hi everyone, this is al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler in new york. shot down by a russian made missile fired from rebel territory. new details of the downing of the flight 17. the victims - tragedy strikes twice for one australian family. invasion, israel threaten to expand the offensive if hamas responds with rockets. did i say placed - tens of

thousands forced from their home. >> the timing is right. >> man on the moon - my conversation with buzz aldrin who strolled on the moon 45 years ago. - - we begin with the tragedy of malaysia flight 17, and the suggestion from the u.s. that russia was behind the tragedy. almost 300 were killed, including an american college student. u.s. intelligence confirms the plane was shut down by a russian made missile. washington is focussed on the russian backed rebels fighting in the region. >> the eyes of the world are on eastern ukraine. we are going to make sure the truth is out. >> scott heidler has the latest from the crash routine. >> reporter: as the sun rose it

revealed the scope of how difficult the recovery and investigation will be for flight mh17. the debris rests in a vast area around the wheat fields, a circumference of 10km. >> translation: there was an explosion in the sky above the house. i came out to see what happened. the plane fell in many pieces, as it fell, it broke apart. all the pieces fell in the sky. >> emergency workers began the difficult task of marking the spot of the bodies and parts. as the rescue workers fanned across the fields identifying human remains, we were close to the debris field when some came out and we heard one say to another "there's too many bodies in there, i don't have enough stakes and white flags." before working their shifts, miners

from a coal plant came to help. >> translation: we came because it's a tragedy. we want to help find out what happened and to stop people thinking there are just terrorists here. >> a few hours after the crash the leader of the pro-russian separatist visited the site. >> the war has been going on for a long time. unfortunately, people from other countries have become the victories in this non-declared war. people who are not going to participate. the ukranian prime minister reached out to the families of those killed, but squarely placed blame. >> everyone is to be accountable and responsible. i mean everyone who supports these terrorists, including russian federation and russian regime. >> but to accurately determine who is behind the attack on civilians, international investigators need to get in. both sides agreed to establish a corridor through the battlefield

to allow that. the crash scene in ukraine covers about 8 square miles and it's a combat zone. lisa stark has the latest on the investigation. >> reporter: the first outside observers made it to the crash site on friday. monitors from the organization for security and cooperation in europe helicoptered into the area and drove to the debris fields. they were not able to move around freely. >> they have limited access and left after 75 minutes. of course, calling the need for unfettered access important in our view. the observers will try again-saturday. >> obviously there was a lot of dire and eagerness at many levels to get experts and personnel si workers here to -- emergency workers here. >> reporter: safe access to the site is critical. investigators are heading to ukraine to assist in the probe.

they are going no further than kiev, as of now. worried about security in the area of ukraine. a missile was fired from inside ukraine. at the pentagon they are pointing fingers at the russians themselves. >> the missile themselves, the s tax 11 -- the as 11, the one we -- sa 11, the one we believe was used is a sophisticated piece of technology. it - it strans credulity -- strains credulity to think it could be used by separatists without some measure of russian support and technical assistance. >> there's no firm information on whether either of the plane's two black boxes have been recovered by the rebels. independent investigators will want to find them. the other priority, recovering

and identifying the bodies of 300 who lost their lives, and returning the remains to their families. under international law ukraine head up the investigation. the obama is stressing the need for an incredible international investigation. sources tell al jazeera the hope is that i coa based in canada would play a leading role. ukraine agreed to offers of help from a host of groups and companies, including the u.s. and malaysia and the netherlands. all of that support means little if investigators can't get the proper access on the ground. of course, investigating a plane crash can be difficult and complex work. this investigation is even tougher because of the fighting in ukraine. science and technology correspondent jake ward is in san francisco. this is obviously an unstable

dangerous environment. what should happen next. >> well, in theory the investigation would, if it were happening on american soil, would be led by the fbi with tremendous support. the step is to bring everyone together and set up an hq in the field, off the crash site. they'd quite the group - we are talking dozens, if not 100 or more. into individual commit ice, one devoted to the fuselage, one to the engine, air traffic control, engines. divvying up the elements of the crash, trying to bring them together into a big report. >> so we have seen the pictures of the fuselage - big pieces of it. what will they be looking for when it comes to signs of a missile strike. it leaves mark engs across a

plane. if it had been a bomb. the fuselage would be built outwards. when a missile come in, it bends the fuselage in, and the way that the wreckage is laid out, that gives you a clearer sense of it having been an explosion. when a plane comes in and lands on its own in one piece, it's a concentrated violent seen as opposed to what we have seen here. still, there is order to all of this chaos. the right side engine should be on the right side of the field. if they were reversed, it gives a sense that the plane was upside down. there are many signs. >> and the human remains, terrible pictures we have seen. what role do the remains play in the investigation. as lisa mentioned there's a need to bring the remains back to the family. they have to balance it out. they can be helpful to investigators. once you have got the seating chart worked out and you know

who everyone is sitting in the seats, you have a field, and this is a grizzly way to describe it, a field through which the violent spreads, where the shrapnel is, and burns are. all of that across the body. how violent it was. there are signs like spoke in the lungs, telling you whether someone is alive when there was a fire in the cabin. they are looking for as quickly as they can before getting the information. >> we talk about the black box, and recorders, primary sources of information. in this crash is it the case. >> typically you look at a recorder for signs of an accidental failure of a plane. we are worried about a mechanical failure. it doesn't seem to have been a mechanical fairly, but an act of violence. it's rare that a plane would have information to detect

incoming missiles. therewill be nothing, and the effects would probably be so catastrophic, that it's unlike the voice cockpit recorder will record much after the impact. >> it's vital. but the fuselage will tell the story. >> we want to go to steven fish. a professor of politics at u.c. berkeley. so, professor, who controls eastern ukraine right now? >> well, right now east ukraine is a patchwork, and different groups control different parts of it. the parts of east ukraine that matter, and the parts of east ukraine from which this missile was launched are controlled for the most part by russian government-backed so-called pro-russian rebels, the people who fired the missiles or control the area. >> you say so-called pro-russian

rebels, what are you getting at? >> they are not acting necessarily on behalf of the government under russian government command on a day-to-day basis. they are backed by russia, but actions are not entirely controlled by the government. for example, the russian government didn't want the incident, it did not want rebels to fire missiles to shoot down a commercial airliner, this is a public disaster for russia. for na matter, the ukrainian government would have no motivation. >> vladimir putin blames kiev for this attack. saying it launched attacks on eastern ukraine a couple of weeks ago and kiev is responsible for it. what do you say to them? >> that's lude chris. vladimir putin is spol. this is what happens when a -- responsible. this is what happens when a

great power backs rebels in a neighbouring country, that it supports, and gives them weapon systems that they don't know how to use. i'm convinced or my hunch is that this was a mistake. i cannot see that the pro-russian rebels and east ukraine wanted to down a commercial airliner, but the missile was probably fired by someone who did not have the intelligence on the ground or the ability to use the system allowing him to discern a commercial aircraft like this from a ukranian transport aircraft, which is probably what they were trying to shoot down. what we see is a dangerous game. we see the consequences of the president and government of a major power transferring that weaponry for use in a local battle, to rebels who don't know how to use. weapons that can be used. >> what does it mean for vladimir putin, for russia,

regarding its relationship with neighbour neighbours, countries that have got along with in the past. what does it inteen internationally? -- mean internationally? >> good question. i think it's a disaster. vladimir putin tore up the rules on a post-war norm - that big powers don't invade neighbouring countries. they did it with ukraine. this takes it a step further and involves a great power involving weaponry to rebel forces used in this way against a commercial airliner. this means that the international community will notice more the danger policy. i suspect in 100 different ways

the world will pull away from russia. tourists. i think russia's reputation in the world will suffer greatly from this. the question is whether vladimir putin will care enough to back off, or will push forward despite the international reputational losses that he's suffering. >> we are getting more european stories on this. >> the airliner was travelling from amsterdam to kuala lumpur, and for the second time malaysia airlines is facing anger and demands answers from the victims of families. florence louie has more. >> the malaysian prime minister, in his second statement, on the clash of mh17 used strong words to describe the incident. he called it an inhumane irresponsible act. he said malaysia is not interested in assigning blame,

but wants to condemn the violent senseless acting saying the country's flags will be flying at half mast as a sign of warning for those on board the flight mh17. the transport minister had to field tough questions about why malaysian airlines was flying, despite the fact that some aviation bodies deemed it risky and advised airlines to not fly the path. malaysian governments responded by saying it wasn't approved flight paths and other airlines, 15 out of 16 countries were using that route. we have to look at the impact on malaysian airlines, the national carrier of malaysia, this is the second major aviation disaster for the aircraft following the disappearance of mh370 in march.

we have been learning about the passengers on the flight. the boeing 777 had been carrying 298 people. jonathan betz is here with some of their stories. >> 300 people were on the flight from at least a dozen countries. most were from netherlands - nearly 200 passengers. including age researchers, a nun and families on vacation. >> reporter: the time moments before flight 17 took off. a passenger posted a video online and wrote he was nervous. no one could have expected what followed. across the globe candles flickered and memorials grew as we put faces to the 298 people suddenly lost. among the stories, dr s roger and jim gharde, an australian couple returning home from a conference. >> we love you, and will miss

you so much. they wanted to see their granddaughter walking when they came home. >> reporter: most of the pagers were dutch, including a 25-year-old student and rower at indiana university. >> she was so positive and willing and hardworking. >> the only american was quinn - a citizen of the netherlands and america. travelling to meet family in kuala lumpur. the president spoke about him. >> quinn lucas shonman was killed. our thoughts are with his family for the loss. >> at the united nations, a moment of silence for glen thomas, a spokesman. he was among many head toing an aids conference in australia. including a globally recognised activist working to bring h.i.v. treatment to the developing world. >> what if the cure or aides was on the plane. really, we don't know.

there's prominent researchers that have been doing this for a long time. >> reporter: there's the families on vacation, like this woman visiting her mother, and the grandfather taking three grandchildren home. they said goodbye to their parents at the airport and were heading home to australia to begin school. for one australian family double heart ache. they lost family on two different malaysian airlines flights. ms mann's brother and sister-in-law for an flight 17. yesterday she lost a step daughter and stepson. and the ones that narrowly avoided death, changing flights at the last minute. >> we were supposed to be on the flight. obviously, you know, something was watching over us saying, "no," don't get on the flight.

they didn't board. 298 others did. across the globe families are torn apart, facing a senseless sorrow. >> 80 children were among the dead, an indication of how many families were on the flight. >> jonathan, thank you. >> coming up, who gave the order to shoot down flight 17, and more on the mysterious pro-russian rebel commander. fear in the war zone, how families in gaza are dealing with the israeli invasion.

israel's ground offensive gaza entering a third day, no talk. ceasefire. tanks pushed into the territory. more than 20 tunnel entry points were found. israel's military point insists the opposition is modest. targetting the tunnels that israel says was used by the

fighters. binyamin netanyahu said he told the military to prepare for a larger operation. nick schifrin has been in gaza since before the israeli invasion began, and tonight reports on the human element. >> reporter: the violence is close, flying in above your head. there might be a grouped war, but most strikes are fired from above your head. the target is a television station opened by hamas. hit by israeli missiles three times in five minutes. other tarts are people's -- targets are people's homes. a few hours later, this family was given a 2 minute warning to evacuate the house. his home pull varized by a single strike. thanks to the warning everyone survived, but his children are

terrified. a big sister tries to cop sol her -- console her little brother to no avail. to find an accept kids try to be kids. tonight they play the game in mezan eens below their apartments. this boy doesn't like soccer, but he needed to get out of the house. for more than a week his family tried to keep him upstairs, inside, because of cop stand -- constant air strikes. when you are scared, what do you do? >> stay still, don't move. sometimes there's strikes and people are kix. >> reporter: a favourite distraction. a cannes un, a kind of middle eastern harp. it soothes him through a third war in six years.

>> i'd like to live in peace. >> and to try and live with a little security he sleeps in the hallway hoping tomorrow is more peaceful than today. israel says it is focussed on dismantling hamas's military capability and minimising casualti casualties. john hendren is in verz. >> the is -- jerusalem. ipted. >> the israeli military attack pressed forward. the stated objective is to launch a ground invasion stopping the ability of hamas to launch rockets out of gaza and tart the tup else -- targett tunnels allowing palestinians to infiltrate and sneak rocket parts and weapons across the

egyptian border and tunnels allowing leaders and weapons to be hidden underground. the israeli prime minister binyamin netanyahu had a cabinet meeting in which he was authorised to accelerate the ground campaign. the israeli military chief of staff said the campaign would accelerate, but both lowered expectations, and binyamin netanyahu said there's no guarantee that this will be 100% successful. he said they tried the other options. a ceasefire negotiate, and this is what is left over. without action, he said, the price would be high. he went on to stay that there are facts he cannot reveal to the public. so far the israeli military said they found dozens of tunnels. some could take days to exploit. army engineers need to go down inside of them. all of this contributes to how the israeli army is taking a

measured approach going into gaza. there are not israeli troops in gaza city. they have remained in the north and south of gaza, how this campaign continues is still left to be seen, but if israel does accelerate this campaign, it is conceivable we will not just see air strikes in gaza city, but possibly israeli troops there. >> in gaza the death toll is 308 since the crisis began. 73 of the dead are children. thousands have been forced from their homes. the u.n. is trying to help them. in the first person report, director of the u.n. relief foundation talks about the toll on the children. >> as we have seen for the last 10 days, the streets are empty, almost all the shops are closed, people are staying indoors. 43 schools are sheltering.

we have between 45 and 50,000 sheltering in the schools. for the population, it's terrifying. air strikes can come at any time, without warning. it's very small, 150 square meals. it's the size of alabama. there's 1.8 million peel here, and they can't leave. when we say the displaced are coming to our schools, they are moving a mile or two miles. it's not like you are in washington d.c. and sun will attack to you go to west virginia and nebraska. if you are a 6-year-old child in gaza, this is the third war. the impact is not visual. i'm not saying injured children, i'm seeing children that acts like children. it manifests in bfrl ways in - behavioural ways in the impact on the ability to learn, the coping mechanisms. it has a long-term impact in how

they develop. there has been damage to the water infrastructure, so hundreds of thousands are without running water, and damage to power infrastructure, the best of times gaza has power 50% of the time. you can imagine what it's like now. if they are far away you hear them. if they are closer then they feel them. try to avoid getting caught up in the statistics. whether or not there has been 40 children killed or 55 children or 60 children killed, whatever the number is, those are lives that will not be lived, experiences that will not be had, those that are young people that had the same right to life as anyone else. they have not been given that opportunity. i think we need to remember this is a human story. >> bob turner says nothing will change if the blockade of gaza

and not lifted. next - a new warning from the white house to moscow as there are investigations whether russia is involved. and gathering information - how the u.s. is trying to find out what happened and who is responsible.

this is al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler in new york. coming up, tragic loss - what impact the loss of flight 17 will have on international aid research. >> the commander that may tell us why the flight was shot down. and buzz aldrin 45 years after his historic moonwalk. >> president obama says the tragedy of flight 17 should be a wake up call to the world. the u.s. is convinced a russian made missile shot the civilian airliner out of the sky.

mike viqueira stopping by at the white house for that. >> the white house says it will wait for the ruts of an international -- results of an international impartiality investigation. president obama walked up to the edge of casting blame. >> reporter: his administration says it has not reached a judgment. president obama left little doubt about who he thinks is responsible. >> evidence indicates that the plane was shot done by it surface-to-air missile launched from an area controlled by russian-backed separatists inside of ukraine. >> reporter: the president laid out the evidence. are you you russian-backed separatists shot an i'm not and transport plane from ukraine. he says russia is sending arms and training, including anti-aircraft weapons to the separatists. >> we know they are heavily armed and trained and we know that that is not an kept. it is happening because of

russian support. >> warping the -- warning of misinformation, and tampering with evidence, the president called for access into ukraine. as president obama cast suspicions on the separatists and russia, officials insist they'll await a verdict from crash experts. >> our focus is to see through a thorough investigation. investigators, if given a.b.c. to all the evidence will, in the end, implicate the separatists and their sponsors, something they hope will strengthen the resolve of europeans. >> this will be a wake up call for europe and the world, that there are consequences to an escalating conflict in eastern ukraine. >> and under the category of strength nipping the resolve --

strengthening the resolve of european leaders. the president spoke to david cameron of the u.k., german chancellor angela merkel from germany, talking about the need to maintain the integrity of the crash site and sanctions, the need for unity in facing the aggression of russian president vladimir putin, and joe biden, another call with the ukranian president, petro porashenko. thank you. u.s. military satellites have been focussed on the russian and ukraine border as fighting intensified. that is helping the investigation. david shuster on how the intelligence is collected. >> reporter: according to u.s. intelligence officials, the evidence that the schett liner was -- jetliner was shot by officials came from a group of satellites orbiting above the earth. equipped to detect explosions, they recorded a mission-backed

plume by areas near the separatists, and 30 seconds later a blast was shown. imagery of equipment nearby was viewed, capable of an attack. russian-backed separatist made no secret that they possessed the buk missile system. a few weeks ago they showed one off. it's mounted on a turret, launched from an armoured vehicle with high-tech electronics. the missile is 18 feet long, guided by radar and has a range of 26 meals in distance and 36 -- 26 metres in distance and 46,000 in altitude. it travel at the speed of soup, so fast it -- sound, so fast it would not be seen coming. to bol strs the case against the separatist and russia, ukranian

intelligence released this video, showing missiles - short one of its missiles. ukranian video says it was recorded near the russian border, hours after the jet line crashed. russia denies it had anything to do with a jetliner disaster. the pentagon noted the complexity of the missile system. >> there's a strange credulity. >> reporter: there is still no clear initiative of motive. american analysts are convinced the missile operators thought they were firing at a ukranian military plane, not a civilian jetliner. russian president vladimir putin called the incident a tragedy, he and other russian officials blame the ukranian government for renewing an

offensive two weeks ago. >> i think we'll see three different types of russian response of the the first a diplomatic russian stage. the united nations security council representative blames ukraine, saying they must take full culpability because it was in ukranian air space that the disaster happens. domestically we'll see bluster. as barack obama made his press conference, there was a tweet from a united russia party d deputy sailing that president obama was lying without blushing. but, thirdly, behind closed doors, there is going to be deep worry in moscow. because if any party that it is looking into the tragedy can

convincingly point the finger at the pro-russian separatists active in eastern ukraine, that puts russia in a difficult position, indeed. hugely damaging on an international level, and it will have to make a difficult decision - does russia keep on supporting the rebels as the u.s. accuses it of doing, or does it decide that it will cut them adrift. if it doesn't cut them adrifters as the united states has hinted, there may be much more damaging sanctions down the line. >> that's rory challands reporting. if pro-russian rebels are found responsible for shooting down the plane - who gave the order. paul beban is here with more on the insurgets and their -- insurgents and their commander. >> information about the separatist group is tough to come by - who they are, where they came from and who is supporting them. it is mirky.

slowly but surely a portrait is emerging of the man in charge. >> reporter: he's mysterious and fear some seen in cam flij and pencil staff. igor is believed to be a former russian intelligence agent with a past of fighting in the shadows, a veteran of conflicts. now commanding the pro-russian rebels in ukraine. >> he has a prolific and long career as someone participating in a lot of these wars and campaigns for pan russian causes. >> strokov lived in moscow. he was known as a polite mannered man. analysts say it was a front for a more complicated character.

>> he is a colourful figure. he wrote a series of battlefield diaries from chechnya and bosnia for a far right newspaper. he's a romantic, you know, nationalistic figure. >> reporter: a little more than half an hour after malaysia airlines 777 plunged into a wheat field, links appeared on the russian social media site vk and a message reading in part "we warned them not to fly in our skies.". site belonged to igor. the post was deleted and there are questions about its authenticity. it intensified the focus on a man that many say is a ruthless undercover operative, orchestrating the unrest in ukraine and responsible for

bringing down flight 17. >> the big question is how much support are they getting from moscow. back in april he said russia hadn't given supporters a single gun or bullet. in may, something was published asked for russia's assistance. >> if international investigators confirm it was pro-russian separatists who shot down a jet liner, will there be international pressure our on vladimir putin to distance himself. >> analysts say if that is the case, that it's proven that it was a russian, vladimir putin would have to put turf between himself and the groups. the question is would they fight. they have the mann power and the weapons. the measure of control that vladimir putin has and the ambiguredy about hutch -- ambiguity about how much control

may be what he wants. several leading h.i.v. researchers were killed in the crash on flight 17, on their way to a conference in australia. courtney kealy has that part of the story. >> i'd like to call for a mment of silence in remembrance. >> reporter: world health organization confirmed the killing of glen thomas, their spokes person, killed in the sky in the plane shot out of the sky. >> it is with sadness we have to inform you that wha lost a colleague. >> thomas was one of several confirmed killed while on route to an an aides conference. social media shared reports that as many as 100 scientists, doctors, reachers and members of the h.i.v. aids community could have been on the flight. the twitters fear lit up with tributes, when encompassing the enormity of the loss saying:

the conference will go ahead. president obama paid condolences. >> in this world today, we shouldn't forget that in the midst of conflict and killing there are people like these, people focussed on what can be built, rather than what can be destroyed. >> with the community devastated. this author put into words what so many were thinking: all unlikely victims of a conflict that rages on. >> dr rachel is an h.i.v. professor and teacher of paediatrics, in melbourne, where the conference gets under way. welcome. you are in melbourne when you got the news. what has been the rehabilitation there? >> it's been a -- the reaction

there? >> it's been a sad and sombre rehabilitation. i was at the paediatric congress, and we do paediatric h.i.v. work, and as we heard more about the crash and the colleagu colleagues, everyone was reeling from the idea. >> we don't have an exact number. it has changed for the last 24 hours, but among those, the former president of international aids society - what does the doctor's loss mean to you. >> dr langer's response is significant. he, as a scientist and advocate spearheaded effort to provide h.i.v. treatment in the poorest places. in particular his research revolutionized how to prevent h.i.v. infections in babies. as a paediatrician, concerned

how to take care of children. his work changes the course of our ability to have an aids free generation of children. >> what does this mean for aides research? >> well, we are a community that is used to mourning losses. many of us are in the fight day to day was of the 33 million people who are at risk of losing their lives from h.i.v. we have lost many patients, we have lost colleagues and friends. i think that we will really be cata lied by these losses to continue to press forward and do this work that they were strong advo kates for. >> will the conference move ahead and will there be a memorial at the conference? >> it is moving ahead. there has been a number of memorial moments, in term of candle light vigils. i'm not sure whether there will be something more formal.

with every session, every piece of research being presented, it's on the minds of everyone here, that our colleagues are missing and not able to present their workers. >> you were touched by this in another way. another school student confirmed as one of the dead on this plane. >> yes. >> what was the rehabilitation to that? >> -- rehabilitation to that? >> i was saddened to hear about it. not only the loss of the colleagues of the international h.i.v. works, but a graduate student, a talented student in the department of chemistry, a talented rower. we mourned the losses of these lives. >> doctor, it's good to have you on the programme. we are sorry for your loss. thank you for talking to us. flight 17 was carrying passengersers people with no connection to the fight in

ukraine. there has been a call for a thorough investigation. phil ittner joins us from london. it's been called a wake-up call if europe. what is the rehabilitation in europe -- reaction in europe? >> this has been a day of soro, condolences. many europeans hard hit by this, the tragedy of it, finding out about the people. now they have moved their cop sen federation -- concern tration from the shock to pushing hard to get in investigators, trying to get in 30 investigators from the org mication for security cooperation. they were not allowed to get access to the site. if they did, those are not skilled crash or aviation investigators. those were observers there taking an eye, and keeping an eye on the conflict in the zone. what they are trying to do is

get police authorities, investigators in there, to secure the site, and to recover the bodies. they are trying to get the bodies back to the loved ones, and take a first good look at what caused it. >> some european countries resisted sanctions. will that change now? >> we'll have to wait and see on that. as you mentioned there. the you were peens have been reluctant. they have strong trade ties with the russian federation. there has been strong language. angela merkel, the dutch and the french saying first and foremost a ceasefire. you have to stop the conflict. we have to start talking about a resolution for this. as i mentioned investigators - they have been calling for russia to stop its support for

the separatist movement in the east of the country, there has been no hard talk about ramping up sanctions. we do know that president obama has been on the phone with david cameron here in britain, angela merkel in germany, talking about that appellanty, and the other big thing that has been happening here and what may play into that, is whether or not the europeans fogz on what -- focus op what really causes it. if russia was involved or plied the missile -- supplied the missile systems. there's a lot of anger and hard are sanctions may be the answer. >> phil ittner following. coming up new at 11:00am, our al jazeera reporter at the crash site. she's been talking to ukrainians who watched as the wreckage fell from the sky. >> those that saw the crash, and

seeing the aftermath are pretty much in shock. it's a gruesome scene on the ground. we went to one village where literally bodies were falling out of the sky. >> that's at 11 eastern, 8 pacific time. israel is pushing deeper into gaza as it begins day 3 of an offensive on the ground. it could last three weeks. they have discovered 20 tunnel entry points, targetting those used by hamas fighters. the p.m. binyamin netanyahu said he told the military to prepare for a bigger operation. nicole johnson has the latest from gaza. >> so far we have not seen signs of it being widened. it's a similar pattern as last night where we get tent selling from israel towards gaza, into the buff ever zone. the israeli soldiers and tanks positioned in gaza, within a

couple of hundred metres from the border. it reverberates across the gaza strip. we know that a lot of that shelling in areas - we know that that is hitting a lot of people's houses. palestinians at the moment will ask if israel is going after the tunnels, why are we getting a large amount of civilians injured and killed over the last 24 hours. in the last few hours we had a family of eight people in the bay han un area, killed when their house was hit by tank fire or shelling from tanks. there has been reports in other parts of gaza. two children have been killed. civilians are taking a very heavy price at the moment for this tank sheing and artillery -- shelling and

artillery fire from inside the border. an extra 8,000 people arrived at shelters over the last 24 hours since israel announced a grouped invasion. people are worried and fearful about what this will mean. will it turn into a situation like in the 2008 conflict, where we saw the troops moving deeper and deeper into gaza, or will they stay in the border area. it doesn't sound as though they will stay there, so it looks as they things could get worse before getting better. >> new developments in the international element to prevent iran developing nuclear weapons. the u.s. agreed to extend negotiations for four months. talks were to end on sunday. the secretary of state john kerry says enough progress has been made to continue the talks until november. in exchange, iran is getting

another $2.8 billion in economic sanctions relief. next. our photo of the day. and walking on the moon. our conversation with buzz aldrin about the first moon mission 45 years ago.

after much of the year talking about the weather being in drought, we are watching extreme whether in oregon and washington. this is the wildfire, the twin falls district. photos like this are coming in, plus devastating destructive photos from washington state - specifically from taros washington. as we look at the satellite, what it shows is we look into the states. it's mainly dry conditions, if we look closely we see the plume of smoke coming as the winds come out of the north-north

west. it's pushing smoke to areas where people are having problems breathing and there's poor air quality in several areas, continuing into tomorrow. temperatures in the triple dim its here and in parts of washington state. add in wind guts, 40-50 miles per hour, today and tomorrow. difficult firefighting weather. a number of fires are burning across the two states. we total the amount of acreage of fires burning to acres in the states, we have half of washington state in a wildfire and over half of oregon state burning. al jazeera news continues.

sunday is the 4th anniversary of the first moon landing. while people watched it live, astronauts neil armstrong and buzz aldrin was working. >> we must be the only people around without tv coverage. >> the two men gathered rocks and conducted experiments. buzz aldrin talked to me about the journey, the mission, and how it was unique. >> i wouldn't know how to compare it with something else. it's been a very eventful 45 years. so i have been really doing that as best i can, and recently since i sort of switched from

unique orbits, earth and moon to you meek orbits earth and mars, and evolve the system that is the transportation system, we have to build up to that. >> you see the future of the sprays programme or programmes as mars, as landing on mars. >> tloouty. >> we have smart people in human supposing. we have smart people. i have been a proud purpose in one country, being able to do things. all nations should participate in that. people have to realise if they want to maintain greatness that we did in the '60s, they have to recognise that it is going to take more than half a per cent

of our budget, as much as we are in debt. and if we want to lose our greatness that we established, people supporting neil, mike and i to help point out this greatness, we want to do that, we have to pay the price. >> we'll watch and see whether the united states is willing to do that. dr aldrin, good to see you. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> a view from space. a freeze frame from an artist. a 38-year-old artist from tokyo launched this buicka into space -- bouquet into space and created a device to launch it into the stratosphere. this is the view in space. "america tonight" is next.

the news, go deeper and get more perspectives on every issue. al jazeera america. >> president obama said the do downing of a passenger plane over ukraine is a wake-up call for europe and the world. while he supports israel's ground support in gaza he advocates a return to the u.s.-brokered peace talks. word crisis zone is this "inside story." >> hello, i'm libby casey.