Hi.
There.
Before we get into this episode, a quick update for you.
A deal was on the table that was virtually identical to proposal that Hamas before on me the sixth, A deal that the entire world is behind, A deal Israel's accepted, and Hamas could have answered with a single word yes.
Late last night, US Secretary of State Anthony Blincoln appeared in front of the cameras with President Joe Biden ceasefire proposal teetering on the brink of.
Collapse based on what we saw last night, the response from the Maas numerous changes proposed to the deal that was on the table, and that the entire world has gotten behind. But some of those are workable changes, some as I said, or not. I don't want to characterize it further.
We don't know how far apart Hamas, Israel and the United States are, who's agreed to what, or what the disagreements are over. We know two things for now, the war will continue, and Anthony Blincoln still believes Joe Biden's plan to end it can work.
I believe those gaps are bridgable, doesn't mean they will be bridged, because again, it ultimately depends on people saying yes.
From Schwarz Media. I'm Ashlin McGee. This is seven am. There's another proposal for a ceasefire and Gaza, and this one seems to be gathering a bit of momentum. It's not wildly different to the plans that came before, but this one has been backed by the UN Security Council. The resolution passed by the Council says Israel has accepted the cease fire deal and in a statement, her masters
welcome the adoption of the resolution. But today it appears like a deal might not be reached, with the US saying her massays come back with changes that can't be accepted today. Senior Foreign affairs reported for the Huffington Post us Akba Shahid Ahmad on whether we're any closer to a ceasefire. It's Thursday, June thirteenth, Akbar. A few weeks ago, US President Joe Biden laid out his planned for a ceasefire in Gaza. Right now, that seems to be the
plan that the international community is getting behind. But the ceasefire, of course, hasn't happened yet. Can you explain where this proposal came from and what it's up to now?
Yeah, absolutely so.
The Biden administration's current ceasefire proposal is a multi phase plan. The idea is you stop fighting for an initial period of a few weeks, allows some hostages to be released right hostages held by Hamas and allied groups inside KLASA. Also allow a lot more aid to get into Gaza, so it gets the Palstonian some relief as well. And in that period, while there's a temporary halt, negotiate the conditions for a more permanent, lasting ceasefire.
I want to give an update of my effort to end the crisis in Gaza.
This is a proposal that's not entirely new. President Biden unveiled it on May thirty first in a speech from the White House.
For the past several months, my negotiators of foreign policy, intelligence community like have been relentlessly focused not just on a ceasefire that that would inevitably be fragile and temporary, but on a durable end of the war. That's been the focus of endurable end.
But actually this was kind of the broad contours of the deal that Hamas, the US, Egypt Cut and Israel had been talking about a month prior.
This new proposal has three phases three. The first phase would last for six weeks. Here's why it would include a full and complete ceasefire.
What I think is really important is that we've had the deal, we've had these contours, we've known these principles for this amount of time now, I mean close to six weeks, and we haven't been able to make progress.
Right.
If anything, that's just been repeated as trits sort of been hugely costly within Kasa, killing dozens of civilians. There's been some progress on the hostage front. These radis were able to have a raid where they released, you know, four hostages. We're committed to getting the release of all the hostages and we expect haw Mask to release them all, but if they don't, will do whatever it takes to get them all back home. But actual major progress hasn't happened.
And from my sources, including people inside the Biden administration, the understanding is very much that there's a lack of pressure from the US side. Right so the US, as the primary diplomatic and military backup for Israel, has that kind of leverage over these ratings.
So the person that.
The US can bring alongside is is really prime minist of Benjamin at Yahoo. But we've seen from the start of this war that President Biden has really struggled with that.
Rhetorically, he's sort.
Of pushed Prime Minister nat Nyahu to temper his campaign to do water shield civilians, to allow and more aid. But repeatedly there's been a pattern from the vide administration of relying on rhetoric and persuasion rather than actual consequences for the Israeli side. And that's kind of the problem now with the ceasefire proposal, where they've got the US has endorsed it, they've got a lot of other countries,
the UN Security Council past resolution broadly endorsing it. None of that is a way to actually force Israel to accept it, right, and so we've seen repeatedly Israeli official sy well, this yeald doesn't address our fundamental goal, which is not just getting home hostages, but also degrading Hamas to a huge degree and also not allowing future harmass control and influence inside Gaza in Sport.
We have gone a long way to return the hostages while keeping the wars objectives in mind, primarily the elimination of Hamas. We insist that we will achieve both. It's all parts of the plan.
The Biden administration has tried to argue, Oh, this is in Israel's own best interest by having this seal, Right, given the reputational harm they're facing and the ongoing issue of the hostages for Prime Minsat and Yahoo, I don't think that's quite clear yet.
So what's the US playing at here?
Then?
And talk to me about how they're framing it, saying it's supported by or backed by the Israelis, and then they're putting a whole lot of pressure on her mask to accept it. So what's this strategy here?
Yeah, so they've tried to say this was an Israeli plan and we as the US, are just kind of pushing from behind.
Look, Israel accepted the proposal as it was, and as it is Hamas didn't. So I think it's pretty clear what needs to happen, and we're determined in the coming days to again try to work this. We will work this.
That's very hard to do when the Israelis themselves, as your friend and ally, are out here saying every single day and notice, isn't our plan. We're not going to accept this. This doesn't address our concerns for the Biden administration.
The motivation is it's twofold, right, I mean, it's political. Domestically, there's just huge pressure, huge dissatisfaction, particularly among President Biden's own Democrats lawmakers, but also just regular voters and citizens, I mean who have been demonstrating who don't understand why US taxpayer dollars are involved in asteriks that are killing children simultaneously. The Biden deministration just doesn't want to be
talking about this. You know, from a strategic foreign policy point of view, you're not going to be able to draw international attention, and you're not even going to be able to win over the credibility and trust you need from other governments to have them sign on to your other proposals, which is what the Biden administration desperately wants.
So you mentioned earlier the rescue of those four hostages over the wakend. What's that done to the chances of a ceasefire? Has it complicated the chances of getting agreement on these deals?
Yeah?
I think it was a really complex moment for the US right because as of course true belietion that these hostages, one of them, you know, who has a term Neil Mother that they were able to be released and brought back into Israel, reunited with their families. However, this is kind of underscored Prime Minister at Nyaho's commitment to a
military approach. Now, we haven't seen a military first approach to rescuing hostages bring home the vast majority, right, Really, it's been less than a dozen and if anything, you've actually seen as radio military actions also take out and kill a number of hostages tragically. But it does make it easier for Prime Minister at Nyaho to challenge the Biden administration and say, well, I'm achieving the goals of the war. At the same time, publicly they are debating strategy.
The Biden administration is saying, You're not going to get much further in defeating Hamas or bring home your hostages with your current approach, and these radio messages essentially ready.
Make it happen. Trust us.
And because the Biden administration is unwilling to pull back on any of that support, right US intelligence, US support is still enabling Israeli ground operations and s strikes. They don't really have any more tips to play towards these radis other than trying to outsmart them.
Talk to me a little bit more about that pressure that Benjamin NITTNYA who is under and you mentioned they're both the internal politics and the external as well. But he's got the U S Secretary of State Anthony Blinker in town this week. That's going to put a whole lot of pressure on him. So talk to me about what he's feeling right now.
Yeah.
So for Preme Incidentia who there's a real impetus to not be seen as totally adrift from the US. Right most is Radi's do see the US as their primary defender in a very complex neighborhood, as their longtime ally. So and Naho can't come right out and sort of give the finger to the Biden administration, much as he personally might like to, right.
I mean, this is the leader.
Who has been much more supportive of Donald Trump than of Democrats over many years. He is medium with Secretary Blincoln. He will smile, he'll do the photo op. Though what we know is that behind closed doores he's essentially either telling the Americans, I just have no interest in doing what you want moving towards the ceasefire, or kind of telling them one thing and then as soon as Blinker or whoever it is he's meeting, leaves doing exactly the opposite.
Now why does he do exactly the opposite? That gets to the question of his internal pressures prement s Natna, who depends right now on the most far right government in Israeli history. He's brought into power these ministers who many other Israeli political parties had for decades seen as prisona on grata because of their extremist views on Palestinians
in particular, but also on a range of issues. Sontnia, who knows that that coalition he has is very shaky, and because of the leaving an influence he has over the far right, he's more likely to lean on these kind of more extreme ministers, Ministers who would not support us these fire dealga tamas, and who very much want to see even if it's strategically unsound, very much want to see Israel take these huge STAPs like reoccupying parts
of Gaza, sustaining security controlled even threatening Israel's decades or peace treaty in Egypt. Right, So that's real national security concerns, and what these ministers are politically urging that Neoh to do.
After the break. Why some are describing President Biden's peace bid as a hail Mary pass.
Akba.
A number of US officials have recently resigned over the Biden administration's position on Gaza. Tell me more about what's going on for them internally in the pressure that that's putting on the US president.
Yeah, you know, Ashen, in more than a decade of covering foreign policy from Washington, I've never seen this degree of dissent and frustration among foreign policy professionals, right experts. I think the reason for that is there's a real sense that national security expertise has been sidelined by the
Biden administration since October seventh. And that's not a lot of people who have been working on these issues for years to quit, starting with someone called Josh Paul I was the first to reveal his resignation in October.
Well, I've actually heard since I left from so many scores of people, not only from within the State Department, but from across the US government, including them.
And this was someone who was an arms dealer essentially for the US government, right, I mean, overseeing weapons transfers to some really questionable regimes like Saudi Arabia.
Even he felt.
Look, at least internally before we were having a debate over.
These weapons transfers.
Following October seventh, we've been quite silenced and stifled.
All saying that they are finding what is being done incredibly difficult to support, incredibly difficult to comprehend, and yet of being met with silence or with being told that they should stop questioning the policy and just move ahead.
Now.
That happened back in October.
After that, we didn't see a resignation at a high level until January. And now just in this calendar year we're sitting here in June, we've seen, in fact, close to ten more. You've seen people resign from non foreign policy related departments such Parton of Education, Department of Interior. One of them was the first Jewish American appointed to resign. She sat up and said, look, President Biden, someone I signed up to work for, is in fact making chows in America less safe.
I don't want to be part.
Of this, and that not only is it devastating for Palestinians, right, but I think October seventh made it very very clear that it also doesn't keep Israeli safe, and that if we wanted to actually create a thriving future for Israelis, for Palestinians, for Jews, for the communities that we care about here in America. Something has to change.
You've seen someone who was AURB Americans stand up and say, I don't want to feel implicated in the massive death of people from my community.
It wasn't a particular moment in time.
I think it was a culmination of near daily dehumanization of posting and lives in Gaza in the West Bay. And then you've seen a number of national security experts, so people from the military, two more people from the State Department.
Stacy Gilbert served as senior Advisor in the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, which is the State Department's chief humanitarian office.
And in fact, this is this last official Stacey Gilbert is someone who's been doing that work for more than twenty years. She quit over a specific report, right she quit over the support Divide administration produced last month, which was supposed to be just a factual analysis of allegations of Israel breaking in national law using US equipment.
I was shocked, however, that it also went on to say that Israel it is our assessment that Israel is not blocking him ouanetarian assistance. That is not that is not the view of subject matter experts at the State Department, at USAID, nor among the humanitarian community.
And that was No, You're not an administration or a department that twists the facts and allegations that we have are unfounded. But this is as any report and as any process that is undertaken in a policy making process. These processes are deliberative and they involve inputs from people at a variety of seniority and expert levels.
What are people who are still inside the administration telling you at the moment?
I think the ongoing offensive and rough is extremely.
Concerning to a lot of people because more than a million Parastenians have now fled over the past month since Israel launches operation and importantly, this was precisely the operation present Biden had that he could not support. So I think there was a lot of hope. Look, these are people who have signed out to join government right. They
are fundamentally institutionalists. They believe that the system works. And when a leader like President Biden says I have a red line on RUFFA, I will not give these Raeli's military assistants to go into this final refuge for Palestinians. They believe him right, and they really take that seriously. I think the repeated sort of collapse and emptiness of promises like that around the report around the Rough Offensive have deeply disillusioned people. I wouldn't be surprised if there
were more resignations. It's important to remember there there could be many. We just don't know about where people haven't come out publicly and said it.
But I do hear that.
As a Rough Offensive grinds on as these kind of huge strikes killing dozens of children become more common, and famine is under way in Gaza as people die of preventable reasons. Right aid can get through famine support and get through it just isn't that's pushing more people towards that breaking point at the State Department, intelligence community, in the military, and other related agencies.
Akbar, Finally, what do you think will force the next move here? When will we see some movement and some practical steps towards pace.
I think there's a few factists look at that's political pressure for President Biden. He has a presidential debate with Donald Trump coming up at the end of June, and I think he knows that cars will be a big is shoot there. He'll want something he can talk about
positively at that moment. If his seats fire proposal doesn't go through, if he can't get these released their greet it, I think you'll see some scrambling by the campaign and the deminstration to get some other truncated version of a halt in fighting.
I think something one insider.
Described to me earlier this week was with the seats fire proposal, President Biden did what we call a hail Mary pass right.
I mean he.
Realised, I'm just going to put it all out there called is an Israeli thing and try to create pressure on them. Ten days in these Radis have resisted the pressure. It's a stand off. Now it's the game of chicken. But they will have to try another move from the Biden administration side, and that could take the form of circumventing these Raadis. There's been some talk about a direct American Hamas deal on at least some of the hostages.
I also think, just finally, as we see risks of other wars increase, also in southern Lebanon and northern Israel. That could affect the administration's thinking. If that happens, that's extremely scary for President Biden in terms of wider war, bringing in around, bringing in the US, and I think you could see different behavior from him.
Then, Abar, thanks so much for your time. It's been great to chat.
Thanks for having me. Ashlyn.
Also in the news today, the Premiere of Victoria has issued a statement in support of the young women and parents at a Victorian school after the arrest of a teen who allegedly created explicit deep fake images of fifty female students. In a statement, Premier just Cinra Allen said, quote, there's no place for this disgraceful and misogynistic conduct in Victoria. And despite the cost of living crisis, executives at top Australian companies are receiving generous pay rises. According to a
report from the Governance Institute of Australia. It found CEO salaries at their top two hundred ASX listed companies rose by fourteen percent in the last financial year, from an average of one point one four million dollars to one point three seven million per year. That's all from the team at seven am for today. My name's Ashlin McGee. Thanks for your company. I'll see you again tomorrow