♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by...

woman: a successful business owner sells his company and restores his father's historic jazz club with his son. a raymond james financial advisor get to know you, your passions, and the way you bring people together. life well planned. man: cunard is a proud supporter of public television. on a voyage with cunard, the world awaits. a world of flavor. diverse destinations. and immersive experiences. a world of leisure... and british style. all with cunard's "white-star" service. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news"

s america. s hamas agrees to a gaza cease-fire proposal while israel says the terms do not meet its demands. negotiations are set to continue. thousands of people flee the southern city of rafah after israel prepares for a ground offensive. china's president meets his french counterpart in paris as western allies urged china to dial up the pressure on russia. ♪ thank you for joining us. we begin with a cease-fire proposal in the middle east. hamas says it has accepted the terms of a deal proposed by mediators. israel has not formally responded to the officer but

prime minister netanyahu says the terms are far from meeting israel's demands. israel does plan to set a delegation to egypt to negotiate further. it comes after weeks of stalled talks amid a stalemate of negotiations. the new proposal involves a multi-phased truce with the goal to a permanent end to the war and it is believed to include the release of some israeli hostages in return for palestinian prisoners. frank gardner has more on the deal from jerusalem. frank: i can now give you some detail on what we think the hamas proposal or terms are. this is something that comes to us from a statement which my colleagues have translated. the gist of it is the deal with hamas is prepared to agree to is three consecutive 42-day truces, during which there would be in exchange of hostages and

prisoners. 33 hostages, dead and alive, would be released from gaza, from hamas captivity in gaza. and a number of palestinian prisoners would come out of israeli jails. these 42 periods of truce would be consecutive. one after another. the sticking point may well still be how does this end? because hamas wants a commitment that at the end of all of this process, that they are not going to be attacked again. that there will be an end to it. the israelis say this will be a one sided cease-fire. that if they agree to that, that hamas will continue lobbing rockets at them the next few months after that. this has now got to get through the israeli cabinet, but the initial signs are not looking very promising. so far, what we are hearing from

unnamed officials, some people say the unnamed official concerned is actually netanyahu himself, that they don't accept the hamas proposals. sumi: cia director william burns is in the middle east as the u.s. works alongside egypt and qatar to help mediate negotiations. earlier, matthew miller said it is up to hamas to agree to israel's concessions. >> there has been a significant offer on the table. the ball has been in hamas' court. we have made clear that they should accept the offer. that israel showed they want to reach an agreement that would lead to the release of hostages that would bring an immediate cease-fire and hope that hamas would take the deal. as to what is in their response, we will review that and withhold judgment until we've had a chance to conduct a full review. sumi: hamas' response comes hours after israel warned civilians in rafah evacuate.

thousands of palestinians began fleeing the southern city following a warning from israel that 100,000 people should leave parts of the city as the military carries out strikes. a spokesman for the israeli military said the purpose is to destroy the four remaining hamas battalions. in the u.s., king abdullah of jordan met with president biden who warned of the repercussions of the rafah offensive, which could cause a regional spillover of a conflict. in anticipation of the offensive, the israeli defense forces dropped flyers to explain to palestinians where they should go. they have been directed to head north, although there is still uncertainty among those fleeing. >> today, they threw flyers. we don't know where to go. the children are scared. the people are not sure where to go. there has been confusion on the streets where they threw the flyers.

people are dismantling their tents and don't know where to go. sumi: as you can see in this map, israel is urging evacuees to go towards the areas to the north where tented cities are set up and aid would be available. despite concerns over an already dire situation, israeli spokesperson david messer says the plan in place keeps the safety of people in gaza in mind. >> the reason we have established these humanitarian zones is we want to move innocent civilians out of harm's way. unfortunately, what we've seen in the past is hamas have fired directly upon us from safe zones, but this will not deter us. we will move innocent people out of harm's way and then go for hamas. sumi: despite global pressure on israeli prime minister netanyahu not to move forward with the rafah operation, including from joe biden who spoke with netanyahu by phone on monday, the israeli war cabinet

unanimously decided to continue its operation. a statement from the israeli government says it is intended to exert military pressure on hamas to promote the release of hostages and other goals. president biden repeated in the call he's against the decision to proceed with the invasion. separately, an official read of the call added that netanyahu agreed to ensure the crossing is open for humanitarian assistance. that crossing is one of the main routes used to deliver aid into gaza. four israeli soldiers were killed at the crossing in a hamas rocket attack on sunday. let's speak about this now with ambassador david satterfield, former envoy at the u.s. state department. great to have you on bbc news today. from what we know at this point, what do you think of the terms of this cease-fire agreement? >> as matt miller said in his statement, we are reviewing

those terms. the response that was given to us today. director burns remains in the region. israel is sending a team to cairo. they will exactly consider what the proposal means and where it might go. the u.s. government has made very clear, we support as urgently as possible an agreement on hostage releases and accompanying cease-fire. it is important first and foremost for the release of hostages, including americans. it is important also because it will facilitate the greater delivery and distribution within gaza of humanitarian assistance. let's be clear, we need to review exactly what the hamas proposal contains and whether those terms are accepted. sumi: israel has said it seems as these terms far from what is acceptable. it seems one of the sticking points is how this ends. hamas wants to see a permanent cease-fire.

what do you think the prospects are of both sides coming together on this point? amb. satterfield: i'm not going to comment on either official statements or on an ultimate final negotiation on the releases and the cease-fire. what is important now is that urgently, today, tomorrow, the day after, as soon as possible, an agreement be reached on both the cease-fire and on the initial release of hostages. we will see where things go from there. sumi: the idf says it is conducting strikes on what it says is hamas terror targets in eastern rafah. israel has been warning tens of thousands of people to evacuate. king abdullah of jordan said that these strikes and an operation in rafah would jeopardize an agreement. do you agree with that? amb. satterfield: the united states -- of president most recently in his phone call with

prime minister netanyahu said that we would find it very difficult, if not impossible to support an operation in rafah, given the significant operation that could come to humanitarian assistance and the displacement of persons far beyond the numbers that have been given over the last few hours. sumi: if i could jump in there -- amb. satterfield: in supporting such an operation. sumi: the idf right now is already carrying out strikes. this is what king abdullah is saying, that this is jeopardizing the prospect of an agreement. amb. satterfield: i am not going to comment on the king's remarks. but strikes have been carried out in rafah on a regular basis for some time now, but a full-blown operation, a ground operation in rafah that displaces significant numbers of civilians, that would pose a grave problem for the united states. we have made clear we could not support that. sumi: that is what we heard from the white house as well. if you look at the fact that the

crossing and the phone call between president biden and prime minister netanyahu today, he promised this crossing would stay open. the reality on the ground is not enough aid is getting into gaza. we saw the head of the world food program that the north of gaza is in full-blown famine and heading south, despite these efforts to push for more aid. why is it at this point, it seems the international community is somewhat powerless to stop a famine from setting in? amb. satterfield: let me talk about that. there has been a significant and sustained improvement in both the quantity of assistance coming into gaza, and more importantly, distributed within gaza, including the north. a very significant improvement over the course of what is now the last five weeks. six six weeks. we believe that the risk of famine, while significant as a risk because the population is

entirely dependent on feeding assistance, but that actual famine, at least in the center and south where the majority of the population lives, that that risk has been mitigated. sumi: so, you disagree with that assessment that there's a full-blown famine in the north? amb. satterfield: we could not support that assessment of a full-blown famine in the north. the u.n. is examining now exactly what the feeding situation is. there's no question that malnutrition, that wasting, that infant, newborn, and young child mortality and morbidity are significant problems. of that, there is no doubt. the famine is a laden and highly technical term. and we are looking now, the u.n. is looking on the ground to see what the situation in the north might be. more has to be done, no question about that. sumi: you said back in february that without a cease-fire, all

that the u.s. and the international community is doing is dealing around the margins to mitigate a worse situation. how much longer do you think that mitigating can go on? amb. satterfield: since february, since the remarks you just referred to, there has been a dramatic, almost seachange improvement in the flow of assistance and distribution of assistance within all of gaza, including the north. 100 trucks, almost 100 trucks a day of food have been moving in consistently since the beginning of april, end of march. that's a very different situation than the one we spoke to in february. and to see the arc of deliveries, of distribution of aid as static is not -- it has improved dramatically, more still needs to be done but the improvement is there. sumi: very good to get your perspective today. thank you for joining us. amb. satterfield: thank you.

sumi: now, russia has announced it will conduct a nuclear drill. the kremlin says this is in response to french president macron saying he does not rule out sending french troops to ukraine. moscow says mr. macron's signals a readiness for troops to engage with russian forces. in announcing the drill, russia's foreign ministry says they hope it will cool down the hotheads in western capitals. russia says it will consider f-16's in ukraine as carriers of nuclear weapons. it comes the same day mr. macron is hosting chinese president xi jinping. it is mr. xi's first trip to europe in five years. topics range from trade to climate change, but it was the were in ukraine that topped the agenda set up by the hosts. during meetings that included european commission president underline, president xi was urge to halt weapons to russia. in the past two years, china has

increased exports to russia including tools and optics. visiting china last month, antony blinken described the practice as fueling russia's war in ukraine. in the face of such criticism, china says it stance on ukraine is neutral. we have more from paris where france and china are celebrating 60 years of diplomatic ties. >> at the end of a very long day, we've had one of those press conferences that are not really press conferences, just statements by the two leaders full of diplomatic words, very difficult read. if you listen to to the content and analyzed the words, you can see there are still differences between the two sides. when president xi was talking about the ukraine more, he talked about the crisis. he repeated his position that china -- the rest of the world should not put all the blame on a third party.

clearly, setting out the difference therebetween him and macron, which wants to use china to rein in president putin. the other big issue was trade. we saw some slightly coded language that signifies europe is sticking to its guns on this issue. he said france has the most open economy in the world, most open market in the world, but it is a sovereign and independent policy it pursues and it will do more to defend its interests. again, that is restating this new macron, european hard-line towards china, talking about a europe that will stand up for its interests more and more against what they see as a very aggressive competition coming from beijing. sumi: for more on this meeting, i spoke earlier to u.s. congressman, a ranking member on the house select committee on the chinese communist party and a democrat from illinois. congressman, i want to start

with what we saw come of the meeting on monday between france's president, the european commission president, and china's president. president macron welcoming china's pledges not to sell any arms to russia. at the same time, we saw president xi say he warned against using ukraine to smear a third country and insight a new cold war. what do you think of that? >> i think he's probably referring to our description of their assistance to the russian invasion of ukraine and i think the description is truthful that they are assisting the russians through selling them dual use components, selling machine tools that are used in armaments, selling semiconductors that have been used in missiles for sometimes the truth hurts. xi jinping does not like the fact that others are calling him out for what they are doing. sumi: how much influence do you

think xi jinping has over russia and vladimir putin on its were in ukraine? rep. krishnamoorthi: i think it has tremendous influence. remember, he is the largest purchaser of russian oil, not to mention the largest supplier of their semiconductors used in the production of their armaments. sumi: what would you like to see your updo here and also the u.s. to put more pressure on china? rep. krishnamoorthi: i think we have to act in concert. we have to make sure that we speak with one voice. namely, that the chinese need to reduce their aggression, economically, militarily as well as technologically. and that if they reduce their aggression -- for instance in the south china sea or with regard to taiwan or with regard to using their leverage to make sure the russians ease off in ukraine, and then they not dump their excess goods so that they basically undercut the

competition in europe, which is what i mean by economic aggression -- if they do those things, then we will reduce our countermeasures and be able to engage more with them. they will also help their economy at the same time. sumi: they did discuss as well this practice you described of letting european markets with chinese goods. the european commission president talked about steel, electric vehicles. i want to tell you what chinese media quoted president xi as saying. he said the overcapacity does not exist either from the perspective of comparative advantage or in light of global demand. he's essentially saying there is no flooding of markets. what do you think of that? rep. krishnamoorthi: he is wrong and he knows it. they are flooding all kinds of markets with their cheap electric vehicles, which are often sold at under the cost of production. and this is the same playbook they have used year after year with regard to any number of goods. whether it is a steel, solar

panels, other cheap consumer products and so forth. the problem is the chinese economy is tanking right now, so they don't have domestic demand for the quantity of goods they are producing. so, what they do is they basically ship or export all those goods abroad, sell them at a price less than their cost of producing oftentimes. they then undercut the competition and destroy them. then, they become the sole source of a lot of those goods, thus having potential leverage or source of coercion. we are not going to tolerate that playbook anymore. so, that is why it is important we speak with one voice across the world. sumi: you say speak with one voice. a lot has been made about the fact that our differences even between european union countries on relations with china. we saw president xi say that france and china should avoid a "new cold war between global blocs." are you worried that china is

trying to drive a wedge between france, its partners and the u.s.? rep. krishnamoorthi: that is what they are trying to do, for sure, but we have to remember if we are going to help set the international rules of the road, so to speak, with regard to economics, security issues, and technological ones, we need to stay united in the principles that we believe in. such as, for instance, you should not be invading other sovereign countries, like what russia has done with ukraine and what china has often threatened to do with regard to taiwan. other similar principles should animate the way we conduct ourselves and help to set norms and expectations with regard to the chinese as well. sumi: that is all we have time for today. thank you for joining us. rep. krishnamoorthi: thank you. sumi: argentina's president told the bbc in an interview that ordinary people are not paying for his radical austerity measures.

argentina has the highest inflation in the world at the moment with prices rising at a rate of more than 287% annually. the president, who campaigned with a chainsaw to symbolize his desire to slash public spending, insisted it was false to suggest the public was bearing the brunt of steep spending cuts and the devaluation of the currency. our south america correspondent sat down with mr. milel and filed this report. >> this was once a wealthy country. some of these people were once middle-class. many say they are ashamed to now be at this soup kitchen just to feed their families. it is hard to eat in dignity. >> since the government changed, unfortunately, the demand for soup kitchens has increased. not only people who were homeless, there are entire families that come looking for a plate of food. >> this place offers some a

lifeline but food supplies and salaries of staff have recently been cut by the government. it is one of many cuts the new president milei has introduced. he has slashed energy and transport subsidies, the value of the currency, government spending on things like pensions. he argues this shock therapy is needed to fix the economy after years of high inflation, high debt and high spending. i asked him what he would say to some argentines who feel they are paying the price. >> well, actually, that is false. the largest adjustment is being paid by the political corporation. the mass media will deliver the lie and people will believe those lies they get through the media. you cannot make a macro economic evaluation based on the situation of an individual. a particular situation might be influenced by the source of information that the individual has access to. >> the information people have

access to are the prices people are seeing in supermarkets. do know how much a leader of milk costs? >> do you know how many goods assets exist within an economy? so, you don't economics based on the price of an individual asset. the first thing is that in economics, miracles don't exist. what would have been the alternative, to continue to print money like the previous ministration that generates inflation and ends up affecting the most vulnerable? that was not the way to go. >> his fans want to give him time. some feel they cannot afford to. julia sings here because her pension is not enough to live on. >> it is us who are suffering, not the political class as the president sets. he says the political class is going to pay. it is a lie. we are suffering, the common people, the retirees. the people who work every day,

who pay, who buy their food. >> bbc news, whbuenos aires. sumi: you can find more of that interview on our website, bbc.com/news. before we go, the u.k. is marking the first anniversary of king charles coronation. it has been a difficult year for the king who has just returned to public engagements following some time off to undergo cancer treatment. at london's green park on monday and across the capital, gun salutes marked his one year coronation anniversary. 31 were fired at noon by the royal house artillery. remember, you can find more on all the days news on our website, bbc.com/news. also, check us out on your favorite social media site. thank you for watching.

announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. cunard is a proud supporter of public television. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: get the free pbs app now and stream the best of pbs.

william: good evening. i'm william brangham. amna nawaz and geoff bennett are away. on the “newshour” tonight, hamas and israel trade ceasefire claims, as israel launches a targeted operation in parts of rafah, and demands tens of thousands leave the crowded city.