>> this is some of the best driving i've ever done... even though i can't see. >> techknow... >> we're here in the vortex... only on al jazeera america >> israeli air strikes in gaza, push the palestinian death toll to nearly 850. ♪ as the death toll rises pressure of a diplomatic solution grows, but in the last hour, israel rejected a ceasefire proposal. you are watching the al jazeera news hour, live from london. also coming up. displaced by fighting nearly a quarter of a million people have been forced from their homes in ukraine. thousands protest in egypt

demanding the return of president mohammed morsi. and children risking everything for a better life in the united states, only to be turned away. ♪ it's the 18th day of israeli operation in gaza, and the death toll is mounting. as air strikes continue, health officials say a total of 848 palestinians have now been killed. more than 30 buildings in gaza were hit on friday alone. the ongoing incursion is fuelling anger in the west bank where five palestinians have been killed in protests. all of this amid reports that a ceasefire put forward by john kerry has been rejected by israel's cabinet. we are in gaza city and in

jerusalem, where james bayes has been monitoring the efforts to try to broker a ceasefire. what do we know about israel east reasons for projecting this proposal. >> well, my understanding, and let me first source this, it's to all of the three israeli television networks. they are all reporting that it cannot accept the proposal in its current form. they haven't finished their meetings for this evening, though, apparently they will be meeting again to decide their next steps at this time. i'm told from the reports that they are getting that they felt that the current john kerry proposal was more favorable and matched what hamas wanted more than what israel wanted. we'll here how john kerry, the u.s. secretary of state, and the un secretary general ban ki-moon respond to this at some point soon with a news conference. the news conference was expected to start about now. my sources telling me, though,

because of these developments there is now another meeting taking place between john kerry, ban ki-moon and the egyptian foreign minister discussing what they are going to do next. and i expect what they are going to say when greeted by the world's press. this there is a bit that we don't know, and that is how hamas has responded to the offer john kerry made. that bit is not clear to us, and that's why it will be very, very important to watch this news conference it takes place. >> the meetings are still going on james, just take us through some of the obstacles, the challenges with these talks. >> the challenges are that you are dealing with these two sides, both who want to get something out of this. they don't want to go back to where they were 18 days ago, and i think this is the problem. on the israeli's side, they want guarantees that hamas will be

demilitaryized, that the rockets will no longer be able to be fired from gaza into israel. from hamas they say they didn't go back to where they were. the siege of gaza has to be lifted, and the other problem with all of this is the way it has had to be done. in the past, egypt was the broker between both sides. that can't happen anymore, because hamas don't trust the new egyptian goes. so you have had other players involved. you have had doha being a very important location, as well as cairo. there today in the last few hours, we have seen turkish foreign minister fly in with the qatar foreign minister, and they have been meeting with hamas. worth telling you is the fact that we have learned from the state department in washington that john kerry has been in

cairo for well over 24 hours. yesterday he made 25 calls on this, and today he has made 13 calls. he has been working the phones. they have really been trying. they had ban ki-moon, and john kerry set a sort of deadline a few hours ago, saying we're going to have a news conference and then we're flying back to the us. but it's pretty clear already from israeli media that israel has rejected the ceasefire deal. >> now let's head to steph decker who is live for us in sgau -- gaza. and the mounting civilian death toll really calls for a trust. meanwhile it has been another day of bombardment in the strip. >> it has, and just in the last

hour, just when it started was when the people here break their ramadan fast, eight people killed just in the last hour, hour and a half or so, ranging from the ranges in the area close to the border. just over 50 people today alone. so as you say, yes, this is a death toll that is majority civilian. that keeps changing. and what does that mean? it means it keeps rising, and so many horrific experiences we have been hearing, and it doesn't change. and it's a lot of children. we see yesterday the un school was hit, israel says it was a rocket fired from the groups here, but the feeling from the people there was it was shelling, a lot of chirp. and this is what we see all the time when we go to the aftermath

of the strikes. hamas keeps its numbers quite secret, we think around 200 or more, but the rest are civilians, so yes, a ceasefire is absolutely necessary. but as the people will tell you, they want to get something out of it, and that's the lifting of the siege. and that's something that hamas has been very clear to stress that there won't be a ceasefire until they know they can improve the conditions here in the gaza strip. and one the egyptian proposal, the initiative was put on the table, the death toll was near 800, it is rising all the time, so it shows you how crucial some kind of agreement and real commitment from all sides is to stop the killing here. >> a grim milestone passed today with that civilian death toll. thanks very much, steph decker in gaza for us. meanwhile the heard of hezbollah

has condemned the ongoing israeli offensive. >> translator: they know that they can't end the palestinian people, but we're facing a long-term policy aimed at annihilating the palestinian people. their plan is to end the palestinian cause. >> reporter: the israeli army has just announced the death of another one of his soldiers bringing the number to 39 killed in this the offensive since july 8th. also on friday, people in tel aviv were forced to run for cover after rockets were fired from gaza. the city's largest airport was also evacuated after hamas said it fired three rockets in its direction. many israelis say prime minister benjamin netenyahu must stay the course, but there are decents courses.

>> war can end in a week or two, but the problems will stay forever, and i don't see a real solution to the problem unless we canment come to a negotiation with the people. and that probably will take a long, long time. we all support it, i believe, and we should finish what we started. >> i think we're paying now the price of ignoring and being [ inaudible ] towards the palestinians. we have to understand that it's impossible -- we cannot halt around million peoples under siege. >> we're joined now, and it looks like the israeli security cabinet might have rejected the latest proposal for ceasefire. what now? >> we'll probably hear from secretary kerry about this. i'm sure they will go at it

again. it just sounded like if israeli accepted it right there and then, it just sounds so desperate. the minister part of netenyahu's government have even been talking about ceasefire unilaterally by israel. so much talk about ceasefire in israel, and so much rejection by hamas unless the siege is lifted is making israel look quite desperate. on the other hand i think it wants to finish its bombing in the next ten days, and it has said so. so it's not really rushing to finish in the next two or three days, that will give it more space. >> what about hamas, how important is it for them, for their level of public support to get some sort of ceasefire, whether it comes now or later that changes living conditions for gazans, that brings this siege to an end? the >> if you take a balance sheet

of the situation as it stands today, hamas can still hurt israel in so many ways. already by the way the imf said that israel has lost $5.5 billion already because of the conflict. while israel's has basically has rount -- run out of things to baum. gaza is one big prison camp. they bombed the sewage, the water, the electric supplies and then what? so israel isment coming to a point where it needs to put this behind it because it is losing. strategically hamas has won. tactically israel might have beat hamas, and that puts israel in a strange position. >> that they could still hold out on lifting the siege? >> and this is anying -- exactly where the negotiations over

ceasefire are. hamas says we don't trust you. we don't trust your friends, the americans, french, and british, and egyptians. we need guarantees that once we stop the fighting, that the siege is going to be lifted. without specific deadlines, we're not going to go for it. you know why? because we can still exact compromises from you. we can still shake you down. you are still under siege as much as we are under siege. >> even if it's through that psychological fear. >> exactly. >> of rocket attacks. and you mentioned hamas' lack of trust for israeli's western allies and the post morsi regime in egypt, how much of a factor is that in the fighting continuing? >> this is really important,

because this helps us explain retroactively where we're here now in terms of dead locked attempts at ceasefire. for a few days what we have had is a ceasefire initiative without any consultation with hamas or the palestinians. now it has been clear everyone to, and this is very important, everyone is moving to get a ceasefire in place, not because they are [ inaudible ] with the palestinians, because they are worried that the palestinians are winning the psychological war fair, the strategic war fair. even if they are suffering hugely on the ground, israel is losing. because when you are the strong party and the conflict takes on for a long time, you become the weak party. now as long as we continue with this fight, israel is going to be on the losing end.

hamas is winning on the ground. >> thank you. >> thank you. rallies have been take place across the world in support of the palestinians. this is tehran where tens of thousands of iranians join the jerusalem day. it was started in 1979. neighboring iraq people there have also been commemorating. protesters carried palestinian flags. in german, 1200 palestinian protesters there took to the streets. about 300 israeli supporters held a counter demonstration. and about 200 people gathered in central london. they marched to the u.s. embassy. phil has more. >> reporter: this demonstration

takes place every year. it takes place on the final friday during the holy month of ramadan. the idea behind it is to show solidarity and support for those people in the occupied west bank. normally the numbers are much lower. this is a friday, a working day here, but because of the heightened situation in the gaza strip, there are more people. bus loads of people have been pulling up, lots and lots of people here came to make their point. and this is not just a demonstration that is taking place in london. there are similar demonstrations taking place in other parts of the world. in north america there are 19 demonstrations taking place in north america alone. a big one taking place in new york. it's not a demonstration against israel, but a demonstration against the tactics used by israel against the people in the gaza strip. a news conference is expected out of cairo, where

talks have been held, we'll bring that to you if and when it gets underway. we'll have more from gaza a little bit later this news hour. including an israeli air strike on a family home. also ahead the children's boot camp that is putting china's young children through their paces. coming up in sport, find out who has made the latest move in the race for the formula one title. ♪ the conflict this eastern ukraine has forced nearly a quarter of a million people to flee from their homes so far this year. that's according to the un's refugee agency. and as the civilian death toll continues to rise, a human rights watch reports has advised to stop using rockets in civilian populations.

but as reported, fighting between ukraine's army and separatists rebels continues in donetsk. >> reporter: in donetsk, the shelling continues. the smoke is rising close to apartment blocks built in the soviet era, but many are empty. emergency workers here estimate more than half of the city's population has gone. that's almost 600,000 people. and this is why they are leaving. a shell landed next to this school. it was empty because of the holidays. like many year, it's caretaker says she can't understand why ukraine is at war. >> translator: we really are in shock. ukrainians and russians lived and worked together peacefully. we didn't even think about our nationalities, now we're just thinking about how to survive. >> reporter: more civilians are dying than soldiers. hundreds of people have been killed and thousands injured.

now human rights watch is accusing ukrainian forces of firing rockets on people's homes. the elderly couple that live here were watching television when the rocket hit their apartment. you can see the gaping hole in their roof top. both sides are denying using grad rockets on populated areas. they are renown for being inaccurate. that's because they are unguided and often fired from multi-barrel launches covering a wide area. ukraine insists it is not using grad missile systems around bone donetsk. >> translator: the grads that our military possesses haven't arrived yet, and they are not within range of the areas mentioned in the report. as of now our units would [ inaudible ] but it's the terrorists grads that are

bombing donetsk. >> reporter: but human rights watch says kiev must take responsibility. >> instead of denying this, i think it would be wise for the ukrainian government to commit to immediately stop using these kinds of rockets in populated areas. they are going to kill and injure civilians. >> reporter: ukrainian forces are pushing further into donetsk. and separatists pro-russian fighters are preparing to defend this city, whatever the costs. well the dutch are sending 40 of their military police to ukraine to help search for the victims of the malaysia airways crash, and considering sending armed team to protect the investigators. >> reporter: the con tin genth of special police forces being flown in to ukraine on thursday night will not be carrying the

weapons they use while on duty here in the netherlands. their job is to guard the borders and national aspects of their country. the first phase of their mission this time will a purely humanitarian role to aid in the task of finding the body parts of victims that still lay where they fell a week ago. they were debating with the dutch prime minister whether to launch a second mission which would send in armed teams to protest investigators collecting evidence from the wreckage. >> translator: at this moment, both parties are not fighting. we're not sure that that means that there is a ceasefire, and that has been the case since monday. the ukrainian army is promising

a ceasefire in a forced area around the crash site, while 10 kilometers is agreed at this moment. >> reporter: there are reports that all leave has been canceled for the soldiers because of the operation that could be launched. public opinion in the netherlands might be behind such a move, but many analysts are sounding a note of caution. >> i think it's a very risky operation indeed, but at the same time, i think there are some assurances, which have been secured by the dutch government from the osce on the ground and maybe even from some separatists a leaders. >> reporter: as more bodies arrive each day at the military base, the latest flights carrying more than 100 victims, grief is being replaced by anger

here. demands for justice, and a demand that no one should be left behind on the bat field -- battlefields in ukraine. joining us now is ukraine's foreign minister. thank you for joining us on the news hour. can i start by asking you about the human height rights watch report that has called for both sides to stop using unguided rockets in populated areas. what more could you be doing to ensure that civilians don't get caught in the cross fire? >> it's indeed our key priority, and as you know, we [ inaudible ] ceasefire for ten days. [ inaudible ] more than 100 people wounded. and it's our key priority for us not to use any weapons in the blocked area, but that's exactly the tactics the terrorists have

been following. putting tanks, reaching across the border with russia, and grenades. >> can i ask you about what human rights says about your role in all of this? because the investigation on the ground -- they say their investigation shows that the ukrainian government forces were responsible for the attacks that occurred they say between the 12th and 21st of july. i know you are talking about the activities of russia and the separatists, but do you take responsibility for the civilians that have been hurt in that time -- in this that period at least? >> in no way. i can responsibly say we never shot these rockets using our weapons. and it's exactly the practice and tactics of our military

norses which fight against the terrorists and not against the people of [ inaudible ] against ukrainian citizens. they fight against russian-backed terrorists, and the leaders of these terrorists, russians with link to the russian security service. >> your so-called anti-terrorist operation, is having little effect in dislodging the rebels. i know you have made some advances into their territory, but they are still there. they are still fighting back. you lost another two jet liners on wednesday. is this war winnable? >> it's not just about fighting. what they have been doing, they have been trying to distract any sort of critical infrastructure. water pipelines, gas pipelines, electricity nets.

and if you arable [ inaudible ] call yourself a separatists, you want to live on your land, and they have been trying to disrupt everything on this land -- >> but what are you doing to try to reach political -- what are you doing to try to bring that fighting to an end? are you talking to the russians? >> absolutely. it's -- it's -- it's because we have it clear peaceful plan. the peaceful plan by the ukrainian president poroshenko, where we have a free clear dimension. we have humanitarian dimension, and a number of pleasures for deescalation of the situation, and we have a political outreach, because we proposed local elections, we proposed to support the local leaders, responsible local leaders -- >> just very briefly, will -- can you bring this fighting to an end before elections take place?

>> absolutely. it's our -- it's our preference and our key priorities to have political settlement here. to talk to the people of donetsk, so have local elections and have effective parliamentary elections. >> all right. >> and of course their [ inaudible ]. >> thank you for joining us today, foreign minister of ukraine. still ahead for you, we'll have all of the latest from iraq. including christian cries for help from what they say is persecution. also stopped and returned we'll meet the central america child immigrant who's journey has ended where it started. and the battle is on at the commonwealth games. ♪ r

♪ >> on al jazeera america presents >> we always have strikes... people should never be allowed... >> what started as a peaceful protest >> police seem to stick to the self-defense story >> became a horrific moment in south african history >> i don't think any organization in this country

would ever anticipate this type of violence >> what really happened that tragic day? >> it is the time to point finger at those whose fingers pulled the trigger >> al jazeera america presents miners shot down only on al jazeera america >> 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. ♪ welcome back. you are watching the al jazeera news hour live from london.

a proposal for a ceasefire in gaza put fort forth by john kerry has been rejected think israeli security cabinet. 862 people have been killed and 5,700 injured. 35 israeli soldiers have also been killed. and three israeli civilians have been killed by rocket and mortar attacks from gaza. israeli's bomb bandment continues and many drentresidene finding that they are running out of places to hide. >> reporter: we rushed to the site of the attack minutes after it tap -- happened. an israeli air strike on a family home in gaza city.

>> translator: at about half past 7:00 we heard air strikes nearby. we all jumped. it was a miracle we all got out and survived. we moved to another house and that was destroyed. and now this. what do they want? we are ready to die. >> reporter: family members carry one of the children to safety. adults rush to hide with neighborhoods. his father had heart surgery a year and a half ago. the force of the blast knocked some of his teeth out. there were two warning shots fired around about half an hour before the strike. there were a number injured but no one was killed. some of the families sit terrified in a nearby home, and this woman has a severely

disabled child. >> translator: where do we go now? this is my child. the thought this place was safer than the last. >> reporter: as neighbors look at the damage there is a sudden sound of a fighter jet approaching. fear is etched on their faces because there's nowhere safe to hide. >> just toing remind you we are waiting for john kerry to speak. there has been a furry of activity behind the scenes. we understand those meetings are still going on amid reports that the israeli security cabinet has rejected the latest ceasefire proposal to end the fighting in gaza. we'll bring that to you as soon as it gets underway. meanwhile reports say the islamic state group has captured a military [ inaudible ] in syria. among the dead is reportedly the

head of syrian military intelligence. in any ancient city of aleppo there has been no let up on the violence. for more than 10 months the government used barrel bombs against fighters there. and the jordanian government has shot down what it says was an intruder. witnesses say it was a drone. supporters of deposed egyptian president mohammed morsi have been protesting in several cities. they were demanding that president al-sisi will put on trial. in the northern city protesters call for the release of political prisoners. and in the province of giza

crowds demanded that mohammed morsi will returned to presidency. peter greste has launched an appeal against his conviction. he was falsely argued with working with the banned muslim brotherhood. >> reporter: the verdicts were denounced around the world. now a month on from these dramatic scenes, al jazeera correspondent peter greste says he will appeal against his conviction. his brother made the announcement at a news conference in australia. >> our family has resolved to continue to work tirelessly towards securing peter's freedom. we acknowledge the immense support offered by friends, members of the public, the media, the international community as well as politicians and diplomats. but we need to also recognize that there is still a long way to go in order to achieve our

goals. >> reporter: three correspondents were all convicted of helping the banned muslim brotherhood. all three maintain their innocents. the judge sentenced peter greste and mohammed fahmy to seven years in prison. baher mohamed was given ten years because he picked up a spent bullet casing at a protest. they have spent 209 days behind bars. >> the first full weeks after the verdict the restrictions in the prison were fairly tight. however, now i understand he gets most of the time of the day outside of his prison cell. and he has a few more extended liberties in relation to exercise and those sorts of things. so he's still finding it very confining and restrictive, but certainly they appear to be a lot more relaxed than in previous times.

>> they have also released a joint statement describing the moment the court passed sentence. journalists from around the world have protested in support of the three men. with a new team now appointed by the greste family to take the appeal to court, it is hoped they court will rule that journalism is not a crime. iraq's most influential shiite cleric has urged the political leaders not to cling to power. the prime minister has rejected

demands to resign and is seeking a third term in office. right now the iraq's government is in the islamic state. it's fighters have now destroyed an ancient mosque in the northern city of mosul. the muslim shrine is said to be the burial place of the profit jonah. it was built nearly a thousand years ago. islamic state believes shrines are her retic call. as it tries to enforce its strict incorporate across iraq they are demanding that christians become muslims. >> reporter: they want everyone to know about the misery of their fellow christians in mosul. the banners they carry say it

all. >> translator: we must live in dignity and freedom or let us die trying. >> translator: we are the people of peace and the original inhabitants of this nation. we leaved in peace with muslims for years without problems. >> reporter: this march is heading towards the un headquarters in erbil. organizers say they demand protection. 1,000 christian families have left mosul since last week. the islamic state group gave them three options, convert to islam, pay tax, or be killed. those who tried to leave were stopped, their money and belongings taken before they were set free. property was confiscated. the writing in black reads propertierty of the islamic state. leaders of various denominations

have met to discuss the latest crisis. >> translator: we are saddened, concerned and astonished -- all right. so we now have a press conference -- u.s. secretary of state john kerry getting ready to speak about the latest ceasefire efforts. he is speaking in the egyptian capital of cairo where he has been having meetings with regional leaders, and so we're going to hear a little bit more about plans to bring the fighting in gaza to an end, recent reports suggest that israeli security cabinet after meeting today unanimously rejected the u.s. plans for a truce, but we understand that john kerry had presented both sides with a proposal to end the violence in gaza, and it involved a temporary truce. that would have lasted for about a week under his proposal, but

that would have allowed israeli troops to remain in gaza. they would continue to be present in gaza to locate and destroy the hamas tunnels that they talked about until a more permanent deal was reached. >> translator: negotiation between the two parties in order to resume security, and offer all of the necessary needs for the palestinian people at which -- the situation would stop all of this ongoing. and especially the assault which the civilians are suffering. since the military uprising. we need to work alongside united states and the heard of

the arab league and froers the other party -- international parties to achieve this goal. especially the -- the time involved, especially targeting the civilians. and because all of the parties -- they are not ready or prepared. we want to try to reach a ceasefire -- ceasefire. especially in this wholly month and the arrival of aid festival for seven days, hoping this truce will get these parties to recenter themselves and for humanity, and a time to cease the fire and extend the

negotiation. and the egyptian initiative is still going on. to achieve its goal. and we have discussed in order -- trying to get parties to agree, which will lead to a ceasefire, but unfortunately, we have to make more effort to get all of the parties to agree. and the -- what you offer is the same. basically, it's the initiative where the palestinians dema demands -- on this occasion, i would like to give the word to

the foreign minister of the united states, john kerry. >> i want to start by thanking the president sisi and my counterparts on this issue for their preparedness on [ inaudible ] >> sound. sound. sound. >> there's no sound? >> no sound. >> is there sound now? >> yes, sound. >> okay. let me start again. i want to thank my counterparts and egypt for their very warm welcome here. but most importantly for their continued efforts to try to find a way to achieve a ceasefire agreement in gaza, and then

beyond that, and to be able to resolve the critical issues that are underlying the conflict. i thank him for his help today and the work we have been doing together. we think we have made some progress, and i'll talk about that in a minute. i also want to thank secretary general ban ki-moon for his travel and work tirelessly to try to bring people together as well as our league secretary general [ inaudible ] for his close participation in this effort. they have been sources of good advice, and also [ inaudible ]. so this is a brood effort with a brood base, with the sense that something needs to be done. i also want to acknowledge [ inaudible ] who has traveled to a b in of countries in recent

days, and whom i get with just the other day who expressed his strong desire to achieve a ceasefire as rapidly as possible, and he has advocated for the palestinian people and -- [ inaudible ]. let me just say that the agony of the events in gaza, the west bank, and israel, all put together simply cannot be overstated. the daily reality for too many people, the grief, loss, tears [ inaudible ] each of their [ inaudible ]. >> in israel millions of people are living under the fear of

tunnel attacks and rocket attacks. earlier this week i had a visit to the family of a young man by the name of max steinberg, one of two americans killed in this devastating conflict, and his mother who was murdered -- her son who was murdered at the outset of this crisis. any parent in the world, regardless of their background can understand the horror of losing a child, and being caught in the cross fire. in gaza, hundreds of palestinians have died over the past two weeks, including a tragic number of civilians, and we have all read the headlines and seen the images of the devastation. 16 people, and more than 200 injured, in just a single attack yesterday. women and children being wheeled away on stretchers.

[ inaudible ] shrapnel and the father nursing his 3-year-old son. the whole world is watching tragic moment after tragic moment unfold, and wondering when is everybody going to come to their senses? both the israelis and the palestinians deserve and need to lead norm alives. it's time for everyone to recognize that violence breeds violence. and in the short-term tactical gains may be made, but [ inaudible ] both parties really want. i have been in the region since monday [ inaudible ] five days understood ground here and also in israel in the west bank, engaging in countless discussions with leaders throughout the region and

throughout the world conversations that lasted through the day. we have gathered here together because we believe that it is possible for anybody to simply [ inaudible ] we need to [ inaudible ] specifically, here we have been working to try to bring [ inaudible ]. at this moment, we are working toward a brief seven days of piece. seven days of a humanitarian ceasefire in order to be able to bring people together to try to work to create a more durable, sustainable ceasefire for the long run, and to work to create the plans for that long haul. the fact is that the basic structure is built on the

egyptian initiative, but the humanitarian concept is one that egypt has agreed to embrace in an effort to try to honor, and bring people together in this moment. seven days during which the fundamental issues of concern for israel, security, security of israel and its people, and for the palestinians the ability to know that their social and economic future can be defined by possibilities and that those issues will be addressed. we believe that egypt, has made a significant offer to bring people to cairo, the factions, the palestinian factions and representatives of interested states and the state of israel, in order to begin to try to negotiate the way forward. now, why are we not announcing that that has been found yet

tonight? for a simple reason. that we still have some terminology in the context of the framework to work through. but we are confident we have a fundamental framework that can and will ultimately work. and what we need to do is to continue to work for that, and that's exactly what we're going to do. we believe that seven days will give all of the parties the opportunity to step back from the violence and focus on the underlying causes, perhaps build confidence and begin to change the choices for all. we don't have that final framework, but none of us here are stopping. we're going to continue the conversations, and right now, before i came in here tonight, i had conversations with people on both sides of this conflict, and i spoke to prime minister netenyahu who made it clear he wants to try to find a way forward. i think the secretary general

who has graciously called for a 12-hour ceasefire will speak in a moment about the possibility, and where we'll go, and prime minister internet -- netenyahu has indicated his willingness to do that. and to move forward. but in the end, the only way that this issue is going to be resolved, this conflict, is for the parties to be able to come together and work through it as people have in conflicts out there history. and it's our hope and we intend to do everything possible. tomorrow i will be in paris where i will meet with one of our counterparts -- my counterparts, and where i will also meet with other players who are important to this discussion in an effort to be able to try to see if we can narrow the gap. and prime minister netenyahu has committed to try to help do that

over the course of the next day. so we begin with at least the hope of a down payment on the ceasefire with the possibility of an extension in the course of tomorrow, and hopefully if approximate we can make progress, the people in this region, who deserve peace can find at least one step towards that illusive goal. thank you. >> thank you. secretary general. >> thank you foreign ministers. [ inaudible ] egypt, secretary of state of the united states, john kerry, [ inaudible ] ladies and gentlemen, good evening. let me begin by -- come mending all of the leaders here today. particularly president sisi of egypt, and foreign minister

shukari as the host of this initiative for have taken ceaseless efforts to bring all of the parties together, and i also comend highly the leadership tirelessly -- tireless diplomatic efforts of secretary of state john kerry, and it has been a source of inspiration to walk with all of these distinguished colleagues, and i have been always [ inaudible ] walking with legal [ inaudible ]. this is my second day in the region, visiting eight countries, 11 stops, meeting kings, presidents, prime ministers, foreign ministers over meetings, over telephones. i have been working very closely with the leaders here as well as

all of the leaders in the region. i really appreciate their kind cooperation and leadership. our joint effort is a clear signal of a global desire to end the bloodshed and destruction that is tearing apart the lives and hopes of so many innocent civilians. people have gaza have bled enough. they are trapped, and besieged in a tiny, densely populated sliver of land. every bit of it is a civilian area. the israeli people have been living under the constant fear of hamas rocket attacks. [ inaudible ] are spreading farther, we are seeing growing unrest in the west bank. surely now, the parties must realize that it is time for them to act. and solutions must be based on

three important issues. first, stop the fighting. we have called for a seven-day humanitarian ceasefire extending over the period, beginning with a [ inaudible ]. second, start talking. there is no military solution. and all parties must find a way to [ inaudible ]. third, tackle the root causes of the crisis. peace efforts cannot be the same as it was the last two gaza conflicts. the ongoing fighting emphasizes the need to end the 47-year old

occupation. security based on mutual recognition, by a two f-state solution. i wish israelis and palestinians can live peace and security side by side. around the world leaders continue to take every effort to forge a durable ceasefire for the people of gaza and israel, based on those three pillars. progress is being made. but there is a much more work to do. we may not be satisfied with what we are now proposing, but we have to stand upon what we are now proposing. in the meantime more children are lying every hour of every day. ladies and gentlemen, today is the last friday of ramadan.

the world is just away from marking [ inaudible ]. let us all taken spire ration from the season of peace and reflection. the united states is dedicated to ensuring the success of this proposal, for all of the people of palestine and israel, and i thank you again for all leaders in the region and in the world for having working together with the united nations and leaders of the world hear. i thank you very much. >> we have heard the foreign minister s and secretary of the

united nations. and by using the force that [ inaudible ] the law. we are targeting all of the innocence that happens in this wholly month for all muslims, and we have -- is to support this ceasefire initiative, to stop the fighting, and we can build from there.

and i would like to confirm something, as long as there is occupation and a siege on the west bank in gaza, there is -- we cannot imagine the siege and the occupation -- do not expect not to be a resistance, this is why -- that is why it's very important to end this conflict. i would like to forgive myself and sympathize -- support a humanitarian ceasefire. >> we have to reach the final

solution -- [ inaudible ]. >> professor mohammed [ inaudible ] from the middle east. four questions. secretary general of the united nations. john kerry you have launched this proposal, did you reach the agreement of both parties, and