hem low there. welcome to the news hour. the world's top news stories. lives destroyed, homes reduced to rubble. we followed gazans surveying the devastation as a 12-hour cea cease-fire nears its end. foreign ministers meet in paris calling for the cease-fire to be extended. plus fighting in libya prompts the u.s. to close its

embassy in tripoli and pull out its staff. a grim milestone has been reached in the gaza conflict. 1,000 palestinians have been killed over the span of 19 days. almost 6,000 others have been injured. mi meanwhile a temporary truce between hamas and israel has another two hours to go, but an intense diplomatic effort is underway to try to arrange a longer lasting peace. u.s. secretary of state john kerry has metaphor -- met foreign ministers in paris. now they called for a week-long extension in the halt, but people inside gaza want israel to stop the bombardment for good. this was the scene earlier has people tried to grab belongs from the shattered remains of

their home. they've also been pulling bodies out from under the rubble. right up to the start of the 12-hour pause, bombing were still raining down on gaza. israel says it's trying to stop hamas firing rockets from the territory. over the same 19 days, 40 israeli soldiers have been killed. one of the worst-hit area was beit hanoun in the north of the gaza strip. stephanie dekker has been here. >> reporter: the cease-fire means nothing to those that have lost everything. we're many beit hanoun, an area in the north. they're just pulling a body out of the rubble.

that is the sound of absolute grief as they're pulling people out of the houses here. we're being told that just before this cease-fire took place, israeli war planes hit this area in beit hanoun extremely hard. there is areas of complete devastation. we met one lady 70 years old on the side of the road and said this has happened throughout my lifetime. israel has come in, killed us, and has devastated our lives. when will it stop? >> another area where people are also picking through the rubble is shujayea. nicole johnston is there. >> reporter: we're in the central part of shuj shujayea, and it's utter devastation in the neighborhood. whole houses have been pummeled to the ground as well as tank shelling from the eastern border with israel. you can see that there is nothing left of this

neighborhood. all day people have been arriving here to take a look at what's left of their homes, if anything. they're going through the rubble, the concrete looking for anything that's worth salvaging. we've seen people pick up mattresses, canisters, in one case we saw a man with his bicycle lifted on his shoulders as he tried to walk over the rubble to get out of shujayea. it's a really desperate situation here, and the people of gaza are hoping that this 12-hour cease-fire will continue and last longer and give them more time to work out what they'll do next. almost everyone in shujayea has left this area and life with relatives or the united nations, but they don't know when they can possibly come home again and start to rebuild their houses and lives. >> the temporary truce came after israel had earlier rejected plans for a longer

cease-fire. kerry said that the proposed seven-day truce would allow muslims in gaza to mark the holiday and let in humanitarian aid. israel and hamas have yet to respond to the proposal. french foreign minister read out a statement on behalf of the other envoys at the paris meeting. >> translator: all of us are calling on both parties to continue the cease-fire that is taking place right now. we all want a prolonged cease-fire to meet israeli security demands and the demands of the palestinians in gaza. we agree we need to include the palestinian authority in the objectives. we're all in solidarity with the civilians that are tragically trapped by this conflict. it's on the basis of these points that we coordinate our response in the days and weeks to go. >> we've live now from west

jerusalem. james, this extension to the current 12-hour truce, any caigs there in israel as to how the government would respond? >> reporter: well, we think we know one thing, which is when that 12 hours come to an end, it will probably continue at least for another hour or so because at that point about half an hour after the 12-hour period there is going to be a meeting of israel's security cabinet to decide exactly what to do and whether they should extend or not extend. a number of different factors will be playing into their decision, but i can tell you it's pretty certain there will be no bombing while they're meeting until they have come up with a decision. so i think it will definitely go beyond the 12-hour mark. we're hearing that it's quite possible israel might extend this cease-fire, but at the same time, the israeli military would continue their work on the ground because they say they want to try and remove those

tunnels and find those rockets and stop those rockets from being fired. so if there is a continuation of this cease-fire, it will be a continuation of a stop of the aerial bombardment but not the work of the israeli military on the ground. another factor that will play into the discussions and be aware that the israeli security cabinet hasn't been entirely agreeing on everything and the wider israeli cabinet is quite divided on some issues and some believe that there should be an even tougher response. playing into all this the announcement before the current 12-hour pause that there were more israeli soldiers that died, another four, bringing the total to 40. that will play into the discussions as well. >> just remind us when we saw john kerry or the proposals from john kerry in cairo yesterday for a week-long cease-fire, israel came out and rejected that. just remind us why. >> well, i think because of what

i've just been saying. israel, not just with this 12-hour pause but with the idea of the seven-day cease-fire proposed by john kerry and the start of immediate negotiations. israel didn't finish the job on the ground. we need to remove those rockets. we need to find the rocket launchers, and we need to find the storage facilities and the production facilities. the rockets on one hand and all the tunnels. they believe that the tunnel network they found when they got to gaza was much more sophisticated than they first thought. so they say there's a lot more work to be done on the ground. any deal, cease-fire deal or continuing of a truce, they say, must allow them to continue to remove the threat from the tunnels and the rockets. >> james, as we see this death toll rising, what's the feeling of the israeli people? they're also very divided, but overriding feeling that you're

getting about this offensive and continuing it? >> well, i think in many ways that's the most important thing. yes, prime minister netanyahu will be looking at his security concerns and listening to his military advisers, but i think the thing that weighs the most heavily on the israeli prime minister at the time of war is israeli public opinion. we've seen public opinion turn away in times past, for example, the lebanon war in 2006. he's looking very closely, mr. netanyahu, on how the public is responding. i have to tell you that the public, yes, they are those against what's going on, but most of the public broadly supports the ongoing military operation, and some would like to see it intensified. >> james, thanks very much for updating us there on the situation in west jerusalem. the israeli prime minister spokesman blames hamas for not

reaching a cease-fire agreement. >> israel accepted already a week ago an egyptian proposal for an unconditional cease-fire. this egyptian proposal was supported by the arab league, by the united nations, by many, many others. hamas said no, and hamas continues unfortunately up until no to say no. the leader of hamas said yesterday in qatar that he put so many preconditions on a cease-fire to make a cease-fire impossible. so if the conflict continues and the bloodshed continues, it's because hamas has said no and has closed the door on a diplomatic solution. >> joinings now live from beirut is the hamas spokesman. thanks very much for being with us. let's look at the proposal that was on the table with john kerry in cairo yesterday, friday. did hamas put preconditions kwon to that cease-fire proposal?

>> first of all, i have to say that there is no preconditions. there are rights for the palestinians that must be accepted. now we are hearing the propaganda from israel. we are hearing talking around 70 years at the end of the second world war. they are killing the people. more than 1,050 palestinians are killed in last couple of days, and they say they want to stop the bloodshed. who started the shooting against the palestinians? because of that we are clear about the rise of the palestinians. israel was killing the palestinians for the last seven years either by bombing them or putting them under the siege at a slow killing. so we are willing to have a stop for killing palestinians on both levels. stop bombing gaza and lift this.

if that is okay, i think we'll reach a cease-fire. >> being o. okay. the proposal yesterday from john kerry may be discussed further today in paris. there's a longer cease-fire, and that allows negotiations between israel and hamas or at least mediators between the two sides to have a longer-lasting truce, and that involves, of course, lifting the blockade on gaza. is hamas prepared to accept a longer-lasting truce to allow negotiations to took place? >> well, our position was clear. we want a clear position that says a cease-fire will include the lift of the siege completely on gaza. if that happens, that means we are going to have a cease-fire. >> so the lifting the blockade -- i'm trying to get to the bottom of under what

conditions the cease-fire is acceptable. the lifting of the blockade has to come first, or the cease-fire can come first? >> it has to be at the same time. >> it israel says that's the one thing stopping a cease-fire from happening, where do you go from there? >> the one thing that's stopping the cease-fire is israelis are attacking the palestinians. they have to stop their attack. they put us under siege. they have to stop that and make an end for this. it's clear that we are talking about doing both things together. this is what we're asking for, and they are seen in the cease-fire. they have to say clearly we are ready to stop our retaliation, genz the civilians ones by lifting the siege and the militant by stopping bombing gaza. we are putting in conditions. we're not talking about preconditions. we are talking about the facts

on the ground. >> israel does see it as a precondition, though. it's a very clear stalemate that's happening there. what would be the alternative? if you don't accept an alternative and look for an alternative, it's clear from israel that the bombardment of gaza will continue and more lives will be lost. >> well, it's clear that israelis don't care about the lives of the people. it's clear that they have concentrated on killing the people to make more pressure on the palestinians. today a complete family, 21 members, were discovered under the ruins of their house killed by the israeli forces, which mean we need a guarantee that israel will not attack again and bombard people again. we do not have those guarantees. not from john kerry or the international community. we are asking for guarantees that israel will not attack the palestinians anymore. we have listened carefully to

the statement, and today the statements are coming from israel. they are talking clearly and openly that they will continue their recent operation, even if there was a cease-fire, because as they are saying, they want to destroy the infrastructure of the palestinian resistance, which means even if there was a cease-fire without no guarantees, they will continue attacking the palestinians. >> okay. let's quickly look at what hamas is going to do in a couple of hours time. will we see more rockets fired from gaza? >> well, no one can say what will happen after a few hours. everything is under discussion. there is a political effort. who knows. maybe there will be a solution in a few hours. no one knows. but i have to say clearly and for certain we won't accept the fact that israel has the right to attack us without any kind of

palestinian defense. >> okay. thank you very much for joining us there from beirut. >> thank you. >> people around the world have been taking to the streets to show they're solidarity with the palestinians. this was the scene in paris where hundreds gathered and the march went ahead despite the police ban on protests. it's been noisy but peaceful. there have been such demonstrations in the past weekend. in london we'll go live to another protest for the people in gaza. laurence lee is there. tell us what's happening. >> reporter: yes. i think and rightly so that this will have ended up being the biggest of all the european demonstrations. let me just get out of the way so you can look for yourself. obviously, it's a bit difficult to get at numbers, but certainly when it was outside the israeli embassy earlier on, we ought

thought it could have been as many as 10,000 people. they subsequently marched to the houses of parliament. it seems to be shrinking as you can see. some people are gradually leaving. but it's certainly 5,000 or month. i think the people would regard it very much as a success. it's bigger than the similar demonstration last weekend. they say they'll keep going. they insist very much that -- you know, it's very difficult to tell in situations like this what this represents as a proportion of the population of the country. they would say very much that they would argue that this sort of demonstration has majority support inside the country, and certainly i think it's worth saying as well that even in sections of the media and the establishment that would usually sment israel, in some of the newspapers in particular, there's a lot of comment in the last few days that says we think israel may have pushed this a bit too far, and a level of

concern being expressed not those overtly palestinian but from sections of the establishment as well concerned about israel's conduct. some of the people we spoke to never have been on a demonstration before. they don't get into what hamas represents, but they are acutely concerned about a humanitarian crisis. whatever israel makes of this, i think they will say they will keep demonstrating. i would expect the protest to get larger. >> okay. you say that they consider it a success because of the numbers of people there, and indeed to influence the media to cover these protests is a degree of a success. how much pressure does it really put on the british government to do more to put pressure, in turn, on the israelis? >> reporter: well, that is a very good question, and i think it's very difficult to give up an accurate answer. certainly these people think about three main targets today. one is clearly israel.

secondly, the british government and western government, too, they say best speak with a forked tongue and claim to sympathize with the palestinians while actually supporting israel. thirdly, sections of the media who they say are biased in favor of israel. what difference does this make to the british government's attitude? i don't really know. i think historically and certainly in recent history the british government has tried, irng, to swallow these things and carry on as if they would have done otherwise. i think what you've seen in the last few days, even the new foreign secretary to some right wing journalists in the newspapers say they're friends of israel, i would say regardless of demonstrations like this, they're increasingly concerned anyway. i think probably they would see people like the united nations and to a lesser extent the european union and their concerns about what's happening in gaza as being as serious as

these things. as these people say a demonstration to the palestinian people they are not alone. it's been quite an impressive display today. >> absolutely. thanks very much for bringing us the scene there from the streets of london. you can stay up-to-date on the ongoing situation in gaza around the clock by going to our website. there you find a live blog with breaking news, videos as well as regular updates from our correspondents. all that and much more on aljazeera.com. plenty more still to come on this news hour, including the islam in this case state group firmly in control in mosul. we'll ask how life in the iraqi city has changed. plus. do you want do that before you go out and kill someone? >> translator: yes, of course. >> the controversial saint. why millions of mexicans are reaching out to her for favors.

and in sport the formula one driver whose title chances look to be going up in smoke. >> aid agents warn of a severe famine in south sudan. they say food stocks are running low across northern regions of the country. more than 1 million are internally displaced by the country's civil war. in central african republic aid workers are struggling to help thousands caught up in fighting between seleka and christian groups. we have the report from the capital of bangui. >> reporter: a truck carrying food finally arrives in this part of bangui. there's the sound of desperation, anger, and frustration. these people say they haven't

eaten in days. months of sectarian violence in the central african republic have turned christians against muslims and muslims against christians. most are muslims afraid to leave the area in case they are attacked. >> translator: i'm asking for help. i hope i will eat. if not i will go hungry. it's always like this. >> reporter: at the hospital a woman recovers from gunshot wounds, but even in here she's terrified her attackers will find her. she asked us not to use her name. she's from a village, and she's a christian. >> translator: they attacked the victimage and said they were going to kill all the men, even the boys. people ran into the fields to hide. i don't know if my husband orsons are alive. >> reporter: many parts of the country are hard to reach and still volatile. it's about 400 kilometers from the capital of bangui. sometimes the villages attacked

are so hard to reach, aid workers have no idea who is outs there that need help. medical staff here have operated on nearly 2,000 patients since january and treat both christians and muslims. >> whether they come here they stay long term in the hospital with many complications. most of the time -- sometimes we are doing amputation because there is no choice. no other choice. >> reporter: many people that fled the capital haven't returned. french peacekeepers try try to keep rival groups apart, but that's not easy. some think the colonial theory is making things worse. united nations say their experts have located the second black bock from the plane that kralled in mali on thursday. all 118 people on board were killed including several families from france. french officials say it came down during a severe storm, but

nare not ruling out terrorism. the air ail jeerz flight was operated from a spanish carrier to algiers. the malaysian prime minister will visit the netherlands to discuss how to get full access to the crash site in ukraine. fighting prevents a proper investigation. he was -- the plane was carrying 298 passenger and crew, most of them from the netherlands when it was shot. he said 30 investigators are needed on the ground. well, hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes to escape fighting in eastern ukraine. its focused on the city of donetsk which is controlled by rebels but coming under heavy artillery fire from government forces. we are there and the report.

>> reporter: the people of donetsk are abandoning their city. they fear the war that has now reached the outskirts. boarding the train to kiev, say say they don't want to live under separatist control. >> they came to our town just to occupy the territory and take our business and spoil our life. i want to continue my business in a different city. i want to leave to have a future. >> reporter: outside donetsk they're also on the move. only these people are fleeing the government army. what they say is it's indiscriminate showing. this is a tou tower on the edge the city. victor is still here. you've been here for four years, i think? >> yeah. >> he sent his wife and children away weeks ago, and he's trying to decide whether he should go, too.

>> translator: my feelings are so complicated. on the one hand i want to leave, but on the other hand, this is my native city. i just want to see the end of the situation. >> reporter: in central donetsk, empty malls, abandoned restaurants. donetsk is a dying city. the ma rt jo of shops and businesses and factories and cinemas here in the city center have all closed. people have left because they fear the worst. some are going west to government-controlled areas. some are going east to russia. these people are going to the russian city, and they say they'll come back whether things are better. over in kiev, an abandoned cement factory is now a shelter for 200 that just fled from the war zone, including sasha who felt he had to move for his sake of his daughter, anna. >> translator: there's a real war there. lots of shelling. my daughter is disabled and

she's much more relaxed now that we're out of there. >> reporter: back at donetsk station, more good-byes. nobody knows when they will see friends and family again. who would imagine ukraine's crisis would come to this? still to come here on this news hour, we meet a former cuban revolutionary who made his own museum in a key event in the history. in sports find out who is in the final. >> what did i do? please take this curse off of me. >> 15 stories one incredible journey edge of eighteen

real reporting that brings you the world. >> this is a pretty dangerous trip. >> security in beirut is tight. >> more reporters. >> they don't have the resources to take the fight to al shabaab. >> more bureaus, more stories. >> this is where the typhoon came ashore. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. >> al jazeera, nairobi. >> on the turkey-syria border. >> venezuela. >> beijing. >> kabul. >> hong kong. >> ukraine. >> the artic. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america.

house budget committee chairman paul ryan says there's a better way for governments to help poor people. take the job away from washington and give more of it to the states. would it work? that's the "inside story." hello. i'm ray suarez. for generations the federal