← The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim
The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim
Could a ceasefire deal in Gaza be close?
00:34:34
As international criticism of Israel’s latest military offensive in Gaza mounts, Richard and Yalda ask how likely a ceasefire is in the coming weeks. Also, one of Richard’s contacts tells him how Israel is using talking drones in Gaza which he...
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- [00:06]
Yalda Hakim
Hamas has told us in the last half an hour or so that they have agreed to the ceasefire deal and that they're waiting for the Israelis to agree to it. But talking to some of the key negotiators, they say to me, not on the cards at present. Hello, and welcome to the world. I'm Yelda and I'm currently in London.
- [00:39]
Richard Engel
And I'm Richard Engel in Lisbon at the moment. Great to talk to you, Yalda.
- [00:43]
Yalda Hakim
Really good to see you, Richard. And, you know, like most weeks, we are really keen again to talk about the situation in Gaza. Israel has launched a new offensive and it just feels like the death toll every single day is just horrific and staggering. And of course, there has been international condemnation now from countries like the uk, France and Canada. Last week, we saw two diplomats shot dead in Washington. So there's a lot of tension simmering under the surface. So we're going to be dissecting that.
- [01:17]
Richard Engel
It is just appalling what is going on in Gaza right now. And some countries are saying enough is enough, and some Israelis are saying enough as enough that they want to see more of a strategy. Do they really want to reoccupy the entire Gaza Strip forever? How is that possibly going to work? So we'll talk about that and Iran. So I'm still digesting all that. I reported on over the course of about three weeks in Iran, and I'm still in touch with Iranian officials. It looks like a deal could be close and President Trump has been making more positive sounds about that. So we're going to talk more about Iran and why I think a deal could be in the next couple of weeks.
- [01:58]
Yalda Hakim
And we'll also be discussing the airstrikes over Ukraine at the weekend, which prompted President Trump to describe Vladimir Putin as crazy. The Kremlin has responded and tried to bring the tone down again, but obviously President Trump is. His frustration is starting to show. So we're going to be talking a little bit about that.
- [02:22]
Richard Engel
So let's roll up our sleeves and get right into it.
- [02:25]
Yalda Hakim
And don't forget to follow us wherever you get podcasts, Apple or Spotify and write to us. We love getting your comments, questions, the usual place the world sky.uk and we did have an overwhelming number of messages and responses to Richard, you talking about your angst about AI, which we're going to talk to.
- [02:49]
Richard Engel
Deeply concerned that it's going to turn us into a hive brain and that we're. All our individuality will disappear and we'll end up sort of worthless and perfect.
- [02:58]
Yalda Hakim
Well, we're going to save that for another special episode.
- [03:01]
Richard Engel
Instead of me just ranting about it, we're working on this amazing guest who's going to help understand this, and we'll have a lively conversation with some very key people. So we'll leave it at that.
- [03:20]
Yalda Hakim
So, Richard, obviously the war in Gaza has been going on for 20 months now, and it doesn't seem like any kind of ceasefire is in sight, although there are a lot of discussions, a lot of conversations that perhaps they're getting close. I've been speaking to contacts on both sides and it's been described to me at the moment as wishful thinking. Hamas has said wishful thinking that there'll.
- [03:45]
Richard Engel
Be some sort of ceasefire.
- [03:46]
Yalda Hakim
Correct. Hamas has said that, has told us in the last half an hour or so that they have agreed to the ceasefire deal that Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy, President Trump's special envoy, has put forward to them and that they're waiting for the Israelis to agree to it. But talking to some of the key negotiators, they say to me, not on the cards at present.
- [04:12]
Richard Engel
So you. You're still in contact with Hamas at a leadership level. And is there any. Is there a leadership level of Hamas that is still sort of, I don't want to say responsible, but that the group listens to, that is still responsible for the group, I should say. Like, is there still a leadership structure intact that is credible?
- [04:32]
Yalda Hakim
As you know, they've got their political wing and political office, which is based out of Doha in Qatar, and then they've got the military arm, the military wing, which operates all of the operations out of Gaza. And just a few weeks ago, we saw an Israeli strike take out Muhammad Sinwar, the brother of Yahya Sinwar, the new leader in Gaza, of the military operations in the territory. But in terms of the political office that operates, I have interviewed a number of times one of their key spokespeople, one of the key officials, his name is Dr. Bassem Naim. And I did an exclusive in Doha. I did an exclusive interview with him whilst I was trailing Donald Trump during his Middle east tour to Riyadh. And then, of course, he went to Doha and I sat down with Dr. Bassem Naim. And it was really quite extraordinary, actually, how much he was praising Donald Trump.
- [05:32]
Richard Engel
So you went to his office in Doha?
- [05:34]
Yalda Hakim
Yeah, I went to his office in Doha and, you know, he was really praising Donald Trump and saying that the only person who can now bring peace to the people of Gaza is Donald Trump and that he believes that Donald Trump can do it and has the will. Let's just have a listen to what he said to me. Are you willing to, to hand over all the hostages to bring an end to the bloodshed?
- [05:55]
C
We have said it for all the mediators and for the Americans. We are ready to hand over all the prisoners immediately if we can be sure that this will lead to an end of this war. And first and foremost to allow the humanitarian aid to get into Gaza if these two conditions are fulfilled. Again, to allow aid to get into Gaza and to reach an end, to guarantee an end of this war or genocide. Yes, we are ready to hand over all the prisoners.
- [06:25]
Yalda Hakim
Are you telling the Americans this directly now?
- [06:27]
C
Yes.
- [06:28]
Yalda Hakim
What are you saying to them? That these are the things that you want and are you getting or do you get a sense that you're getting a positive response from them?
- [06:36]
C
We have told them this proposal or comprehensive approach, one shot prisoner exchange, ending the war, total withdrawal of the Israeli forces, allowing all the aid to get into Gaza and the rebuilding of Gaza trip without forceful immigration through the mediators and directly through some persons in the US Administrations. Sometimes we received a positive response.
- [07:06]
Richard Engel
So my question was, do you think that the political leadership like Dr. Bassem Naim mean anything anymore or are they too detached from reality? Because it used to be the, the Sinwar family show. It may still be the Sinwar family show, but when the Sinwar, the initial leader and then his brother were both apparently killed is create a leadership vacuum. But with the level of devastation there and the daily struggles and the constant attacks on the leadership, if there's a power vacuum there are these people in Doha filling that power vacuum or are they irrelevant or somewhere in between? What's your assessment?
- [07:46]
Yalda Hakim
I, I don't think they're irrelevant. I think they are the address that the Americans are speaking to. And interestingly, you know, he confessed in that interview that they are now in direct talks with the United States, which is obviously.
- [07:58]
Richard Engel
I was like, he's like directly. Yes, I thought that was interesting.
- [08:00]
Yalda Hakim
Irks the Americans. And it was interesting because following that interview, you know, an official from the National Security Council, the United States National Security Council didn't deny but didn't confirm that they're in direct talks. So I don't think that the group in Doha are irrelevant. They are the group that frankly, the Israelis are talking to, the Americans are talking to the Egyptians, the Qataris. They are the address book and they funnel the information back to the relevant parties under the tunnels in Gaza.
- [08:32]
Richard Engel
So who is saying that the possibility of A ceasefire is slim or none or is.
- [08:37]
Yalda Hakim
Well, I'm not going to say Naim.
- [08:38]
Richard Engel
Or who is not. Don't tell me your sources, but you were saying who. Where are you getting this negativity about a ceasefire? And then let's talk about what's going on in Gaza to sort of let.
- [08:48]
Yalda Hakim
People understand leaders in the region. Because, because Hamas has said to me in the last few hours that they have agreed to the entire proposal put forward to them so that they can bring aid, get. Allow for aid to get into Gaza so that the Israelis can allow the aid to get into Gaza.
- [09:04]
Richard Engel
So another source, not that interview with basemayim, another Hamas, we're ready to go.
- [09:09]
Yalda Hakim
Absolutely. But regional leaders who are at the negotiating table are saying at this point in time it is wishful thinking. That was the exact words that I got when I spoke to them overnight.
- [09:22]
Richard Engel
Well, I mean, I think that's a healthy dose of realism because look what has happened. And it's really important, I think, for people to understand what's happening in Gaza because it's almost like taboo. You don't want to bring it up and then if you do bring it up, you're afraid that you're going to get shouted down. So here's a few sort of facts or a few, a few things, a few tent poles to help understand what's happening in Gaza. Right? So before October 7, Gaza was always a bit of an open air prison, right? It was run by Hamas. People could come and go out of Gaza with great, only with great difficulty. You had to apply for permits that were almost never granted. A few thousand people were allowed sort of daily laborer passes to go work in, in Israel. And then after October 7th, obviously there was this massive campaign to destroy Gaza, to destroy Hamas. I just spoke to someone in Gaza couple of days ago at length and he told me the people there are now broken and that their spirits are broken and that they're really just expecting death at any moment and that there's been a psychological change because look at these transformations. So they had a kind of prison life that they didn't like. They didn't like Hamas, they didn't like Israel, but they had a way of existing. Then October 7th happened, changed the rules dramatically. Gaza's under attack, ferociously attacked, Tens of thousands of people killed. Then there was, and this is what really did it. Then there was a ceasefire. There've been a couple of attempts of ceasefire, but the latest one a few months ago seemed to be holding and people, they started to relax a little. Bit, it's over. There were celebrations on the street and people started to think, okay, the hostage process will sort of play on in the background. But it's the worst is over and now is proving to be incorrect, that the worst is coming now. And that shift really broke people when they, when they thought, finally, it's over. We've gone through this. We've buried the dead we're going to bury. We've gone hungry long enough, people can go back to their homes, they start to rebuild, and then it starts up again.
- [11:37]
Yalda Hakim
And not just that, Richard, but when you think about it, from the end of February, early March, there has been a blockade of aid into Gaza. So something like 80 days or so, 11 weeks, 12 weeks of no aid reaching Gaza. There have been denials, there have been condemnations. There have been, you know, allies saying to Israel, enough. They've now been calls of, you need to allow for aid to get in. That comes and goes. The only thing that is now A constant is 2.1 million people starving, being bombed, dealing with artillery fire, dealing with rockets, being killed on a daily basis. The death toll, every single morning that we've been waking over the course of the last few weeks, the death toll has been 50 dead, 60 dead, 100 dead, 150 dead. I mean, at what point does the international community say this is enough?
- [12:35]
Richard Engel
Well, some in the international community are saying that, and President Trump has made some grumblings, but nothing real has happened. There's been no real decisive action to stop the war to end this campaign. In fact, the current military plan, according to the Israeli government and the IDF and different brief military officials give in Israel, is to take over, reconquer the Gaza Strip, reoccupy the Gaza Strip. They've taken over about a quarter of it now, retaken over. And according to Israeli officials, they plan to take over about 75% of it over the next several weeks, forcing the Palestinian population into a small patch of territory, roughly 25% of the Gaza Strip, and that once the Israelis have reoccupied Gaza, then they will stay there for an indefinite period of time. As the new administrators, does Israel really want to occupy these areas or do they intend to expel the people and reconquer these lands for Jewish settlers and push the Palestinians, who they don't want to have to be responsible for, into Egypt, the West bank, somewhere else?
- [13:53]
Yalda Hakim
Let's talk a little bit about the aid situation, because there's been a blockade. Israel has now, in order to silence its critics and its allies in the west has said, fine, we're going to let some aid in. It's been described as a teaspoon by the UN Secretary General. And not just that, I mean the idea that they are now saying to the UN and various well respected NGOs that have been distributing aid, Hang on a second, we don't want you to do this anymore. We've got a new group called the Gaza Humanitarian foundation, which, you know, frankly is an American company that Israel has brought in. But no one understands the credentials of this company or if they have the ability to distribute the aid. And the CEO has just resigned because he said basically we can't do this taking, factoring in the principles of distributing aid, which is neutrality, which is balance, which is why the UN is saying that we don't want to be a part of this.
- [14:54]
Richard Engel
You know the show Black Mirror, the Netflix show Black Mirror, it's already sort of sci fi dystopia future in Gaza. I spoke with a doctor, one of these extraordinary foreign doctors who volunteered and spent her time there living in a quote unquote safe house. And she described to me one night she was in her safe house in southern Gaza and a drone comes up to the window, red lights flashing, and this stone starts to speak to her in English. So the drone flies up to this building, it's dark out, there's been attacks in the area. The drone comes up to the window, flashes its lights and says in English, don't photograph me, don't photograph me. She comes to the window and it's barking orders and can listen and is saying, who are you with? Don't come to the windows. You should not be in this area. She was in her safe house. And then after she's had this communication with this drone, it sort of zips away like this is happening all the time in Gaza where there's not only drones flying overhead, they'll come down and talk to you and then zip away. People should take a look at what Gaza looks like now. It is unlivable. It is a flattened disaster wasteland full of rubble when you can't even clear the rubble away because you can't get the trucks to do it. And where are you going to put it? You're just going to dump it in the water. So you have this wasteland that is occupied with this level of security going on, and now you're gonna put in foreign contractors or foreign mercenaries who's gonna do this job?
- [16:28]
Yalda Hakim
So basically the feeling, Richard, is that at this point in time there is no strategy for the day after there is no plan here. What we're seeing is bombardment of Gaza and Israel saying to Hamas, give us our hostages back. And Hamas saying, we' do it if you stop the bombardment. I mean, it's just a vicious cycle. And of course, we SAW in Washington, D.C. two young diplomats who were about to get married. They were hoping to travel to Israel from the United States to meet with their families, shot dead in, you know, in cold blood by someone who then screams free Palestine. I mean, all of this anger simmering under the surface. And I spoke to a friend of the young diplomat who said to me, this is just the beginning. We have. We're always on alert across embassies and, you know, Jewish sites and museums across the globe. But this has now further sort of solidified how we feel that we are under attack as well in capital cities across the globe, including Western capitals.
- [17:33]
Richard Engel
And there is that huge disconnect on cause and effect and antisemitism. You know, anyone in Israel and many sort of people, members of the Jewish community, Jews, would say that that attack is because of anti Semitism. It's anti Semitism didn't start in Gaza, didn't start in World War II. The Jewish people have known anti Semitism for centuries, and that this is an example of it. And other people would say, look, you're getting a natural violent backlash because of the government's actions, a specific government's specific actions against a specific people in a specific time. And there are those who say it's not anti Semitism, this is a political action. And those two sides really don't seem to be not just meeting to deny each other's existence.
- [18:25]
Yalda Hakim
But, Richard, I want us to just pause for a moment on Gaza, because while President Trump and Steve Witkoff haven't been able to get a deal on Gaza as yet, the one thing that is looking positive is the Iran nuclear deal. And you have spent. You've been in and out of Tehran over the course of the last month or so. You've reported on some of the extraordinary things you've seen and the changes and the things that haven't changed in the country tell our listeners about what it's like there.
- [18:57]
Richard Engel
So it is cut off internationally, and that has created its own sort of unique culture. First of all, Tehran is an enormous city. We're talking 17, 18 million people. Traffic is horrendous. And it is set up with lots of distinct different neighborhoods. It used to be many different neighborhoods. But the biggest distinction, I would say, is north Tehran and southern and central Tehran and north Tehran, which goes up into the mountains and you can still. Tehran is ringed by mountains and they still have snow on them. It's an extraordinary city if you can stomach the traffic and if you can stomach north Tehran. North Tehran. Yalda, you and I have been around the Gulf a lot. And north Tehran, which is where the elite live, is as fancy as any part of Dubai or Abu Dhabi or Doha, where with the super expensive cars and the super luxury brands, and I'm talking Rolex and Patak Philippe and massive conspicuous spending. And the reason they have all this money is sure there's some old money, but a lot of the old money left with the Shah. A lot of this is the new money, the new elite. Because for 45 years now, Iran has had a parallel economy. It's been sanctioned, but there have been people who've been busting the sanctions and have been able to sell oil or gold or commodities and that has created its own separate economy. So there's this bubble within a bubble. You know, imagine three $400,000 cars being driven by young people and they're just driving back and forth to show each other how cool they are and how rich they are and lavish parties in hidden away country houses. And oddly enough, when I talk to people who are interested in the deal and interested in improving relations with the west, it's not not just that north Tehran bubble, it's mostly the everybody else. Because at least in that north Tehran bubble, they have something to lose. You know, they've been making money off of these kind of odd schemes that the country's been forced to depend on for decades.
- [21:05]
Yalda Hakim
That's really fascinating, Richard. Let's talk about the deal now.
- [21:09]
Richard Engel
I think they are going to get a deal and I think they're going to get a deal because the Iranian people and the Iranian government both want it and they want it for different reasons. The Iranian people want it because they want to get out of this box. They are suffering economically. They've had it up to here. They just want more freedom. They want to not be treated like pariahs. And the government wants it because I think it realizes that it doesn't have limitless wells of popular support. It doesn't have a lot of money. It needs some sort of of exit out of this sanctions box. And it has been weakened tremendously because of the loss of all of its armed proxies. But I think this rare coming together of where you have the people and a government who they don't necessarily embrace the fact that they both want it and are both willing to play ball and bring in journalists like me and say we want to play ball. What's going on? Here's the message, here's what we're. Here are the terms. Please tell who's ever listening. These are our terms. We want a deal.
- [22:18]
Yalda Hakim
You did do that, Richard, because then I saw Donald Trump put out your interview on Truth Social. He just sort of screen grabbed one of the officials you interviewed and said, looks like the Iranians want it. We'll hurry up and agree to what's on the table.
- [22:33]
Richard Engel
So I interviewed Ali Shamkhani, who is, he was described to me as Darth Vader. Like, if you don't like the Iranian regime, you really don't like this guy. Guy. But doesn't matter if we like him or not like him. I'm there because he's a senior top guy, can represent who he's talking, you know, what he's talking about. And he's in the Supreme Leader's office. He's a military advisor, nuclear advisor, political advisor. And he, you know, laid out, we sat down and he, you know, he showed up. It showed up in a, you know, by the way, it was relatively casual interview and we were in his office and set up the flags and he didn't show up with a big entourage. He just kind of walked in and sat down and we had about 40 minutes. He was quite comfortable, seemed quite comfortable doing the interview. He said, this is what we want. We would be willing to enrich to a low level that we for civilian use, that we would not have a nuclear weapon, which is something Iran has said many times, that they want immediate lifting of all sanctions and that they would allow in international inspectors to verify the whole process.
- [23:39]
Yalda Hakim
I've just got a comment for you, a question from one of the listeners, Richard, and it says I hope that a deal can be accomplished with Iran and the US Is correct. However, I really think Netanyahu's regime calls the shots in the Middle east as far as the US is concerned and they're just itching to continue their pursuit of a greater Israel. Tell me I'm wrong and my vision is too narrow. From Judith via email.
- [24:04]
Richard Engel
Well, I can't tell you you're wrong. You know this. Israel has a very. And the Netanyahu government have a very different view on Iran. And Netanyahu has talked about military action, how this is the perfect opportunity because Iran is weak to take a military action. If you want to do regime change, this would be the time, right. Or if you want to do a deal, this would be the time. And is it possible that Netanyahu pursues a policy that spoils this deal? Sure, absolutely. Anything could happen because he doesn't have a different, he doesn't share this goal in mind. So, yeah, I think that's a very reasonable question.
- [24:43]
Yalda Hakim
I guess the question is, are the Americans and Donald Trump willing to play ball with the Israelis and sort of let them do it or go along with it or work up this deal?
- [24:56]
Richard Engel
What's your sense? You have, you're a good plug in there.
- [24:58]
Yalda Hakim
You know what my sense is. And we get to talk about predictions in a moment. So I'll expand.
- [25:03]
Richard Engel
Done.
- [25:05]
Yalda Hakim
I think, you know, a Gaza deal could happen over the next few weeks or Israel could strike Iran. I mean, I genuinely think that sort of all of those things are currently on the table and being negotiated and discussed all of the time. So I think that if the Iranians in the United States, you know, this is this moment of not, I don't want to say hope, but cautious optimism for both sides. And clearly Donald Trump wants to be able to say that he struck a deal somewhere. He hasn't been able to do it with the, the, the Ukraine war, he hasn't been able to do it in Gaza. So he wants this to work.
- [25:42]
Richard Engel
That, so I'll save my prediction for later, but I'm pretty optimistic that there will be an Iran deal because it, it's a low hanging fruit, you know, it's a relatively easy one. They want to do it. They've already spelled out what their terms are. They, they, they said them publicly through, through me and, and, and probably others. And they, and the, and Trump has already said, oh, it looks like they've basically agreed, agreed to the terms as they were relayed to me. So we're kind of there whether Netanyahu, which is what the Israelis by the way, are very worried about, that there will be some Israeli act of sabotage or a political lobbying effort that will scupper this at the last minute. And that could happen. Look, these are real, this is, I don't want to say big boy politics, but this is real serious stuff. They're playing for keeps here. Yeah.
- [26:35]
Yalda Hakim
Well, Richard, we're going to take a quick break and then come back after the break. Talk a little bit about Donald Trump and his recent comments about Vladimir Putin and our predictions.
- [26:46]
Richard Engel
Sounds good. The first 100 days might be over, but President Trump is showing no signs of slowing down. America will soon be greater than ever before. So we're continuing to follow every twist and turn of this remarkable presidency and.
- [27:11]
Yalda Hakim
Trying to make sense of what it all means for the US and for the rest of the world.
- [27:16]
Richard Engel
So join me, James Matthews, me, Malika Kelner, and me, Mark Stein for Sky News Trump 100, wherever you get your podcasts.
- [27:38]
Yalda Hakim
Welcome back. We've been talking about the situation in Gaza and, of course, Richard's recent trip to Tehran and the Iran nuclear deal. But let's shift our attention to the war in Ukraine because, you know, we've seen an escalation in violence over the past few months where the Russians have been launching all sorts of airstrikes on Ukraine, and the Ukrainians have said we're willing to come to the negotiating. We saw Volodymyr Zelenskyy travel to Turkey and challenge Vladimir Putin and say, come here and let's sit down and do this. Obviously, Vladimir Putin turned his nose up at that. Over the weekend, we saw another massive attack on Ukraine. And Donald Trump came out and said he's crazy when describing Vladimir Putin. He just said, you know, that he's, I don't know what's happened to him, but he sees him.
- [28:32]
Richard Engel
I don't know what's happened to him. He's not the same guy I used to know. We've known each other for so long, and he's surprising. That was. He almost took it, like, personally, I'm not happy with what Putin's doing. He's killing a lot of people. And I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. I've known him a long time, always gotten along with him. But he's sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don't like it at all. Okay, we're in the middle of talking, and he's shooting rockets into Kiev and other cities. I don't like it at all.
- [29:02]
Yalda Hakim
So, Richard, I mean, he said, I don't know what's happened to Putin. But anyone who's been watching Putin for the last 25 years or so would say that actually, actually, Putin has been very much consistent with the way that he has been and certainly the way that he has been prosecuting this conflict since Donald Trump made those remarks. The Kremlin put out a statement that was very polite, that was pointedly polite. They said to Donald Trump, thank you so much for all of your help in trying to bring an end to this conflict, in trying to bring us to the negotiating table with the Ukrainians clearly trying not to antagonize Donald Trump. And, you know, clearly they can see he's frustrated by the remarks he's making. And they clearly don't want the sort of sanctions that Donald Trump has threatened them with. So, you know, they're trying to now manage the situation and perhaps also in some ways stall the peace talks? Say to Donald Trump, no, no, no, we're still trying to get there with you. You know, this is all part of the theater of war, but we're still part of the potential conversations around this. So they're trying not to antagonize him by putting out that, that statement that. To try and diffuse the situation.
- [30:14]
Richard Engel
Yeah, he did seem angry. So what are they going to do now? No, no, don't be so angry. Don't be so angry. Let's talk. Maybe we'll talk. We'll slow it down. We won't slow it down. But how can you be surprised, President Trump, that he's firing rockets at Kiev when he says that Kiev shouldn't exist, that it's a Nazi regime, that it should be destroyed, and that it should be wiped off the map and it's really part of Mother Russia? And then, you know, you're surprised. He's occupied 25% of the country, including large parts of the east and the south. So then why are you surprised that he's continuing to rock it? Maybe it's just dawning on President Trump that actually Vladimir Putin's really not as interested in a peace deal as he thought he would be.
- [30:54]
Yalda Hakim
And it's probably music to Ukraine's ears because they've been saying to Donald Trump, whether it was in the Oval Office or through other statements, or through his vice president or his secretary of state, this guy doesn't want peace. He's stalling potential negotiations. He's stalling the peace talks. And through this statement, perhaps, that is what Vladimir Putin is still trying to do. So we're going to continue to watch this space with Ukraine because clearly Donald Trump is getting frustrated. Is he going to, at some point press the button and say, okay, sanctions on Russia, enough is enough.
- [31:30]
Richard Engel
It's very possible. So do you want to do it? You want to do the predictions part? Is that yours? Is that yours? Are you going there?
- [31:37]
Yalda Hakim
My prediction, I think I alluded to it earlier, is that we may see some kind of ceasefire deal come out of Gaza over the course of the next few weeks. I think while people behind closed doors are frustrated and describing it as wishful thinking, I think that there are now serious negotiations taking place. Hamas has said they agree to the deal. They're just waiting for the Israeli side. Steve Witkoff is doing his shuttle diplomacy. The Qataris and the Egyptians are frantic working to try and bring an end to this. And perhaps Donald Trump has said to Benjamin Netanyahu, and we know that relationship is slightly fractured, that enough, you've got a very short period of time and then stop. And I think that that's why we're seeing this level of escalation. You know, in the past, Palestinians have often said that when the Israelis get a slap on the hand and told, okay, you need to stop soon, they escalate the bombardment. And that is the kind of escalation that we're currently seeing. So perhaps that's what they're doing in order to come to the negotiating table and see if they've weakened Hamasinov.
- [32:44]
Richard Engel
So I'll go on Iran that I think in the next couple of weeks we're going to see a framework of a deal. A framework. It'll be announced as a deal, but then a little bit like the lifting of sanctions on Syria. It'll be announced and then it'll be a painful process with lawyers behind the scenes. But I assume there will be some sort of, of a framework name agreement announced, some lifting of sanctions, getting the process moving with Iran. And that could also have an impact on Gaza because if you, you know, what is Israel's main concern threat been over the last couple years? It was the October 7th attack. So Hamas launched this attack. And then the other attacks that have made Israel feel, feel vulnerable have been from the Houthis or from, from Iran. Those have been the incoming fire at Israeli citizens. If you could make a deal with and Hezbollah. Excuse me. If you could make a deal with Iran or President Trump can make a deal with Iran, he could then go to the Israeli people or the Israeli president or go over Netanyahu's head or go to Netanyahu and say, listen, you need to now slow it down. The threats against you are not the same as they used to be. There's now a deal with Iran. We're going to guarantee that they're not going to make a nuclear weapon. So you can calm down. Hamas has been, been destroyed. Hezbollah militarily has been defanged and the organization is effectively destroyed. Its transit route in Syria no longer exists. You, you, you, Trump could have an opportunity to say, look, this is an, this is a chance for a reset. It's a chance for Israel to, to de. Escalate and go onto a different kind of footing. If, if Israel and Netanyahu want to do that.
- [34:25]
Yalda Hakim
Yeah, well, you know, we may find you back in Tehran in the near future following that story. And we'll be keeping a close eye on both the situation in Gaza and the war in Ukraine. Richard, as always, really good to see you.
- [34:40]
Richard Engel
Great to see you.
- [34:41]
Yalda Hakim
Please don't forget to follow us on Apple and Spotify and send us your thoughts to our email.
- [34:46]
Richard Engel
Wonderful. And thanks for all those comments. Great to see you, Yalda, as always. Until we meet again.
- [34:52]
Yalda Hakim
Goodbye.
- [35:04]
Richard Engel
The first 100 days might be over, but President Trump is showing no signs of slowing down. America will soon be greater than ever before. So we're continuing to follow every twist and turn of this remarkable presidency and.
- [35:20]
Yalda Hakim
Trying to make sense of what it all means for the US and for the rest of the world.
- [35:24]
Richard Engel
World. So join me, James Matthews, me Mala, and me, Mark Stone for Sky News Trump 100. Wherever you get your podcast.