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tv   News  Al Jazeera  July 20, 2014 1:00am-1:31am EDT

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see you next time. >> pass pass israeli helicopters fire rockets into gaza - an assault from the ground and air in its fourth day. more than 300 palestinians are dead, and four israeli soldiers. in is jazz rrz live from dough -- al jazeera, live from doha. also ahead bodies are removed from the malaysia airlines jet 48 hours after it was shot down
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over eastern ukraine. plus... >> they stopped us on our way out, took my id and found out i was a christian, they took my money. robbed and ordered to leave. christians in iraq fighting for an islamic state. gaza was bombarded throughout the night by a heavy bombardment of tank shells. residents were trapped east of gaza city. nicole johnson is in gaza and witnessed the shelling throughout the night. >> reporter: the eastern part of gaza was hit hard on saturday night. it was the heaviest tank shelling since israel started
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its ground operation. flares hit up the sky. tank shells slammed into people's homes. >> white, white. we can hear shells and rockets falling on the streets and homes. they are walling everywhere. we had no electricity, everything has been cut off. >> for a few hours ambulance vehicles couldn't reach some neighbourhoods. the attack was so intense, it wasn't safe to go there. trrgets the red cross can't rasp the area, it's too dangerous. people are stuck at home. some fled to u.n. schools in safer areas. we are stuck of the the streets are empty. all you hear is shelling. we are living in fear, terrified. there are 18 of us in one room. it's my whole family, we are stuck, and the kids are crying.
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>> after a while emergency crews started to reach the area, which had been heavily shelled. >> among the dead, two children, a woman and a son of a senior hamas leader. >> translation: there's random shling and no communication with israeli forces. no medical personnel can evacuate the injured. >> reporter: it was a long and difficult night in gaza, in daylight the tank shelling is going on. people will hope for a break, long enough to pull out anyone injured or killed. well, let's find out if there has been a break in the shelling and speak to stefanie dekker, joining us live from gaza. tell us what the situation is this morning. >> well, it doesn't sound like there has been a break in the shelling. we can hear it, it's closer than it has been yesterday and
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overnight. we were driving up to the office. there's a steady stream of people, hundreds walking into gaza city. families carrying their children. there's a few cars packed with people. most of them on foot coming from one of the eastern neighbourhoods that has been heavily attacked overnight. they couldn't get out at night. ambulances couldn't reach there. i'm not sure if you can hear that. that's the tank shelling that is relentless. there's a haze that hides the horror that is going on for civilians here, and they tell you they have nowhere to go. one man screaming saying where are we supposed to go, they are left holding what they have. i can still see them - you can't see it from here. they are still coming. this is hundreds of people. one man told us the neighbourhood is empty, everyone left once it was less in intensity. an absolutely horrendous story
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from the people. 18 bodies arrived at the hospital this morning. that number is expected to rise now that the balances can come in. we are hearing them coming down the road from the eastern neighbourhoods. >> that is exactly my question. we understand that ambulances have not been able to get to certain parts of the east of the city. so are you expecting - hearing that the death toll is going to be higher than what you know, now that it's morning, and ambulances are able to get to some parts. >> it sounds like it. i can't tell. from the stories we are hearing, the shelling is relentless. it was every five seconds. you would hear the shelling happening. so, you know, that is relentless. that means there's casualties, as you know it's densely
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populated. of course, there'll be more, and then people will tell you they were trying to call the red crescent. no one was answering. that shows you how helpless and alone people feel in this. it's psychological. i can tell you we were in the west towards the coast. f-16s, a roar getting into your head, it's something that is psychological. you know that you can hear the booms from the artillery shells, which are still - there you go, it's constant. people streaming out, desperate. not knowing how this would play out. that's the worse fear that people have had here, and to put it time an tarianly, there's a water and humanitarian crisis.
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most don't have access to water because of the situation, it's desperate, it's - humanitarianly it is desperate and israel is launching a campaign against hamas and the militants. the stories we here, the people and stories we are hearing. a night of horror and terror from what we are hearing. they are still coming out. we can hear the sounds of the sirens of the ambulances. and the shelling that you refer to. let me ask you about the response from hamas to this shelling by israel. >> hamas kept the same message all along. they say they are strong. they'll fight for dignity, a fight that's been imposed on them. and they have not shown the
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israelis what they are capable of. we have shown that they have shown that they are the strongest they have proven in the past. there are casualties on the israeli side. we heard higher numbers, it's hard to confirm on this side, there are intense firefights going on between the fighters here and the israeli soldiers. hamas - this is a propaganda, they want to show you a strong front. that is what we are seeing. they have the element of surprise with the underground tunnel systems. it's a city under the ground. there is that element that the israelis, in terms of intelligence are secure about. we are seeing death on the side of israeli soldiers, they have weapons capabilities.
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in terms of balance, military mite, we know that israel is stronger and they are giving them a fight back, they have the element of secrecy. no one knows how the tunnel system works. it's difficult to access. it's very, very underground and secretive. that is proving to be working for them. >> we'll leave it for now. stefanie dekker reporting from gaza, talking about the dire humanitarian situation. we spoke to a nor weegon doctor working at the shiffa hospital in gaza, here is what he has to say. >> right now we are operating on amputation injuries, and shrapnels that the israelis are shelling against the local
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areas. these may cause internal bleedings, and other life-threatening situations. and it's very durk to see the large -- disturbing to see the large numbers of civilians and the children. what is remarkable with the palestinians in gaza is the resill gens. they don't give up. they stand tall. i'm amazed to see the calm in the community and among the staff. today i think it's three medical doctors who had the homes shat ared which is -- shattered by israeli attacks. the psychological effect is the more they bomb, the more they are convinced and determinate that they will not give up. they will not yield to the pressure. they stand tall and say calmly that they are used to this. we will help our people. i think despite the fact that
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they are exhausted by the palpable determination and coherence among the palestinians, really, what they are talking about is that, you know, how can the world accept this israelis terrorism targetting mostly civilians in an area which is completely shut off. nobody can... there are no shelters, no early warning systems. the population is completely naked towards a strong israeli military machine. >> hamas has released have youedio of what -- video of what they claim are weapons. the video shows what looks like israeli assault rifles. two palestinians described as israeli soldiers entered and killed two others. israel's military says the
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objective to launch a ground offensive is to destroy the tunnel. others say israel could destroy the tunnels without fighting in civilian areas of gaza. >> the entrances to the tunnels are close to the border of most of the built of hup areas are down -- built-up areas are towards the west and the south. israel could eliminate most of the tunnels without getting involved in heavy fighting inside the built-up areas. israeli army, and the israeli political leadership are intent on trying to minimise actually the terrible cost and casualties of civilian population. and once the israeli army penetrates into the built-up areas, then the probability of civilian casualties would
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probably rise very quickly. >> cassar has received palestinian demands for a truce with israel. palestinian factions, including hamas, say there must be an immediate ceasefire from both sides. israel must commit to lifting the land and see. rehabilitation must be put into place to rebuild gaza, palestinians are demanding an end to brothers's keeper, launched to find three missing settlers which have been found dead. and calls for an end to israel's military detention policy. nisreen el-shamayleh joins us from jerusalem. we understand that there are reports that the palestinian authority will be meeting with the hamas political bureau chief in qatar on sunday. how much consensus is there between the two sides on the palestinian initiative put
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forward by hamas. >> . >> reporter: right now what we do no is qatar is due to host a meeting between ban ki-moon, the u.n. secretary-general and palestinian mahmoud abbas, in doha on sunday to discuss efforts to reach a ceasefire. as well they'll be visiting the east region. an accuracy fire is becoming diff and complicated to achieve. you have the unity government on one hand, the palestinian unit government - it is not - it is gustily clear that hamas and fatter are at odds, not saying that publicly. qatar trying to act as a channel between hamas and the international community, presenting the request of hamas in a possible ceasefire, and you have a complicated situation between hamas and egypt, who
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share a border, a deepening risk, which only got deeper after a ceasefire was rejected by egypt last week. now you need international players, regional players, such as qatar and the u.n. secretary-general to try to bridge the gap and reach a middle ground between gaza and egypt who share a border. egypt is essential in any ceasefire agreement, because it shares the border with hamas and has control over the rafa crossing, and hamas is saying it will not accept anything less than the crossing with egypt, so that people will be able to get out. we know that mahmoud abbas is going to meech hamas's split -- meet hamas's political leader in doha following his political meeting with ban ki-moon on sunday in accord to discuss the
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efforts to reach a ceasefire. >> the initiatives put forward by hamas has been passed on through israel, via the united states. are the israelis saying anything about receiving documents and how are the talks going on in qatar, going down with the israelis? >> well, i can tell new the last couple of days we have not heard anything from any officials or in the media about talks around a ceasefire. what we are hearing is that the israelis are pressing ahead with the military operation on the ground and are expanding it. we have learnt that the qatari proposal for a ceasefire is not on the table for the israelis. that is not to say that israel will not eventually accept a ceasefire agreement sponsored and brokered by qatar. as you know, in the last 24 hours israel lost four soldiers in the gaza strip , in
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fighting with palestinian groups inside gaza on the ground. the losses are likely to accumulate as long as the operation is going on. binyamin netanyahu said it's a tall task to eliminate and destroy the under ground tunnels, and he doesn't know if they can succeed in doing that. they'll try their best. publicly they'll say they are pressing ahead with the provision. in private maybe they'll accept the ceasefire offers. if the losses of life among israeli soldiers increase, israel may try to find an exit and a way out. which may include accepting a ceasefire from any international or regional player. >> thank you. nisreen el-shamayleh reporting from jerusalem. you're with al jazeera, still to come - australians hold a memorial so far as for the
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victims of the malaysian airlines plane that was shot down in eastern ukraine. details coming up.
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this is al jazeera. here is a reminder of the top story. gaza is coming under heavy bombardment. a constant barrage of tank shells have been fired, especially at neighbourhoods east of gaza city. ambulance teams say it's too dangerous to help the injured. >> now, in eastern ukraine bodies of victims are being removed from the scene where the malaysia airlines plane was shot down on thursday. international monitors were given three hours access to the site on saturday, after boning forced away beerl -- being forced away earlier by gunmen. it is yet to find out where the jets black boxes are. it's raised concerns about the way in which bodies are being recovered. >> we observed for the first time bodies being removed and packed into body backs. typically these bags were placed on both sides of the closed
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roadway. as some of you observed some were open and exposed to the elements. we don't know why. we counselled 55 body bags and 55 marked positions of bodies. >> the dutch prime minister says russia's prime minister has one last chance to show he's willing to help rescuers. a tense phone call was described. more than half the passengers on board mh17 from from the netherlands. get more from nisreen el-shamayleh, to talk about when we think the investigators will ask on that site. >> well we are hoping that they arrive at some point today, but access has been very limited for the observers, and there has been no independent experts or investigators that have managed
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to get to the scope so far. let's go back to the poib about the bodies, we understand that most of the botties have been moved away from the site. that's understandable because they were decomposing and opened and exposed to the elements. the problem is that we do not know, and the o.s.c.e. doesn't know where the bodies have been taken. that is terrible news for the families of the victims, because clearly some of these investigators are here to help identify the bodies from dental records or whatever records or fingerprinting that they have on the records. also investigators want to get to the site. that is how they'll work out who brought down the plane, which type of missile was used and who fired it. the o.s.c.e. mentioned in that
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press conference that some of the debris has been moved. the o.s.c.e. found evidence that parts of the wreckage have been moved. that is serious taxering with what is a huge crime scene. investigators will need to get here before there's more tampering of evidence here. >> we'll have to leave it there. thanks for that update. that report from the site of that crash scene in grabova. in malaysia the union representing flight attendants say that the morale is low among crew members. 15 malaysia airlines members were on board the flight. it is the second disaster for the company after flight mh370 disappeared in march. staff are being supported by councillors. >> we have lost 21 crew members
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in a short time period. it's not something we like to see. yes, we are affected. crew members are demoralized by the essence of the tragic incident. however, they are conditioning to do what they are -- continuing to do what they are supposed to do best. a memorial service has been held in australia for the victims of the downed plane. tony abbott was one of the many leaders that attended. 2 australian nationals were -- 28 australian nationals were kld in the crash and the government called for an international inquiry. >> there has been an attack in north-eastern nigeria. there are report some have been killed. boko haram are believed to have stormed a village. there are respect ro of people escaping from other villages after boko haram issued letters threatening more attacks. the group wants to set up an
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islamic state in nigeria. >> islamic state fighters ordered christians to leave mosul and northern iraq. many christian families are live in fear of persecution. >> gormg is not his -- george is not his real name. we concealed his identity because he hopes to return to his home town of mosul. he's a christian who fled with his wife once the ultimatum was issued. >> they stopped us on the way out. took my idea and found i was a christian. they took my money. i lived and worked all my life in mosul. >> his wife said all that is there was gone. >> i begged them the money and gold i had was for my son's wedding. they told us to leave or they would take the car. >> since the fighters took control of mosul in june they
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have been marked in red and confiscated. >> this is the closest we get to mosul. the islamic state group issued a religious ruling giving christ three option, to convert to islam. pay tax or be killed. that ruling terrified many. the church is now home for tens of families. this is the priest and he fears for the worst. >> we had been targeted before. never to this extent. the group is humiliating christians. >> some muslims in mosul and other areas under the control of the islamic state became targets of discrimination. shi'ite and other minorities are being killed, kidnapped or forced to leave. sunnis that oppose the group's
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idea yoingly has been persecuted. many people are trying to cope and hiding their fears. there are others who say they prefer such over marginalization and being ruled by sectarian government. it presents an uncertain future for a country on the verge of disintegration. three al jazeera journalists spent 204 days in an e-egyptian prison, falsely accused of helping the muslim brotherhood. mohamed fadel fahmy and peter greste were gaoled for seven years, baher mohamed was given seven years but received an additional three because he had a spent bullet in his possession, which he picked up at a protest. al jazeera continues to demand the journalists be freed.
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>> consider this: the news of the day plus so much more. >> we begin with the growing controversy. >> answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> why did so many of these people choose to risk their lives? >> antonio mora, award winning and hard hitting. >> people are dying because of this policy... >> there's no status quo, just the bottom line. >> but what is the administration doing behind the scenes? >> real perspective, consider this on al jazeera america
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>> israel's invasion of gaza continues tonight. >> we have been hearing a lot of tank shelling coming from where we are, here. >> every single one of these buildings shook violently. >> for continuing coverage of the israeli / palestinian conflict, stay with al jazeera america, your global news leader. thed you are insa fletcher here how they are shaping the future of digital invasion. plus, are more millen i wills antiamerican, or just redefining patism. what it means across cultures and generations. a new study determines what is polarizing america, and it isn't red and but.