Hamas to study Gaza truce proposal as UN agency row rages on
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00:00 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he has hope for a deal that would halt Israel-Hamas
00:05 fighting in Gaza in exchange for hostages.
00:08 The draft agreement, which would see hostages exchanged for a temporary ceasefire, is now
00:13 set to be relayed to Hamas.
00:15 But the militant group seems to have rejected the deal before it's even been finalized,
00:19 after a senior Hamas official called for a permanent ceasefire instead.
00:23 We're going to talk more about this with France 24's Iris Mackler, who joins me now live from
00:27 Jerusalem.
00:28 How likely is it that this hostage deal will move forward?
00:33 That's the question everyone is asking, Jeannie, because what we know is that there was some
00:39 optimism, you would say, both from the American negotiators and from the Qatari prime minister
00:43 last night.
00:45 And the four countries who met, the U.S., Qatar, Egypt, and Israel in Paris a couple
00:51 of nights ago, they formulated a deal they could all live with.
00:55 That's now gone to Hamas.
00:56 We've heard from Hamas chief Ismail Hania that they've received it and they're considering
01:01 it.
01:02 But the Hamas position is known.
01:04 It wants a complete end of the fighting, Israel to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, Hamas to
01:08 remain in power in the Gaza Strip, and then there'll be a release of hostages to be negotiated.
01:14 That is not what's on offer.
01:16 What's on offer is something closer to what we saw before, the previous hostage deal,
01:22 larger numbers, hopefully longer period of a ceasefire, larger numbers of hostages to
01:27 be released, larger numbers, it's understood, of Palestinian prisoners to be exchanged for
01:32 them.
01:33 That's Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
01:35 Will any of this go ahead at the moment?
01:38 You can see that there's a weariness in Hamas, and if the Israeli figures are right, then
01:44 there is a great deal of damage to the actual Hamas fighting force.
01:50 Is that enough to bring an end to this?
01:52 It's not clear.
01:53 And at the moment, Israel says that until there's an actual deal agreed to, the fighting
01:57 continues and you can see intense fighting in Khan Yunis, possibly moving south to Rafah.
02:03 Also we're hearing suggested here.
02:06 Now, Iris, in addition to all of that, the UN chief, Antonio Guterres, today is meeting
02:10 with key donors to the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees.
02:14 Now that's after 12 of its staff were accused by Israel of involvement in the October 7th
02:19 attacks that left 1,200 dead.
02:21 Several donor countries, including the U.S. and France, have already said they're suspending
02:25 funding to UNRWA.
02:26 How big an impact is that going to have in the region?
02:31 It's huge for UNRWA, for the Palestinians, and for the region really, and for the Israel-Palestine
02:37 conflict because UNRWA, although it's nominally a UN organization, is actually not a classic
02:43 UN organization.
02:44 So it's not funded from UN funds.
02:47 It's funded by UN member states who put their hands in their pockets, by the way, to the
02:51 tune of more than a billion dollars a year, something like a billion and a half, to look
02:54 after Palestinian refugees.
02:57 So that's why they're horrified because they've seen the evidence, which Antony Blinken, the
03:02 U.S. Secretary of State, says is highly, highly credible.
03:06 It's very worrying to them that they would have been paying the salaries of teachers
03:11 and social workers who then go and take part in an attack like this.
03:15 I have weapons.
03:16 One of the mobile phone messages is a reminder to one of these 12.
03:20 We've seen their photos published today for the first time.
03:23 It's a reminder to one of the 12 to simply not to forget to bring his rocket launchers,
03:28 the ones he has at home.
03:30 Also allegations of these 12 taking hostages.
03:33 So you can see why UNRWA responded quickly.
03:36 You can see why the member states are the ones who are paying for it, specifically the
03:41 United States or largely the United States.
03:44 They're all horrified, too.
03:45 So there will have to be some kind of deal because the next thing that Antony Blinken
03:49 said was, nevertheless, at the moment, UNRWA's role is indispensable and there's no one else
03:55 who can fulfill it in the short term.
03:57 So perhaps in the longer term, there'll be a restructuring.
04:02 Palestinians will restructure how they vote and UNRWA will have to be restructured, too,
04:06 I guess, looking at this.