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Speaker 1: Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair could soon be running Gaza.

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Speaker 1: Donald Trump announced a plan to work towards a ceasefire

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Speaker 1: in the region. It's already been accepted by the Israeli

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Speaker 1: Prime Minister ben Yamanett and Yahoo. It would require Hamas

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Speaker 1: to release all hostages and fully disband. They would be

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Speaker 1: granted amnesty if they agree to the peaceful coexistence. The

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Speaker 1: plan would also see Blair appointed as the chair of

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Speaker 1: a board of peace. HUMMAS leaders said they have not

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Speaker 1: yet received the full proposal. John McTurnan is a former

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Speaker 1: political secretary for Tony Blair.

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Speaker 2: Hi, John, Hello, how are.

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Speaker 1: You very well? Thank you. Do you think that HUMMAS

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Speaker 1: will agree to this?

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Speaker 2: Yes? I say that because from his time as Economic

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Speaker 2: Envoy in the Middle East, Tony Blair is known to

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Speaker 2: be trusted by Hamas, has BLA and by the other authorities.

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Speaker 2: But he's trusted by everybody because when he's involved in

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Speaker 2: a deal, the deal is stuck to because people can

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Speaker 2: trust his word. BECA, he's a major operator, and of

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Speaker 2: course he brings to it the experience of the North

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Speaker 2: Island peace Deal.

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Speaker 1: There are parts of this, though, that Hamas has previously

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Speaker 1: turned down or said they can't agree to, So what

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Speaker 1: is it? Is it the Blaar part that changes the

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Speaker 1: calculation for them?

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Speaker 2: Look, I think it is the Trump part that traines

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Speaker 2: the equation for everybody. We've always known that the only

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Speaker 2: country in the world that can actually bring peace in

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Speaker 2: the Middle East is the Americans. If the Americans come

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Speaker 2: behind something, they can put pressure on Israel, the Israeli government,

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Speaker 2: on Netanyahu, then no one else can. And that I

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Speaker 2: think is the is the difference. President Trump has moved

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Speaker 2: on this and that's important. And obviously behind this are

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Speaker 2: lots of discussions and negotiations and intermediates in the region,

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Speaker 2: and I believe that that's the important thing.

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Speaker 1: Do you think the plane's going to work.

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Speaker 2: It has to work, doesn't it. It has to work.

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Speaker 2: We need peace in the Middle East. We need the

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Speaker 2: slaughter of illocent children, innocent civilians, innocent women, innocent men.

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Speaker 2: The death needs to stop, the injuries need to stop,

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Speaker 2: the rebuilding needs to art. So we all need it

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Speaker 2: to work. And this may well be the best chance

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Speaker 2: for this to happen, because it's an opportunity for everybody

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Speaker 2: to get something out of it or piece. Deals are

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Speaker 2: difficult to construct, but this is one in which there

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Speaker 2: is something for everybody if they're willing to see this

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Speaker 2: as a pathway, a pathway to peace, a pathway to reconstruction,

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Speaker 2: a pathway to a two state solution. And I think

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Speaker 2: that's an important part of it. But you know, peace

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Speaker 2: takes time, a peace process takes time, and the long

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Speaker 2: decades of learning to live together and trust each other,

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Speaker 2: you know, are ahead. We've seen it in Northern Ireland.

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Speaker 2: But once you start to take the steps towards peace,

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Speaker 2: then each step is easier after the first one.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and John, this plan has no mention of the

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Speaker 1: Palestinian state in it, but clearly this is a path

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Speaker 1: to a place une in states. That's the end goal,

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Speaker 1: isn't it. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Look, and the recognition by a UN Security Council member

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Speaker 2: of the UK, the recognition of Palestine was a critical part.

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Speaker 2: Recognition by France, or by Norway, by Australia. This has

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Speaker 2: been building and who knows, these those steps may have

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Speaker 2: been part of a process that actually gives the confidence. Yes,

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Speaker 2: recognizing states is critical for two state solution. States that

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Speaker 2: are able to negotiate, states to have stability, states that

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Speaker 2: can begin reconstruction. So I think it is in the

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Speaker 2: end there is no one state solution, so there has

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Speaker 2: to be a two state solution, or there is what

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Speaker 2: we've seen this constant grinding conflict, which is it's not

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Speaker 2: good for Israel, for Israel's international reputation, it's terrible for Palestine,

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Speaker 2: terrible for the Gaza Gaza Strip, terrible for the infrastructure,

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Speaker 2: for individuals, for families, the whole thing. If you can

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Speaker 2: come to a stop, then that is you know, the

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Speaker 2: beginning of moving towards the Tuesday Solution, which gives stability

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Speaker 2: and security for both Palestine and for Israel.

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Speaker 1: John, it's good to talk to you. Thank you for

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Speaker 1: your time. John mcturn and former political secretary to former

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Speaker 1: UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. For more from Hither Duplessy

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Speaker 1: Alan Drive, listen live to News Talks it'd be from

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Speaker 1: four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio