of historic places. yesterday was the 45th anniversary of the apollo 11 moon landing. all of our time for news hour. thanks for joining. i'm tony harris. >> looking ahead to an end to the fighting between israelis and palestinians, president obama wants them to look back to the ceasefire that kept the peace. secretary of state john kerry is in the region. who's got the claugh clout to ge two sides to stop fighting?

>> >> hello, i'm ray suarez. when israelis and palestinians open fire on each other, world leaders step in front of microphones. they deplore, urge, they call on the people who can make the fighting stop to do whatever's necessary to make the dying stop approximately the palestinian supporters clam the united states, because they believe washington has although influence necessary to change israeli behavior. at the same time, israel, the u.s. and others openly call for the palestinian authority and hamas's backers to push their ally to say make peace and accept the existence of israel. that's the public diplomatic work that goes on where people can see, but who really has the influence when the chilly periods of quiet give way to rockets and tanks? who can get the combatants, the parties to do anything? that's the inside story. let's begin with the events that got us here. >> it's been five days since

israel began its ground operation to destroy underground tunnel networks in gaza and stop hamas fighters from firing rockets. neither side is backing down and the conflict is getting more deadly with every passing day. [ explosion ] >> israel has a right to defend itself against rocket and tunnel attacks from hamas, and as a result of its operations, israel has already done significant damage to hamas' terrorist infrastructure in gaza. i've also said, however, this we have serious concerns about the rising number of palestinian civilian deaths and the loss of israeli lives. >> president obama's statement from the white house lawn came in reaction to the events in gaza city over the weekend. in this neighborhood, israel forces battled hamas militants. sixty palestinians and 13 israeli soldiers died in the

fighting. u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon called israel's tack an atrocious action, while the fighting raged in gaza sunday, the diplomatic push gotten in earn effort. in appearances across the sunday morning talk shows, secretary of state john kerry said it was hamas that needed to act. >> israel has every right in the world to defend itself. >> the secretary seemed on message, standing with israel and supporting its military campaign until this unguarded moment between interviews was caught on tape and aired by fox news. >> it's a hell of a pinpoint operation. it's a he will of a pinpoint operation. we've got to get over there. thank you, john, i think john we ought to go tonight. i think it's crazy to be sitting around. >> it was quickly announced kerry would head to cairo to join talks there. monday morning, president obama underlined the importance of the mission. >> i've instructed him to push for an immediate cessation of

host tilts based to the return of the november 2012 ceasefire agreement between israel and hamas in gaza. the work will not be easy. obviously, there are enormous passions involved in this, and some very difficult strategic issues involved. nevertheless, i've asked john to do everything he can to help facilitate a cessation to hostilities. we don't want to see anymore civilians killed. >> the strategic interests and enormous passions the president mentioned pulls in many nations with an interest in end be the fighting. turkey, saudi arabia and persian gulf nations are in contact directly and indirectly with both sides. over the weekend, u.n. secretary ban ki-moon was in doha, qatar, meeting the palestinian

president abass. >> when we have found is that everybody is putting differences aside and they all want to stop the palestinian bloodshed. >> qatar and its emir emerged as a mediate or with strong ties to made rigors. al sisi, the egyptian president earlier put a ceasefire on the table. hamas rejected it, israel said it was acceptable. >> gaza is an open wound. >> as diplomats continue their urgent efforts at peace in the region, secretary of state john kerry touched down monday in egypt to meet with secretary ban. >> getting the fighting and dying to stop as israelis and palestinians are locked in

conflict once again. who has the ear of the leaders on both sides? who has the resources that bring real pressure to bear away from the microphones and t.v. cameras. that's our focus on this edition of "inside story." >> joining us, a former advisor to former p.l. chairman abass. robert hunter, a former white house representative to the arab-israel peace talks and from tel aviv, israel co director of the israel palestine creative regional initiatives. dianna, let me start with you, here we are engaged in several days in back and forth fighting. what are the interests at work on the palestinian side that has for instance a spokesman saying today that they're going to keep up the fight? >> well, ray, i think it's important that we put this in its proper political context,

which is that even if hamas was not firing rockets, the situation in gaza has been dire simply because israel has imposed a siege, a blockade on the gaza strip that's been lasting for over seven years and a military occupation over the gaza strip that's lasted now for 47 years. what this means is that palestinians can't import, they can't export, they're always constant electricity shortages. they have no place to go. this is a reef gee civilian population. the various majority. more than 43% in gaza of under the age of 14. israel is bombing this refugee civilian population, and when it's not bombing them, it's also been placing a brutal blockade that every international agency that's involved in this region has declared illegal and has declared should be lifted. so this is what we're looking at now, is that we have to start getting back to basics, and allow palestinians to live in

freedom. if we don't, we're going to continue to see this type of action, because israel has said time and again that it's going to continue to invade the gaza strip and this is simply unacceptable for palestinians. >> you've given us a list of the on going grievances for people in gaza, but certainly, it's not fixing all those things that's on the table before the fighting stops. what are the necessary preconditions? what are the people persisting in the fight holding out for in order to approve a ceasefire? >> >> they've called for some very basic things to be implemented. first, they've called for a lifting of the blockade, something that was agreed to in 2012 by the israelis and broken three weeks later. they've called for the opening of the crossing so people can get in and out and goods can get in and out and called for the

release of prisoners who israel has rearrested who should not have been rearrested, following its invasion in the west bank. it's very simple what they're asking for, very simple basic humanitarian issues people are asking for, the fact is that israel continues to insist on impose ago brutal blockade over that area. >> for all of you watching at home on television, my guests every day on this program are very thoughtful people, but it's not just their thoughtfulness that's making them pause a long time before they answer the questions. there's a long satellite delay for the signals to make it up to space and then back down to ramallah and tel aviv. dan, let me continue with you. after hearing the necessary preconditions to a ceasefire for those in the palestinian side of the fight, what is israel trying to get out of this and what does it need to see before it stops

fighting? >> >> well, i think there's a clear understanding on the israel side that the situation, the feeling is that the continued barrage of missiles that have been fired at israel is something that israel cannot put up with. in addition to the fact that numerous tunnels that we've just seen in the past three days, several attacks from tunnels that start in gaza and end up underneath the fence between gaza and israel that has been used by hamas fighters to attack israeli civilian targets, those were things that have to cease. as i think you pointed out, when the initial egyptian proposal, which was first ceasefire and

then at later details was proposed by the egyptians, israel, i think was the first to accept it. it was rejected outright by hamas. you know, i think that obviously, it has to -- we have to see a cessation of the violence. this is on both sides. i'm not going to go into who started it, because we can go back almost a century or more than a century. obviously, as long as the parties do not go to a settlement -- to a negotiated peaceful settlement between them we are going to see a continuation, a repeat of this situation time and time and time again. >> ambassador hunter, you just heard people from the two communities laying out what they see as necessary to stop the fighting. i'm wondering if those are to a

degree right now, today, mutually irreconcilable. >> i think this is going to stop when each side figures out its made its point. the israelis probably won't stop until they've destroyed most or all of the tunnels that ever been getting from gaza into israel. that's what they say they were on about and also to try to tamp down the rockets coming to israel. i think the hamas people, the people in gaza are going to want to get a little something that will give them relief interns of some opening to israel for goods and services to flow, and perhaps also with a guard to egypt. we're getting very close to the point where both sides are going to say we made our point and that's the point in which outsiders, man man from the u.n. and secretary of state john kerry from the united states can

then enable the two sides to call it off. >> we're going to take a short break. when we come back, we'll talk about who's involved outside israel and the palestinian territories, whether or not what they have to say carries much weight in this on going conflict between to peoples. this is "inside story." stay with us.

>> welcome back to "inside story" on aljazeera america.

i'm ray suarez. over the weekend, the loss of life spiked among israelis and palestinians, the hamas led government in gaza said more than 500 palestinians ever died with the deaths of four more israel soldiers, losses stand at 25, the largest loss of military life in years. spokesman for both sides promise to carry on. you were talking about both sides being close getting what they want out of this. what do the outside parties want out of this? a lot of them are involved, circling the two combatant, trying to find a formula that will make the shooting stop. why? >> why do they want it to stop? >> yeah. >> because there's always the uncertainty when something like this is going on that it will spread elsewhere, everybody making calculations and nobody quite sure who's going to come out on top. the connections between hamas

and different other elements within the arab world, much less the muslim world, the israelis always worried about their reputation in the outside world, so that everybody is calculating. we just as soon have this stop, because we're not sure we might not end up on the short end of a diplomatic process. where it is now, the key is the united states along with ban ki-moon that people will give things to the united states they might not give to others. now, both sides are also not just looking at this as we got into something, now that's going to happen, how do you build for the future? the israelis want something that's going to lead over time to the disarming to the extent you can of hamas. hamas is looking to the extent they can get it of some relief of the siege from israel. this is a tactic, this conflict

of part of a broader strategy on both sides. >> dianna, has this latest conflict created some strange lines of interest, some strange bedded--bed fellows. you've got a government in egypt no fan of gaza, you've got qatar which owns this network trying to play a peacemaker roll but not friendly at all with egypt. are there new calculations being made right now on the ground as we're talking? >> well, there's the same calculation as always, the silence of the international community. as much as people would like to believe that the united states is being aplayer in this region, it's actually become very apparent that what the united states is doing is serving as israel's lawyer. when you hear that 80% of the people who have been killed by israel over the course of the past 12 days are civilians, that

close to 100 of them are children, people who's bodies are being blown to pieces and then you hear secretary kerry say that israel has a right to defend itself. against what? against whom? it becomes very clear that what the united states is going to do is simply take israel's side once again. it's done it in the past in terms of its failure to condemn israel's settlement activity, it's done it again now with its failure to condemn war crimes committed. at the end of the day, palestinians are left as they've always been left, by themselves. there maybe different regional politics but at the end of the day, palestinians are left representing themselves. it's for this reason that i think it's important to debunk the myth of the ceasefire and call for the ceasefire. although egypt said that was going to agree to a ceasefire, it never once consulted hamas or the palestinians. this is not a way to move forward. we need diplomacy in which palestinians are heard and spoken to, not simply being

lectured at. >> if presidency assisi picks up the phone, can they just talk? >> it's not up to me to decide whether he can get him on the end. i'm not here to conjecture. hamas put forward its conditions in terms of a ceasefire. so far israel has not agreed to any of those conditions although in the past it agreed to lift the siege and failed to do so in 2012. i'm not really sure what the relations are between the two. the bigger question for me is whether israel is going to be held to account and whether holding israel to account palestinians are going to finally be able to live their lives. >> dan, you heard dianna refer to the united states as being perceived as israel's lawyer by the palestinians. do israelis think that?

>> well, i think there's no question that israeli -- is that israel and the united states of america have what everybody calls the special relationship. i think that some very fundamental mistakes were made in the last round of negotiations where the negotiations were done mainly between the american administration, between secretary kerry and the israel government and only at the end of the day presented to hamas which i think is not the right and respectable way to carry on and not the way that a mediator who wants to be considered as an objective mediator for both sides should act. i think definitely serious mistakes have been made, and i, you know, i don't know what -- i'm not sure how we can rectify

those mistakes. i do think that as dianna said, just a ceasefire for the sake of ceasefire, that is not anything that can -- that is going to be sustainable on the long run. i think that we have to think about a greater scheme, if we want to avoid another escalation in 18, 24, 36 months. >> let me break in there briefly. how do we make something more than just a pause in between fights? how can we make a situation that exists between these two entities that's more than just a pause until the next time somebody lobs rockets at somebody else, or sends tanks rumbling over a border? >> >> i think we have to think of -- speak of three things, security, economics and a

negotiated resolution between israel and palestine. security, i think that i can envision a situation whereby the israelis, the palestinians, the jordanians and egyptians create a forum for gaza, for palestine, and they come with a proposal to the arab league, that the arab league endorses and the arab league sends forces together or led by president abass. it would be my interest to see president abbas take control of all of the gaza strip together with the west bank, large incentives in order to rebuild gaza and of course negotiations between the palestinians and the israelis on a sustainable resolution to the conflict. that, when you hear various statements that have been made

by prime minister netanyahu, for example, saying that in any agreement, israel will retain full security control in all the west bang, that raises the question whether israel is at saul still in the game of a two state solution. i don't want to speculate on what it is, but it obviously begs the question of what type of sovereignty or if at all there is any sovereignty when israel retains security control over the spire west bank. i think that security, economics and a negotiated solution is what we need in order to go toward a sustainable region. that is something that will obviously remove the blockade, will open the rafa crossing. we'll have to see release of ham hamas prisoners. >> we have to take a short break. we've got to go to a commercial.

we'll come back and talking getting this wrapped up, what the other powers involved in these negotiations can and can't do. this is "inside story." stay with us.

>> you're watching "inside story" on aljazeera america. i'm ray suarez. the united states says it's trying to stop the fighting. egypt's new government is getting involved, the emir of qatar wimp owns aljazeera is trying to play a role. are they just grinding their own international axes or really trying to get these two people to make a durable peace? >> the only country i can answer for although i'm not the government is the united states. we want to see this stopped. we want to see a process that will enable israel and the palestinians to work out something along with a two state solution. what i would recommend in regard to gaza is what i've been

recommending for a number of years. if the united states is going to be israel's lawyer, lawyers sometimes ever to tell clients what the client may not wan wano hear. if israel wants to strengthen hamas, keep up the blockade. if it wants to take away from hamas the basic argument it has, which we, hamas are all you guys have got, then i'd stop the blockade. you can have guarantees against arms flowing, but as long as the blockade continues, hamas will be in control of gaza and israel will suffer along with palestinians. i think it's as simple as that. >> dianna, let me give you a response to respond to that. you heard dan talk about the possibility of the p.l.o. retaking some more authority in gaza. you heard ambassador hunter's idea. is this in the offing? are things moving in that

direction? >> i certainly hope so and i hope that with secretary's presence here now that he will start pushing on the vital issues, bun the lifting of the blockade and siege, the opening of rafa, relation of prisoners and freedom for palestinians to continue this process is only going to be able to continue violence for a very long period of time. this is why it's important that we get back to basics and focus on the politics, not just on the security side of things. >> you heard the ambassador say that it strengthens hamas when israel's tough on gaza. do you agree with that? quickly, before we go. >> absolutely. i think anything that increases the siege and increases the blockade will end up increasing the idea that their under siege and blockade and need to resist. there is no need for the black

cade to be in place and the world that indicated to israel that it needs to be lifted and it's time to lift it now. >> dan, we don't have much time before we have to shut it down for today, but are we close to the end of this, or do you think that there's still a long time to run in this latest conflict? quickly, please. >> well, i think there is still a bit to run. netanyahu has the israel public's support. they've been willing obviously to put up with 25 soldiers killed. i don't know how much more they are willing to, but right now, netanyahu, i think cannot stop until some serious -- >> that brings us to the end of this edition of "inside story." thanks for being with us. i'm ray suarez.

>> and lived up to a ceasefire despite repeated violations by >> in 2012 the us supreme court ruled that states could opt out of a key component of the affordable care act. the requirement to cover more poor americans through medicaid expansion. >> we're in south-central florida about 45 minutes west of orlando to meet denise wade. denise and her husband barry were living the good life-good jobs, insurance, house. they didn't realize