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ín washington and this is bbc world news america. america's top diplomat says he is determined to bridge the gaps between israel and hamas on the latest cease-fire proposal. israel rejects a new u.n. report accusing its forces and hamas of committing war crimes. and russian warships stop in cuba ahead of planned military exercises. hello and welcome to world news america. i am caitríona perry. we start in the middle east, where cease-fire talks hang in the balance with hamas and israel yet to formally approve the latest proposal.

u.s. secretary of state antony blinken urged both parties to the table as he wrapped up his latest diplomatic push in the region. mr. blinken criticized hamas for requesting changes to the terms but the group pointed the blame at the u.s., saying its position remains the same. hamas is demanding full israeli withdrawal and a permane end to the war, while israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until israel's aims are achieved. despite their differences, mr. blinken says international mediators are determined to bridge those gaps. here is america's top diplomat speaking before he left qatar. >> a deal was on the table that was virtually identical to a proposal that hamas put forward on may 6. through deal the entire world wa behind, a deal israel has accepted, and hamas could have answered with a single word -- yes. instead, hamas waited nearly two

weeks, then proposed more changes, a number of which go beyond positions it had previously taken and accepted. caitríona: here is correspondent john donnison now with the latest on the cease-fire negotiations. john: the key issues are phase two of the proposal that was announced by joe biden a few weeks ago. that would withdraw the complete withdrawal of israeli forces from gaza and a permanent cease-fire between israel and hamas. hamas is seeking greater reassurances, guarantees that is going to happen. they don't trust israel will stick to that. although america says israel has signed up to that, benjamin netanyahu has not said that publicly, explicitly, and he knows if he were to do that,

there are people within his government on the extreme right of his coalition w have said they would pull out of the government and that would mean fresh elections and possibly the end of benjamin netanyahu's time in power. the americans seem to think this deal is close, they just need to push a little harder. they are going to continue to put pressure on the qatari's and egyptians and put pressure on hamas. it doesn't feel like on the ground it is terribly close at the moment. caitríona: for more, i am joined by an experienced middle east mediator and hostage negotiator, oliver mctiernan. thank you for being with us. you have a lot of experience in this type of situation. what is likely going on behind the scenes? oliver: i think john captured well what we know in public, this impasse that we have been here before, going around and around for seven months and have come to the same stiing

points. i think privately it's no good putting pressure on qatar and egypt as negotiators, because they can't move forward. for me the only person who can make a difference now is president biden. i think he needs to say this is the moment when we have to reach an agreement. the terrible situation in gaza, the humanitarian crisis we are witnessing day by day. i saw today 8000 children under five who have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition. this can't go on and i think it needs america to say, enough, we are stopping supplying the arms. the military operation has to stop read we have to find a negotiated solution. caitríona: the stated position

of hamas and israel has not shifted much for months and they are diametrically opposed. can intervention from joe biden as you propose achieve anything further or has the u.s. exhausted its reach in this impasse? oliver: very good question. i was talking today with a very experienced israeli military negotiater, retired now a couple of years. he was saying we need a country to country process, qatar, egypt, and america involved. that's part of the reason for the block. maybe i's time now for what used to happen in the past, to open up back channels so you can unblock some difficulties without having this constant public commentary on it. that said, i do still believe that america is the only country

with the power to say to prime minister netanyahu, we are no longer supplying the weapons for you to pursue your military goal. i think once that is said, israel will realize the only way forward is through reaching agreement. caríona: given what president biden has said for months, that his support for prime minister netanyahu and his personal involvement as well, also it is an election year. how realistic is it that president biden would make that move? oliver: good question, because i think what president biden has to do is way up the political interest with his moral oblitions. last week he was on the normandy beaches and i think it is really sobering when you walk through the omaha cemetery, where there are 10,000 young americans

buried. many of them just spent 10 days in europe. the reason they were there was to restore a rule-based moral order. that, i fear, we are now witnessing unraveling, because if we put political interests before our moral values, what those young men died for in europe years ago, we are devaluing their sacrifice. that's the message i would like to give the president. we have got to rediscover our moral values and i think we will find the right political solutions to this present conflict. caitríona: all these discussions are about getting to phase one of the proposal, which is due to last for six weeks initially. even to get to that point in the meantime, what will happen, particularly for civilians in gaza, who are suffering, as antony blinken described it,

hell currently? oliver: this is the terrible thing. i every day get messages from gaza, from people i have known. i have been going there for 20 years. i have seen people grow up, families grow up. every day they say where is humanity? that is the question. i had a very close friend who was a survivor of auschwitz. he ud to always say that when people would ask him where was god in auschwitz, his answer was , where was humanity? that's the question all of us have to put to ourselves now, not only in gaza but in sudan and so many parts of the world. we are losing our sense of moral order and responsibility towards others. caitríona: we will have to leave it there this evening, but this

discussion goes on. thanks for joining us on bbc news. oliver: thank you very much. caitríona: an independent united nations inquiry into the first few months of the war in gaza accuses israel and because of committing war crimes and human rights abuses. it is the u.n.'s first in-depth negotiation into the october 7 attacks and the ensuing aftermath. the report includes is israel of having a strategy intended to cause maximum damage, including heavy weapons in densely populated areas. statements from israeli officials inciting violence and hatred, insufficient and unclear evacuation orders, and the attacking of evacuation routes. the collective punishment against the civilian population against a total siege. it also found evidence of sexual and gender-based violence and war crimes in the west bank. the report include -- accuses hamas of indiscriminately firing

projectiles toward israeli towns , taking hostages including children, and committing sexual based violence and willful killing, torture, and inhumane treatment. the report calls on israel to immediately stop military operations and attacks in gaza and for hamas and palestinian armed groups to stop rocket attacks and release all hostages. israel's and bassett are to the u.n. rejected the findings of the report, saying the u.n. inquiry had once again proven its actions are all in the service of a narrow political agenda against israel. with me to discuss this is stephen rap, former ambassador at large for war crimes issues, heading the office of global criminal justice at the u.s. justice department. as i have outlined, this report is dammingf acts carried out by hamas on october 7 and of israel in the months after that.

what is the significance of a report like this and those kind of findings? >> it brings us back to the various violations that have been alleged. certainly this commission has found some proof supporting allegations that those are war crimes and even crimes against humanity. they bring the focus back on october 7 and the report leads off with hamas crimes, killing 800 civilians in cold blood, including 38 children, and the sexual violence, torture, and hostage taking. they were not done accidentally, they were not collateral damage. they are provable war crimes and crimes against humanity. then it deals with the israeli response. it goes further than the icc or icj has gone so far in looking at the combat operations itself and saying there is intentional use of force and intentional destruction by israel. and as well that it is

disproportionate in many cases. this is a challenging area for those of us that have have to prosecute war crimes, because when you deal with apartment you are dealing with what was the target, what was the military advantage, was it disproportionate? this part of the report requires much more analysis and careful work. it's highly appropriate that they say it is on the israelis to investigate every single target and to hold people to account. on the other hand, there are allegations that the israelis have used the so-called hannibal directive that suggests there is massive use of force in order to deter actions by hamas and there is no specific military target. these are serious allegations and i would like to see the proof because that would suggest an intentional war crime. caitríona: it also puts it into

context in one part of the report that this is the latest part of a conflict that has spanned decades. on the issue of holding people to account, the chairperson of the commission said it is imperative that all who have mmitted crimes be held accountable. in practice, how can that occur when we are dealing with individuals deemed to be part of a terrorist organization by many governments? and israel doesn't recognize icc and icj. how do you hold people accountable? stephen: it's the obligation of the parties to hold themselves to account, and in the past israel has conducted investigations and published their findings. those that feel strongly about these things think those investigations are not sufficient. when there was a similar report in 2009, there were 36 different incidents cited that were potential war crimes. the israelis proceeded to investigate each of those. that was a much narrower

operation then we are talking about here. the israelis continue to tell us they have referred matters to investigation, but there has been nothing published, no charges laid. one of the areas that i think is the most interesting and disturbing is the starvation obligation. this is what the icc application for warrants against israeli leaders is based on. they have statements at a high level. and humanitarian organizations that have said that in northern gaza there is fewer than 300 calories of food available for day for the population. these are allegations that could definitely be were crimes, but one has to see what is being done on the humanitarian front. caitríona: it does cite quotes made by minister gallant, various individuals talking about acg and cutting everything

off. stephen: indeed. that is the icj case. as we know from that case, there were many unfortunate statements made by political leaders that suggest all the people of gaza are viewed as combatants. and there is something in regard to the attacks or the bombardment that says we are taking the gloves off. we are throwing the rulebook out. israel, for instance, after the 2014 operation in gaza, through its judicial commission, made certain kinds of operations and tactics illegal. the suggestion here is those rules that have been applied at that time were stricken and that they were going much further in terms of attacking the civilian population. these are things i think any prosecutor would have to deal with, but first the obligation is on israel, then it can go to

the international level at the icc. palestine has been recognized as a state by the icc judges and therefore that court will indicate it has jurisdiction. the question of the current prosecutors application is still before the judges. caitríona: lots more to talk about but we will leave it there for the moment. thanks for joining us. a fleet of russian warships and nuclear powered submarines docked in cuba ahead of planned military exercises in the caribbean. it is seen as a projection of strength over western support for ukraine. this bbc footage shows the russian vessels, which included a for gate and a nuclear powered submarine pulling into have an harbor. the port is around 160 kilometers or 100 miles from a u.s. naval air station in florida. u.s. officials said they were

monitoring the move and did not pose a direct threat. hosting his human counterpart in moscow earlier, the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov said moscow was grateful to cuba for its principled position on the situation around ukraine. we will have more on that story later. hungary has agreed not to oppose nato support for ukraine, expected at an upcoming nato leaders summit in washington, d.c. prime minister or been insisted during a meeting with the nato chief that his government would provide neither funds nor military personnel for a joint assistance effort. mr. orban is moscow's closest ally in the european union. for more, nick thorpe sent this report from western hungary. nick: young stoltenberg, the nato's secretary-general, came to hungary today just one month before the washington summit, a

very crucial summit for nato at which it will try to redefine its relations, takeover a much more important relationship toward ukraine, for -- court needing financial and military support to ukraine in this difficult time for the ukrainian government. mr. stoltenberg came to judah past -- to judah past -- to budapest seeking guarantees from victor or ben that hungary will not block the changes toward ukraine, coordinating nato's new mission for ukraine. mr. orban sought and got guarantees that hungary can effectively opt out of financial and military commitments to ukraine. mr. orban has made no secret of his be open that continued western military support for ukraine is just prolonging the war. he is calling for an immediate cease-fire followed by negotiations.

both mr. stoltenberg and victor orban got what they wanted. that leaves hungary still isolated with a very different view of the war in ukraine from the other 31 members. caitríona: for more than a year, civil war in sudan has led to death, hunger, and displacement. the u.s. envoy to sudan has warned that a seat city in western door for could fault the rebel forces imminently. the forces have been fighting the rapid support forces in a conflict for 14 months. conflict has intensified over the past month and hundreds of graves have been discovered. it is the only city still under military control in the darfur region. across the country, the u.n. says more than 15,000 people are estimated to have been killed and almost 9 million forced to flee their homes. that's more displaced people than in any other conflict in the world. the bbc's and soy sent this

report. reporter: this is now the daily reality in the latest frontline in sudan's year-long war. no one is safe here anymore. there has been a spike in arson activity. at least eight villages have been razed. evidence, investigators say, of ethnic targeting by the rapid support versus -- fors. this mother and her family. she doesn't know if the blood on her toddler's face is his, his siblings, or fathers. they are receiving emergency treatment at one of the last facilities still running. the medics here are stretched. they only attend the most severe cases. so volunteers from the community have come together to support them. >> [translated] from our own efforts and the efforts of well-wishers, we managed to get

emergency medicine from some contribution. those who would not provide medicines gave us money to buy drugs from the market. reporter: they are constantly changing things, expanding the facility as the crucial work of saving lives continues. >> we managed to continue our activities, but there is lots of difficulties and we need investment very soon. if not it will be very complicated to continue the activities. reporter: there was another setback last weekend. this is what was left of the hospital after fighters stormed in, opened fire, and looted it on saturday. staff and patients escaped. now the other facility has been shut, and there are fears things could get worse should the city for. >> we need this to end.

we are working towards a local cease-fire. we need cooler heads to prevail. while we also don't take our eye off other parts of sudan. reporter: it is sudan civilians who bear the biggest brunt of the war, a conflict described by some as senseless, the result of a clinical fallout between two generals, which has left thousands dead, millions displaced, and nearly a third of the country facing food shortages. caitríona: let's have a look at some other important news around the world. firefighters are battling major wildfires in brazils wetlands, the world's largest tropical wetland and a unesco world heritage site. this year the number of fires has increased tenfold from the same period in 2023. low levels of rainfall and high winds have intensified the winds, which climate scientists

have said are happening rlier than usual. a lawsuit to find the last two known living survivors of the tulsa race massacre has been dismissed by the oklahoma supreme court. the ruling upholds a lower court decision that says the legitimate concerns of the survivors does not support a claim for compensation. in 1921 a white mob killed up to 300 black americans and destroyed what was known as black wall street, a thriving black owned business district. >> [speaking in foreign language. caitríona: france's right center party has ousted its leader. it comes a day after he announced an alliance with the far right national rally in upcoming snap elections called by president macron. french politics were thrown into disarray when the far right dominated other parties in elections for the european parliament. the republican-controlled u.s. house of representatives voted

to hold u.s. attorney general merrick garland in contempt for refusing to turn over audio recordings of president biden's interview with the special counsel investigating his handling of classified documents. the justice department already turned over a transcript of the interview to investigators in february but the white house declined to provide the audio, asserting executive privilege, which allows the president to keep certain communications confidential regulators in denmark have sparked heated debate online after they recalled three south korean noodle products for being too spicy. the danish food agency said the amount of chilly in some of the instant ramen flavors was so high, it could poison consumers. no other country appears to have issued health warnings. the move has sparked some ridicule, but mostly amusement from lovers of spicy food. feeling not so hot hot hot in denmark, it seems. you can find all the days news on bbc.com/news.

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wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. xfinity internet. made for streaming. ♪ >> good evening. >> tonight, negotiations over a cease-fire in gaza continue after a massive barrage from lebanon into israel increases fears about war in the north.