chaos in gaza hospital. israel launches a ground offensive. 19 palestinians have died in the latest violence. israeli tanks are positioned along the border and troops have been inside gazan territory. and the air strikes continue. an office building of a media organization among the targets. hello, this is al jazeera. our other main news stories - what brought down malaysian airlines flight 17 - ukraine's

government and russian separatists blame each other. relatives wait for news. the plane carried nearly 300. international leaders want answers, as pro-russian separatists seek access to the crash site. we are covering two major news stories - the crash much malaysia airlines flight mm-hmm 17 in eastern ukraine. first, gaza, where israel launched a ground offensive. after 11 days of air strikes and shelling, israel's prime minister ordered the army to move in to palestinian territory. these are live pictures from israel looking into gaza. hamas, which runs the territory condemns the invasion. 259 palestinians died since the violence began. it's nearly 10 days ago. 19 died overnight in the latest

phase of the operation. a hospital in eastern gaza had to be evacuated because of intense bombing. we have reporters in key locations and starting with nicole johnson in gaza city, who sent this report. >> reporter: lighting the way for israeli soldiers to move in. people in the east saw palestinian fighters and the israeli army exchange fire. in an unusual move, is ral announced the ground offensive before it started. >> translation: we are going to strike. it's going to be a combined attack from the air and ground. our forces with op rate along the roots of deployment and the area itself to receive operational control of the area. >> reporter: hamas says it's ready for it. >> i believe this will

completely destroy the the 2-state solution. the palestinians will not believe or trust the israelis, that they are looking forward to a political solution. at this moment there'll be another struggle. a military struggle. or a system, entire system struggle. >> on thursday, a 5-hour truce between israel and hamas gave people in gaza a chance to shop for supplies. >> the banks were packed with people trying to get cash. this didn't last for long. as soon as the truce was obvious, both sides were back at it. rockets fired from gaza. and shelling by israeli naval ships and tanks. these three children were killed by an airtrike on a house in gaza city, playing on the roof

with their cousins when the building was hit. >> they were playing on the roof feeding the birds. they were not making rockets, they are children. >> so far there has been limited incursions rather than a large ground offensive. the fear is that thousands of soldiers will enter gaza, if they do many more civilians will die. >> joining us via skype is a resident of gaza. thank you for joining us. we have the humanitarian pause for five hours yesterday. what has been happening since that ended. well, for five hours the streets of gaza city and gaza strip focused on people for the first time. this attack started on gaza. afterwards people started to go back to their houses, in a rush,

bus the fire started again, and israelis were shelling everywhere through the gaza strip. five kids were killed by children. three of the same family. they were on the roof of their house, killed by a knock on the roof which israel considers as a warning to the palestinians before they bomb the houses with them, with an f-16. >> warning shots september by israel? >> yes. which was actually condemned by the amnesty international, considering it's not an effective way of warning the palestinians for bombing them afterwards, with an f-16. they were killed - two kids followed them. during the night. israeli tanks and there were

centered or lined up through - around the gaza strip on the borders. they did some ground invasion. it was only short operations, and clashes between them. so far no ground invasion happened yet. >> this is the ground offensive which has begun. we hear at the moment that it's just taking place close to the border. that's what you have seen, is it. you have seen israeli tanks at the border crossing into gaza, but so far low key? >> yes. i mean, the people on the borders east, south and north of gaza strip reported seeing tanks, and seeing soldiers clash with the resistance. members of gaza but only for a few metres after the borders. they haven't, you know,

implemented a whole ground invasion yet. there has been small ground operations and didn't start only yesterday, but that is been going for a few days. >> the air strikes are continuing while this is going on. >> of course, the air strikes are continuing. artillery shells from the tanks are continuing from yesterday night. so this morning, still going on. the gun boats have been hitting gaza, targetting people as well. we have an attack from the land, sea, and air. and i am sure you also see what happens on the beach two days ago when they killed four kids from the same family in an open space, on the beach. they were playing football, and i am sure with their weaponry, they could see and tell that

they were kids playing on the beach. they were targeted and killed immediately. when they were trying to flee - once again, they were hit again to make sure they were all dead. four of them died and other members. family were injoourd. >> thank you for describing what has been happening there. from gaza. let's go to stefanie dekker, al jazeera's correspondent in gaza. we had a resident in gaza talking about a grand offensive that started, but the tanks were staying close to the border. this is because israel said it targeted the tunnels which hamas fighters used to get into southern israel to launch attacks. >> that's right. this is - at the moment it's focussed on border areas in the

north and east. you can sort of see it. absolutely, the relatives will tell you the tanks and troops were not inside. they are in the buffer zone. when you talk about the tunnel system, there's a gaza underneath gaza. this is a new thing. it didn't in 2012, the last time there was a war here. hamas managed to set up the underground tunnel system. this is what we have seen. there was an attempted incursion in the south, into israel. this is what israel is saying. they are targetting. how they are doing that i can't tell you. they'll be focussing, i believe, around the border areas to cut off the access from gaza to is ram. and that is their main concern. we have seen over the last 10 days two incidents, not actually through the tunnels, but the sea, two incursions,

managing to kill the fighters crossing a show of strength from hamas that we haven't seen. >> in the meantime air strikes continuing, 19 palestinians killed since down. >> it's been a relentless night. as your guest said, it's pounding from the see and the air. people are terrified. i can give you an idea. an hour before the operation was announced, we were sitting outside our hotel in the port. there was heavy shelling going on, it was heavier. we heard boats close to shore. we saw red lights. incoming fire to a willing close to us. everyone was thinking that this was unusual, they are so close, and within the hour we heard that the ground operation had been launched and people had

been terrified over the last 10 days, it's difficult. we had over 200 killed, 1,700 injured. the ground incursion is a concern. we have not seen a massive movement of troops within the populated centers of gaza. they are situated on the border areas in the buffer zone. not a sign of a major enterprise offensive. >> thank you for that. stefanie dekker in gaza. >> well, in addition to all the palestinian casualties, one israeli solder has been killed. another two were wounded in the ground offensive overnight. let's go to nisreen el-shamayleh, in the israeli town of kafar azar. we have heard about ground offensive and there's going to be a security cabinet meeting of the israeli government in less

than an hour, i think. what is that about? >> we are waiting to hear what prime minister binyamin netanyahu is going to tell the security cabinet meeting and the government. both meetings due to happen at 8 g.m. t and 10 g.m. t. we believe he will be discussing the ground operation. we are standing in a position, a couple of kilometres away from gaza. since we got here have been hearing shelling from tanks, and a few minutes ago we saw three rockets fired from gaza into israel. it has not stopped either. according to the israeli army more than 50 rockets were fired. we heard a statement from the israeli army saying the results appeared to be in line with expectations. the israeli army managed to

carry out air strikes on at least nine underground tunnels, hitting 103 targets, they say, and that there were clashes with several palestinian fighters and an exchange of fire in which 13 palestinians were killed, and they destroyed 20 concealed rocket launchers. >> thank you for that. bringing us up to date on that israeli ground offensive there. >> the u.s. secretary of state john kerry spoke to israeli prime minister binyamin netanyahu on the telephone to discuss the israeli ground offensive. the state department reported that the secretary confirmed strong support for the bombing of gaza's tunnels, but encouraged them to restore the 2012 ceasefire. rosalind jordan sent this

report. >> reporter: earlier in the wheek secretary of state john kerry said he was prepared to fly to the middle east if that's what it took to broker a ceasefire between the israeli government and hamas. however, once egypt stepped forward with its own proposal for a ceasefire the secretary of state john kerry decided to return to washington because of other foreign policy matters, notably the ongoing nuclear disarmament talks with iran. there are rumours that john kerry might go to the region now that binyamin netanyahu is launching a ground offensive. it's not clear whether the arrival of the u.s. secretary of state or any others will prevent what seems to be an all-out law. there's plenty of coverage of the conflict on the website. reports for our correspondents. live blocks, videos, all of that

at aljazeera.com. now, pro-russia separatists in ukraine have promised access to the crash site of the malaysian airliner apparently shot down in the east. all 298 passengers on board were killed when the plane crashed in an area controlled by the rebels, who say they are ready to agree to a ceasefire for up to four days to allow the bodies of the victims to berecovered. both sides accused each other of shooting the player down. the boeing took off on a normal route to kuala lumpur. malaysia airlines said it lost contact. it crashed near a village in the self-declared republic of luhansk. 50km from the border with russia. we have this report from the scene. >> these are emergency service personal who have been on the scene for a couple of hours. they are holding sticks with

white cloth on the top of it. they are marking bodies. they have been walking through the fields, coming on this side. this is a farm road dividing the debris field. they are in there, and you can see some of the remains, what is interesting is when one of the gentleman walked past, he said "there's too many bodies, we don't have enough stakes", and they are moving to a different area. this is the tail section of the aircraft. the tail fin is there, this is here. up the road there are bigger debris fields, you have one this side. it seems to be the biggest debris field. there's the landing field and engines are there where there's a groof in the earth. the gentleman are marking where the bodies are. the important thing now for the international community, because this is an international

incident is that the investigation as to why the me are looking -- men are looking for bodies to place. >> the flight began in the netherlands. we are joined from the airport in amsterdam. lots of friend and family who want answers as to how far this happened. >> absolutely, after all the shock and disbelief of thursday, outrage and anger will follow. some of the friends and family of those killed in the instant them to ship ol airport. they have been -- ship owl airport and some may be flown to kiev. friends and family were kept a distance away. it was a copies dense we were

staying at the -- coincidence that we were staying at the same hotel as some. we were asked if we had a reservation. it was in the lobby of that hotel that we saw people clearly friends and family, the agony etched on their faces. the biggest fear for them is crucial time may have been lost at the time. the all-important evidence may not have been gathered and the news that the black box may be on it way to russia may not be really received. the hope is that independent bodies that trained personnel from around the world will be able to gain access, the worry being that the facts of matter may be lost between the dispute between kiev and moscow. >> tell us about the passengers. a lot of them were delegates on

their way to australia to take pard in an aides catholic chu-- conference. >> that's right. 10 to 20 were believed to be on the way to australia. some believed to be top researchers in h.i.v., heading to that all-important meeting. among the dead there are a lot of people from various different countries around the world. more than 150 people are thought to have been from the netherlands. this is a huge national tragedy. other european countries are involved - france, germany. the u.k., u.s., malaysia and australia as well. there has been strong comments made from leaders around the world. thursday, francis hollande, the president of france said he was deeply emotional when he heard the news. everyone across the continent and further afield want to know how and why the plane crashed.

>> ukraine's president has described the crash as an act of terrorism. >> i've just finished a conversation with the dutch prime minister and expressed condolences. on behalf of ukraine i have invited experts and professionals from netherlands to vet the attack. i want to point attention to the fact that we call it neither an accident or a catastrophe. it's a terrorist attack. in the last few minutes russia's president called for an impartial investigation into the crash, according to the reuters newsagencies, vladimir putin also says that russia will provide all necessary assistance in the investigation. >> translation: we, on behalf of the russian authorities and the government of the russian federation express condolences to the bereefed families and governments of nationals on that

plane. i ask you to honour their memory. in this regard i want to emphasise there would not have been this tragedy if there was peace in that land and military actions had not resumed in the east of ukraine. >> vladimir putin's call for an impartial investigation, there's talks that the black box flight recorders are on the way to moscow. the big thing is it's fraught with political issues. >> absolutely. the malaysian prime minister said the crash site thu be left at -- should be left how it is, nothing should be taken away and all the evidence left on the ground as it fell. that is the only way in which an impartial investigation can happen, and that impartial investigation has to be carried out by international observers. but, what is happening with these black boxes? we are not

sure. there has been reports across russian media that the pro-russian separatists found them. and are trying to get them to moscow. that wasn't quite what they told my colleague scott heidler, who is on the ground in the area. they told him something different, saying they didn't have them yet. it seems sure that the black boxes have been found and the pro-russian separatists are trying to work out what to do with them. what happens next is a massive importance. moscow says it wants to play this by the book. if it receives these black boxes it will pass it to the international aviation authority who can undertake an impartial investigation. obviously there's a massive exercise going on cross the

region. the ukrainians are saying it was nothing to do with us. pro-russian separate asts say it was nothing to do with us, the russian governments are saying it was nothing to do with us. everyone is pointing the finger of blame at someone else. >> this is the problem. there's talk about what kind of weapons russia may have supplied. australian prime minister tony abbott laying the blame squarely on russia. how worried are the ordinary russians that they'll cabinet the blame for this? >> they are very worried, indeed indeed. we have been speaking to a few of them, looking at picture outside the dutch and malaysian embassy. i saw a picture of a wreath down the dutch embassy with a sign saying forgive us. clearly there are some people in russia that thinks russia has a hand in this. there's plenty of russians who think that russia might be

blamed unfairly. this will have a huge impact on russia's standing around the world. so people very concerned and reading russian tv stations and newspapers. russian tv stations, in the majority, follow a pro-kremlin line, and so the tv stations has been saying that ukraine bears responsibility for the disaster through an accident that the ukrainians shot it down or maybe they did it as a provocative act to tarnish russia's reputation. or even a newspaper, that ukrainians thought the plane was vladimir putin's plane and brought it down by accident, thinking they were taking the russian president out of the sky. >> thank you for that.

rory challands in moscow. >> the form former u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton says the u.s. must put more pressure on moscow if they are linked to the downing of the airliner. >> from my perspective, and i have the benefit of not being in the government. if there is evidence linking russia to this, that should inspire the europe eaches to do more than three counts - one, toughen their own sanctions, making it clear there has to be a price. number two, accelerate effort and announce that they are doing so to find alternatives to gaz prox. russia has not diversified its economy, it's dependent on national resources, gas and oil. thirdly, do nor in concert with us to support the ukrainians. there has to be more help on the borders to prevent this porous

border allowing russians to go back and forth and insurgents to do the same. >> malaysia's prime minister says ukraine is trying to facilitate access to the crash site. the perpetrators must be brought to justice if the plane was shot down. >> the ukraine confirms that the government will negotiate with rebels in the east of the country in order to establish a humanitarian corridor to the crash site. just now i received a call from president obama. he and i agree that the investigation must not be hindered in any way. an international team must have full access to the crash site and no one should interfere with

it area or move debris including the black box. this is a tragic day in what has already been a tragic year for malaysia. >> we are joined from the airport in kuala lumpur, which was the plane's intended destination. airlines have not been warned off this route. but some airlines voluntarily changed the route. malaysia airlines have not done so. have they been criticised for that. >> yes, there is criticism at the airlines and the government for not choosing a more circaive route around. especially considering there were warnings from deposits in amongst -- governments in amongst previous. as early as april.

carriers were told to avoid the air space because of threats that airplanes could be shot down. the question is why didn't malaysia airlines choose to take the route. yes, it was approved by international aviators and aviation authorities. at the same time there was that risk. the interesting thing from malaysia is in march of this year they had gone through a sad disaster. mm-h mh370 disappeared. to this day search teams are still searching for the plane. 239 passengers were missing. considering that they had gone through this, why did they not take steps to be extra cautious. many say it may be a question of finances. since the first disaster, malaysian airlines has been bleeding when it comes to the

financial aspects. it estimated that this lost 1.6 million a day since the first disaster. many say because of this latest flight it will be difficult for the airline to improve the tarnished reputation, leaving the question of the airline in terms of it fate, at the same time the government is saying - hay, we are not responsible, we listen to the international authorities that the route was safe. we will like i hear more from the government, where a transport minister answers tough questions, which i am sure a lot of grieving families here have more him. >> thank you. steve chow updating us there from malaysia, from the international airport in kuala lumpur. we have been looking at a map showing the routes of airlinings and how many of them have been avoiding that whole area over

that disputed territory, which some of it is in the hands of the rebels. now, don't forget more on this developing story on our website. we have all the developments there, and the address as ever aljazeera.com.