: Lebanon army says it completed 1st phase of disarmament plan

Former UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov will serve as the director of President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday.

Netanyahu met with Mladenov in his office in Jerusalem Thursday, according to the prime minister's office.

Netanyahu reiterated that Hamas needs to disarm and that Gaza must be demilitarized in accordance with the ceasefire agreement during the meeting.

The next step in the peace process is to move into the second phase of the 20-point peace plan. The second phase would include further withdrawal of Israeli troops from parts of the Gaza Strip and requires Hamas to disarm.

In this second phase, a “Board of Peace” is supposed to be established to oversee Gaza and work towards rebuilding it after two years of devastating war.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller

Reacting to the Lebanese army's announcement that it had achieved the first phase of its plan to disarm non-state groups including Hezbollah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Thursday that disarmament efforts have so far been insufficient.

Lebanon's efforts to disarm armed groups "are an encouraging beginning, but they are far from sufficient, as evidenced by Hezbollah's efforts to rearm and rebuild its terror infrastructure with Iranian support," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

-ABC News' Morgan Winsor and Jordana Miller

Lebanon's military announced Thursday that it had achieved the goal of a state monopoly on arms in the south of the country in an "effective and tangible way," but noted this was only "the first phase" and that the work "is still ongoing, until the handling of unexploded ordnance and tunnels is completed."

The Lebanese army had given itself until the end of 2025 to complete the first phase of its plan to clear the south and disarm non-state groups, including Hezbollah. The Iran-backed group has been resisting attempts to disarm it, as Israel continues its bombardment of the south and east of the country where Hezbollah has traditionally held sway.

Thursday's statement does not mention Hezbollah or others by name, but notes that the Lebanese army aims to prevent "armed groups from irreversibly rebuilding their capabilities."

There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah or Israel.

-ABC News' Morgan Winsor

Israel said it used live fire to disperse a crowd at a university in the West Bank in relation to a "terror operation," after receiving "intelligence indications" of an "anticipated gathering in support of terror and incitement to terror that was expected to take place," the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement Tuesday.

"At the beginning of the gathering, IDF and Israel Border Police forces were dispatched to the area of the University, used riot dispersal means, and dispersed the gathering," the IDF said in a statement.

Adding, "Later on, an additional violent confrontation broke out that involved hundreds of suspects, during which rocks were hurled from rooftops in the area toward the forces, posing an immediate threat to them. The forces responded with riot dispersal means and precise fire toward the main violent individuals."

-ABC News' Jordana Miller