Israel rejects Trump's Gaza peace plan

**Pete Ross** (0:00)
This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.
I'm Pete Ross, and in the early hours of Monday 10th August, these are our main stories. Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, rejects Washington's peace proposal for Gaza. A suspected Irish crime boss has appeared in court in Dublin, a decade after escaping an assassination attempt and fleeing into exile. And in Western Canada...

**Doug Holmes** (0:26)
Twenty years ago, it was an exception to have a summer with smoke-filled skies and fires nearby. Now it's an exception not to have it. It's become the new norm and it's tragic.

**Pete Ross** (0:37)
Rapidly spreading wildfires forced thousands of people to flee their homes.
Also in this podcast, why are authorities in the UK spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to remove works by renowned street artist Banksy? And the remarkable discovery of a more than 2,000 year old Roman shipwreck off the coast of Sicily.
We begin the podcast with the latest on the Trump administration's proposed peace plan for Gaza. Just over a week ago, President Trump announced a 15-point document that required Hamas to commit to a phased disarmament, while Israel would be required to withdraw its military forces from the territory. On social media, President Trump described the proposal as a monumental step towards lasting peace and security in the territory. Hamas almost immediately said it supported the plan, on condition that Israel withdrew from Gaza. But until a few hours ago, there had been silence from Jerusalem. Now, Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has responded by firmly rejecting the plan, which his officials had helped negotiate. Our correspondent John Donison sent this update from Jerusalem.

**John Donison** (1:52)
The war in Gaza never really ended.
More than 1200 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since a supposed ceasefire was announced last October. Hundreds of thousands remain homeless. There's little doubt Gaza needs a plan.
Hamas disarming is a key part of President Trump's plan. It's just over a week since he announced what he called a monumental step. For the first time, Hamas had agreed to give up its weapons if Israel withdrew its forces from Gaza. And at Camp David last weekend, President Trump said Israel was on board.

**Benjamin Netanyahu** (2:35)
Israel is very happy about it.

**Pete Ross** (2:36)
Israel helped us and they've been very good.

**John Donison** (2:40)
But it turns out Israel's Prime Minister is not happy with the plan.

**Benjamin Netanyahu** (2:47)
Israel rejects the 15 points document. The IDF will not execute any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed. And when I say disarming Hamas, it means heavy weapons, less heavy weapons, all weapons. And we are talking about real disarmament, not fictitious disarmament.

**John Donison** (3:06)
So, for now, Israel's forces, which fully occupy 70% of the strip are going nowhere. Hamas called for America to pressure Israel to tow the line.
When it comes to peace in Gaza, for every step forward, there is always a step back.

**Pete Ross** (3:24)
Responding to Mr Netanyahu's rejection, the High Representative for Gaza for Donald Trump's Board of Peace insisted that the US-backed peace plan remain the only way forward. So, how is the US President likely to respond to this very public rejection of Washington's hard-work negotiations? That's a question I put to our Washington correspondent, Bernd de Boesman.

**Bernd de Boesman** (3:45)
This is a very rare public break between him and Prime Minister Netanyahu. And it's something of a defeat for President Trump personally, because he had been hailing this 15-point proposal as something of a foreign policy victory for his administration. Just last week, he said that Israel was very happy with the deal and that they had been consulted. So I think such public rejection, I think he will very likely react quite negatively. He's at times expressed frustration with Prime Minister Netanyahu in the past over operations in Gaza and in Lebanon, but certainly nothing of this scale.

**Pete Ross** (4:20)
How is it likely to respond the Trump administration?

**Bernd de Boesman** (4:23)
Well, Washington has enormous leverage over Israel due to the vast amounts of military and financial aid it gives Israel. But at no point throughout this conflict, neither the Biden administration nor the Trump administration has suggested cutting that. But Prime Minister Netanyahu does enjoy very considerable support from the Trump administration, and it's something he points to domestically in Israel. So I think if President Trump were to outwardly criticize, it also complicates matters for Prime Minister Netanyahu in Israel as he tries balance between moderate figures in his government and the more hardline figures in his government. I think even a public spat between the two of them really complicates his efforts ahead of his re-election campaign.