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israel-gaza again while negotiations continue in new york on the middle east. volcanic activity in iceland causes concern about pollution. feeling abandoned by his own country, the bbc speaks to an american citizen from inside a russian prison. hello and welcome to world news america. the united nations security council once again postponed voting on a resolution about the israel-gaza war following tense -- over the language of the text with the main sticking point said to be over the monitoring of humanitarian aid entering gaza. our correspondent has been following the negotiations. >> yet another delay as

negotiations continue what the highest levels at capital. here at the u.n., diplomats have been furiously and desperately trying to reach an agreement, including the united states, which does not want to be in a position to cast a third veto. we have seen over the last few days the resolution being modified to try to accommodate the united states' position including language being toned down to call for a suspension of hostilities. really, the key sticking point now is over the resolution's proposal for a u.n. monitoring mechanism. it is said this is absolutely an essential component of the resolution, to make sure it has impact on the ground. washington says there are fears that israel would lose control of the screening process with this mechanism. there are talks now over how to bridge that gap.

in fact, the united states asked for this latest delay so it could engage directly with egypt in talks over how they mechanism could work to the benefit of all parties. really, the success of this resolution now hinges on those talks between the u.s. and egypt. it is worth noting the overwhelming majority of the council does support the resolution as it is and the uae, which authored this resolution, says there is too much suffering on the ground by palestinian civilians for the council to fail to act. >> hamas says more than 20,000 people in gaza have been killed since israel began its military campaign after the october 7 attacks. hamas, which is designated a terrorist organization by some western governments, says more than 14,000 of the dead are women and children. a special correspondent reports on the toll it takes on

families. a warning, you might find this report distressing. >> the boy lies on the body of his father. >> [speaking another language] >> his father is among the 20,000 reported dead. but the survivors do not think of the dead in figures of thousands. theirs is an intimate reckoning. counted in the faces of those they love. from the beginning, they have known there is no escape. from gaza, or from grief. in al-aqsa hospital in central

gaza, the wounded child holds to a vanished normality. in the bed nearby, age 13, who lost 10 members of her family and fears she will lose her arm and leg. >> i appeal to the arab countries to help me get urgent treatment before i lose my limbs. i dream of a life like other children around the world, where i can once again run and draw. >> fear of death is ever present. we interviewed her over a month ago as she tried to escape gaza with her disabled brother. today, our colleagues in gaza caught up with them. without vital medicine, he is suffering from seizures and is terrified by the israeli drones in the skies above.

>> i hear a rocket that is going to drop something. it is terrible to say this but it gives us this sort of relief that it is not us. that does not mean we are full safe. it is like we are next. >> these are the latest funerals in gaza. the dead, part of a casualty announcement that is with no cease-fire insight almost certainly already being surpassed. >> amid calls for restraint, israel is continuing to push ahead with its offensive in the city of rafa and southern gaza reportedly killed five people and injured more than 50. there are also reports of heavy streetfighting in a nearby city.

today, prime minister netanyahu's message to hamas was simple and stark -- surrender or die. he remains under intense pressure at home to bring back the more than 100 israelis kidnapped by hamas on october 7. behind the scenes, he is reportedly mulling a compromise. a washington post writer writes that israel is said to be consider offering a two week cease-fire in exchange for a release of all the remaining hostages. but the israeli newspaper reports talks are still at a very early stage. it accuses mr. netanyahu of playing up the initiative to appease public anger. a correspondent has more. >> there are no signs of movement toward possible negotiations between israel and hamas for the release of more hostages being held in gaza and also for more humanitarian aid to be delivered to the territory. on wednesday, the leader of hamas is expected to visit

cairo, egypt, alongside qatar to help negotiate the first deal that sought the release of more than 100 hostages and also palestinian prisoners being freed from israeli jails. on tuesday, the israeli president said his country was ready for another humanitarian pause in gaza that -- between the israeli and american intelligence chiefs in the qatari prime minister. any negotiations are likely to not be easy. hamas has conditioned any exchanges on a comprehensive cease-fire in gaza. israel so far has rejected calls for a cease-fire, saying this would only benefit hamas, a position that has been supported by the country's main ally, the u.s. more than 100 captives remain in gaza and israel says the release of the hostages and the elimination of hamas are the

goals of its military offensive in gaza. >> to talk more about this, let's go to the former u.s. ambassador to the united nations and u.s. director of national intelligence. thank you for joining us on bbc news. if we can look first at the efforts at the u.n. security council. you are the u.s. representative for several years. can you talk to us about what is going on behind the scenes? are these delays a sign that an agreement is getting nearer or farther away? >> i do not know how good i am at reading the tea leaves but it seems to me that people want to keep these talks at that u.n. security council going. quite a few reports to the effect that no one wants to see the united states, once again veto a resolution. i think there are some serious efforts being made to come to some sort of accommodation so we

can move this issue forward in a somewhat positive direction. >> on that, we see a large-scale humanitarian crisis. 2 million people displaced between gaza and israel. the health ministry saying the death toll of civilians is around 20,000. why is the u.s. not prepared to call for a cease-fire? >> i think, first of all, we are following israel's lead on this. we are supporting them in their response to the horrific attacks of october 7. traditionally, we have supported israel at the united nations. we have always found it is better to work with them in that kind of a positive way to try to get some result. the quibble right now seems to be over inspection of humanitarian aid deliveries. i should think that has been done so often, cease-fires in

order to prevent arrival of humanitarian goods, that this problem should be easily -- not easily -- but in any hand readily resolved. i hope an agreement will be reached and we will have at least some sort of a temporary cease-fire, which would give a respite to the situation on the ground, allow supplies to get in , humanitarian supplies, and allow the necessary help to get to the people who are suffering so badly. >> do you think some of that diplomacy -- you understand how diplomats work -- do you think some of that is about playing for time that the other talks taking place outside of the security council can reach some resolution there? >> well, there were talks going

on between the c.i.a. director and qatar a couple days ago but i'm not sure those are going anywhere at this particular point in time. i think the critical talks at the moment are between the head of hamas and the egypt and government, which have been taking place. and between the u.s. and the government of israel, on the other hand. i think the focus right now is, how do we overcome this issue, this snag, about how to arrange for inspections of humanitarian shipments coming into gaza? denture sounds to me like it out to be a soluble problem. i am hoping they will solve it within the next 24 hours or so. >> it seems to be what is being discussed is another temporary pause at this point in time. there are greater discussions about what will happen at the end, whenever that might be.

>> that is absolutely true. there is the larger question, whether you call it a suspension of hostilities, there is a broader question of, what next? how are we going to avoid situations of this kind just recurring repeatedly? unless some kind of a peace process is initiated in pursuit of a more durable solution between the israelis and the palestinians, i think all these efforts will not be for not but they will not be for very much and we run the risk of similar situations recurring with great frequency. we have lost sight, it seems to me, of the discussions we used to have about a two-state

solution. . in my opinion, the fundamental approach to the dispute between israel and the palestinians ought to be in the form of helping to facilitate the creation of a palestinian state, living at peace, side-by-side with its neighbor israel. >> we have to leave it there for now. the former u.s. ambassador to the united nations, thank you so much for joining us on bbc news. >> thank you for having me. >> diplomatic efforts are underway in the -- the leader of hamas spent wednesday in egypt for talks on a new cease-fire. our correspondent is reporting that a senior palestinian official familiar with today's talks in cairo said they ended without results. the official said egypt offered a proposal for another humanitarian truce but the idea of a temporary solution to the war was rejected by hamas. a palestinian islamist group

said its position remains that no exchange deal would happen before a final cease-fire, according to our source. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken addressed the israel-hamas conflict, saying the u.s. helps israel will scale back its military operation in gaza to a lower intensity. at his year-end press conference, antony blinken sent once the shift happens, the harm to civilians should decrease significantly. he expects more targeted negotiations based on hamas leadership. he pointed out what he believes is a somewhat double standard calling for israel to stop its aggression. >> i hear virtually no one saying, demanding of hamas that it stop hiding behind civilians, that it lay down its arms, that it surrender. this is over tomorrow if hamas does that. this would have been over a month ago, six weeks ago, if hamas had done that. how can it be that there are no

demands made of the aggressor, and only demands made of the victim? it would be good if there was a strong international voice pressing hamas to do what is necessary to end this. again, that could be tomorrow. >> let's go now to our state department correspondent. thank you for joining us. it has been a tough few months for the u.s. you might say it is becoming increasingly isolated in its position of unwavering support for israel. did antony blinken say anything today that would indicate a change in policy? >> no, he did not. he held his end press conference and did not indicate that was the case. he did talk about u.s. expectations that israel would move to lower intensity combat

in the future. moving away from massive bombing campaigns and ground operations to more targeted counterterrorism-like tactics. that is something the administration is pushing because it would -- decrease the number of civilian casualties. he said if the war ended while hamas was still in place and still had military capacity, another attack like the one that happened on october 7 could happen again and that was unacceptable. you heard him on the cliff pushing back forcefully against the criticism of israel and u.s. support for israel saying there are two parties in the war, hamas started it, you did not hear international calls to lay down arms or to stop hiding behind civilians. nevertheless, he did for the u.s. does want the war to end as soon as possible. i think that january will be a crucial month for the u.s. efforts to try to get israel to scale back its operations. >> in the meantime, there seems

to be quite considerable efforts going on at the u.n. to get this resolution agreed to avoid a situation where the u.s. is yet again using its veto to block it. >> yes. they delayed it now three times so they are trying very hard. that resolution is about substantially increasing the eight, the flow of aid into gaza. antony blinken may the -- the uss but at the forefront working -- the u.s. is at the forefront. he wanted to make sure the resolution advance the process and did not hurt it or make it more complicated. he seemed to have been referring to that dispute about the monitoring mechanism that you have been hearing about. those discussions are continuing. the u.s. clearly wants to be able to be part of a united voice from the u.n. at this point, it is not at all

clear it will back the resolution. if in the end it does end up vetoing again, the u.n. forum is one of the starkest examples of how the u.s. is standing apart from much of the world on its approach to this conflict. >> at this press conference today, antony blinken touched on a range of issues. what did he have to say about the two u.s. detainees being held in russia? >> you are talking about the wall street journal reporter, and the former u.s. marine, who are detained in russia. he was asked if there has been any movement in their cases. the russian president, vladimir putin, last week mentioned them. mr. putin said he was hopeful for a prisoner swap but the u.s. needed to listen to russia's conditions. antony blinken said the u.s. was very actively engaged in these talks but would not give details, which is customary.

he gave a broader message to americans who are wrongfully detained. he said they should know the u.s. dance with them and they should have hope because this administration brought more than three dozen of them home. >> thank you for that. as barbara was mentioning, imprisoned paul and evan are in russian prisons. he said he was -- feeling abandoned by the u.s. government. president putin said moscow hope to find a resolution to the dispute over those american citizens in jail in russia. both have been declared wrongfully detained by the u.s. state department. our correspondent has been speaking to paul whelan. >> this is where an american's holiday to moscow ended up. in a remote russian labor camp,

convicted of espionage. the u.s. government calls paul whelan wrongfully detained. he has always said he is a political hostage. i followed his story since he was arrested in moscow. for five years, all negotiations to try to free him have failed. now, speaking to me from prison, paul whelan said he feels abandoned by his government. >> serious betrayal. extremely frustrating. >> i have never heard him talk like this before. >> coming up with all sorts of proposals, serious proposals, but it is not what the russians are after so they keep going back and forth. the only problem is, it is my life. it is five years. it is unfathomable to me that they left me behind. >> the u.s. can get its prisoners back. last year, an american basketball star was swapped for

a convicted russian arms trader. paul whelan was left behind. now it seems like russia is collecting hostages. evan was detained in march, accused of espionage for doing his job as a journalist. his newspaper, his government, make clear the charges are false. >> she writes to evan in prison every week. this started out together as reporters in moscow. now, he is locked up and she is abroad for safety. evan's friends collect and translate letters of support for him from all over the world. helping keep his spirits up, and their own. >> my greatest hope is evan is released as soon as possible and can go home, go back to work and

his family. you can spend time with all of us again, as he should be doing right now. that is the greatest hope. >> the conditions in the camp, the barracks have black mold. >> paul whelan is facing his fifth christmas as a prisoner. are you worried there will be another deal and you will be left behind again? >> yes, i am worried there will be a deal that will leave me here. each case, my case is put to the back of the line. >> it is russia that put him here. but paul willard america to push harder to get him home. bbc news. >> iceland is seeing its third night of volcanic eruptions, although official said the flareup is weakening. a crack in the earth's surface that is several kilometers long. the country is proving to be

prepared for volcanic activity but some are concerned about gas pollution from the ructions. we have this report from outside the exclusion zone. >> the volcano's eruption is currently weakening but authorities are warning that new vents could open at a moment's notice. vents are opening and magma erupts and gases are emitted. because of this authorities are warning people not to come to this area and to stay away for their own safety. now, the main concern at the moment is that fumes from the volcano are making their way toward the capital, which is about 30 minutes from here. luckily, there have been no reports of injuries, although some houses have been damaged. in terms of what happens next, this could go on for weeks, or even months. what that means is about 4000

people who live in a village near the volcano are probably going to spend christmas away from home. we have been speaking to some of the people who have been evacuated and some of them have told us they are worried their town will disappear from the map. most people here are quite optimistic about the whole situation. they said they are perfectly aware that they live in a town where there is lava all around. but they are quite philosophical about the situation and they have told us this is just what life is like in iceland. >> the state of minnesota has unveiled a new -- the 24-year-old designer said it i narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors.

narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ >> good evening. >> tonight, the u.s. and venezuela agreed to a prisoner swap, bringing several detained americans home. >> the colorado supreme court disqualifies donaldmp