>> palestinian officials call for humanitarian pause in fighting asga is a is pounded by israel. this is the scene on the ground in gaza. officials say 100 people have been killed on tuesday, allowing tens of thousands displaced. this is the al jazeera news hour. also ahead the e.u. agrees to impose the strongest sanctions yet against russia in its support of rebels in ukraine. and investigators failed to

reach the mh-17 crash flight. and could this create a new wave of tourism in haiti? there are indications on both sides in gaza that 24 hour humanitarian truce could be agreed. there is readiness to stop the fighting, but where israel stands right now is unclear. we'll have more on that in a moment. first let's update you on the gaza strip. it's continued unabated. ten people have been killed in strikes. the largest refugee center in gaza, we hea.

the gaza strip is in flames after being targeted by israeli shells. >> reporter: this is as bad as it gets for gaza's electricity supply. the power station up in smoke. no one had seen anything like this before. it's been burning out of control for hours. too dangerous to send crews in to put it out. there has been shelling around this power station for days, now it's taken another direct hit. trying to repair this could take months. all the plant's fuel is burning. we have been targeted several times over the past several days. they say the shelling is by mistake. i don't know, this has been repeated several times.

>> reporter: al jazeera also visited the power plant a few days ago. then one of its four generators had been hit, and the main office. even still the workers showed up to try to keep the place running, but they were nervous. >> it's death. this is dangerous. what can we do? this is our work. >> reporter: there had been no electricity since israeli's ground offensive started. >> talking about the situation. there is no water, no descension. >> reporter: they rely on a generator for all the electricity. but the cost of running it is so expensive they can't use freezers. only one fridge. >> after destroying the power plan in gaza we suffered a lot in electricity. and we use generators for eight

to ten hours a day. >> reporter: now it will get much worse for the rest of gaza. with the electricity plant down people will be lucky to get a few hours of power every few days. nicole johnston, al jazeera, gaza. >> we have more on the situation on the ground in gaza. what's it's been like in the course of this latest escalati escalation? >> reporter: well, it's been very unpredictable, very chaotic and very deadly. the death toll here in gaza has exceeded over 100, and it really just gives a strong indication of just how hard the israeli forces have been bombarding this tiny coastal strip. the sunset over gaza just around an hour ago. as soon as darkness fell over

gaza, we can hear the constant thud of shelling from naval ships, which are just off the coast. probably about two or three kilometers from where i'm standing right now. i'm not sure you can hear but you can probably hear the buzz of drones which tend to fly all night over gaza. and so when you consider the fact that the sun has set. the city is in pitch-darkness because there is no electricity, and the bombardment continues. so again, a very dire situation here. >> the electricity supply is strained. we know shells hit gaza's power plant, a number of people were wounded, killed i should say, but what does this mean in terms of future supply, future power shortages at a time when you have hospitals and medical workers going into overdrive trying to take care of people.

>> the overdrive is a very good word to describe it. hospitals are very stretched and really the only way they have electricity is relying on generators and very expensive fuel. that's a luxury that mostg gazaens don't have. we have to remember that before the bombardment began three weeks ago this was an area already suffering from a severe power crisis. most people only had electricity for around eight hours a day. when israel started bombarding this area that went down to oh, oh four hours of electricity a day. as we heard from my colleague's, nicole johnston's report, the shelling of the power station here most people will be lucky to get two showers of electricity every 48 hours.

this is not a problem because they're in the dark for most of the evening. they aren't able to power ceiling fans during the hot day or run refrigerators to keep their food from spoiling. this is a problem from the water point of view. gaza has a very severe water shortage problem. most people rely on ground water. the only way to get access through ground water is through pumps and wells. with no electricity that means basically people are also out of water as well. really underscoring how bad the situation is here in gaza, and how much worse it will get. >> the palestinian organizatio liberation organization said it would be willing to consider one. >> reporter: after consulting

with our brother in hamas, it was announced in the name of factions our readiness to stop the fighting and agree on 24 hours humanitarian cease-fire in gaza. there is an u.n. proposal to make it a 72-hour cease-fire. we're positively considering that proposal as well. >> well, leaders from the palestinian liberation organization, the plo, have been meeting i meet in ramallah to discuss the truce. what are your expectations from this meeting? >> reporter: well, we've had developments we have heard that hamas is very upset and wanted to wait for israel's response before the announcement of the

cease-fire was announced, and that the plo has said also believe now that israel does not want the cease-fire and i've heard this through officials in egypt. the source is also telling us that egypt has told the plo not to come to cairo with a planned delegation until both sides are willing to sit down at the table and talk in cairo, major development there is. but we were hearing that negotiations were still going on, and there was a move towards a cease-fire and the cease-fire proposal from the plo on jihad and hamas is being considered. it's still unclear at this moment, but the israeli security cabinet is meeting on wednesday, no doubt we'll hear more after that. >> as reporting, gaza continues

to deteriorate. we're joined from gaza. we were discussing with a correspondent on the ground the situation surrounding the strike on the power station. of course this pose as problem for ordinary residents. we know that hospitals and a few other places run on generators, but ordinary residents are already facing power shortages, and the other problem will be access to water because they rely on water from the ground and they retrieve that with the power pump. >> reporter: it's a massive problem. the secretary general said very recently everything seems to become a target in gaza. he's not accusing israel. he's stating a fact. there is nowhere safe including public utilities. the impact of the past station strike is people getting four hours of electricity a day. imagine that in your home in the

21st century. it that will be reduced further. 95% of water in gaza is undrinkable. 200,000 people in our shelters with plans for 35,000. we've reached breaking point, frankly. we are completely overwhelmed. the time has come for the warring parties, particularly the state of israel, the warring parties to honor their obligation under international law, and to take up their responsibilities for the hundreds of thousand who is have been displaced. it's not just that 200,000 were displaced with us, many more will be with relatives, and on top of that israel is distributing leaflets and text messages saying another 200,000 to leave. we'll have a situation where

tens possibly 100,000 people in the streets of gaza nowhere to go. no electricity. no water, no food, no blankets, and no safety because they aren't save any way. it is soon be breaking point for the humanitarian community-- >> does this mean-- >> we have reached breaking point. the parties who have obligations under international law they need to start fulfilling their responsibility to these hundreds of thousand was displace the people. we can't go on like this. >> you said there is no way for gazaens to go. it's a tightly packed strip of humanity, and israel argues that hamas is using civilians as human shields. are you worried about your safety. >> of course, we've heard a fifth staff member has been killed. we have shed a lot of tears

because of these terrible statistics. our staff are being killed--there are reports that two more may have been killed, and it's intolerable. humanhumanitarian workers are spying such a my price. it's got to stop. >> can you shed more light? >> there is another example of the flagrant violations of the neutrality of i ca installations. we found them in an area that was quite unstable. we took our staff out. therthey were too unstable. we notified all the relevant

parties. we've done what we've done with these other cache of rockets before. we hope to get experts to do an assessment and then died what type--then decide what type of action should be taken. >> more for you on the al jazeera news hour. we have reports from the kurdish regions where they're fighting off fighters from the islamic state group. and the wife of the ow owner of the los angeles clippers will sell the team.

>> there are new sanctions against russia. the e.u. will target a further eight people and four businesses. those names will be announced on wednesday. the e.u. started imposing sanctions on russia in march. phase one was cutting off talks with moscow and borrowing. the e.u. moved to stage two with travel bans and asset freezes. so far 87 people and 20 organizations have been hit by these sanctions. now phase three will limit russian access. we have been following the talks in brussels. >> reporter: ambassadors have been in locked in talks

throughout the course of the day. they've been putting in sanctions aim specifically at targeting russians. for the time being no public oral statement is being made but a written statement was made following the end of these talks. e.u. ambassadors say that specifically russia's financial markets together with that could be used in russia's energy sector, along with military supplies to russia will be targeted as part of a new round of tough sanctions around the country. these sanctions come following the maiming listing of several individuals and several

organizations who face the likes of asset freezes and traffic bans. the feeling here in the e.u. is that those sanctions didn't go far enough, and what we're seeing coming out of this meeting ins the toughest sanctions yet in the handling of the ukraine. made worse by the downing of flight mh-17 in which so many citizens were killed. >> in ukraine overnight shelling has left 23 people dead. 21 people including some children were killed by shelling in a city which is being besieged by government forces. in the rebel stronghold of donetsk several shells hit an

argumen apartment. >> reporter: the war has destroyed her home and is tearing apart her family. they are split by conflicting holy spiri stories. other residential areas are pounded by artillery. this man was killed by shrapnel. they say they're naming separatists for the violence. >> the shelling is continuing. civilians are dying. we have information that militants not only gather people but use children as human

shields. they completely control the situation and don't allow citizens to leave cities. >> what happened here shows you just how close the fighting is getting to the center of donetsk. it's still not clear who is responsible for the shelling here, but clearly they are getting caught up with the conflict. >> reporter: there is also fighting close to the crash site. for the third day in a row investigators have not been able to reach the wreckage. the site has been protected. al jazeera, donetsk, eastern ukraine. >> an inquiry by the european kwan has foun union has found

compelling evidence that body parts have been sold. this is our reports. >> reporter: the mass graves held the bodies but how many died of an horrific trade and body parts. civilians were retained and killed so body parts will be taken and told. >> i can say at this point there are compelling implications that a small number of individuals were killed for the purpose of extracting and trafficking their organs. a handful of individuals were subjected to this crime. >> reporter: more than 3,000 people disappeared during the

conflict which began in februa february 1998 and ended in june the following year. the claim was that the organs were sold on what have of the kla, kosovo liberation army. they say indictments have been prepared against senior political figures. >> war crimes did happen. you mention the word indications. there were strong indications. he didn't say proof, but i don't want to comment on that. let's wait for the indictment to see what it actually means. >> reporter: a number of properties suspected of being used to carry out the operation. they still insist that this house had no part to play in organ removals. >> reporter: we did he manned and continue to demand more compensation because this isn't

justice. it was international investigators into our house and threw us out. we had to sleep in snow. we want them to come back again. >> reporter: those who lost family members the news is unlikely to bring much peace. but they will keep searching for answers. and for justice. al jazeera. >> the former u.n. war crimes prosecutors who wrote about the kosovo allegation in 2008. she spoke to us earlier and we askedder why this inquiry had taken so long? >> we initially opened this investigation but we were not able to continue with the investigation because there was a problem of jurisdiction, because some of the acts were after the war.

--some of the acts were acts were

>> now, in china attack where dozens of people were killed. it happened on monday, but the news only merged on tuesday. the gang ran through a town then targeted a police station where the officer killed several of them. they have seen increasing violence lately and blame it on separatist who is want an independent state. one of china assumes oh politicians until his retirement

in 2012. state media say he faces state allegations we have more from beijing. >> they say he is beingel investigated for party discipline. if found convicted he'll become the most senior party.

his trial will be an explosive one. several businessmen in this country owe their success to his success. now others believe that another applicatio politician was involved in a plot that would have prevented president ping from becoming president. >> rival militias step down to fight a raging fire. the world's most expensive teenager is told he is not fit enough. details in sport.

>> 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. >> every single one of these buildings shook violently. >> for continuing coverage of when you run a business, you can't settle for slow. that's why i always choose the fastest intern. the fastest printer. the fastest lunch. turkey club. the fastest pencil sharpener. the fastest elevator. the fastest speed dial. the fastest office plant. so why wouldn't i choose the fastest wifi? i would. switch to comcast business internet and get the fastest wifi included. comcast business. built for business. with the top speedou compare of comcast the top speed of business dsl from the internet... phone company

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the new al jazeera america mobile app, available for your apple and android mobile device. download it now >> a shocking america tonight investigative report... >> you take someones hopes and dreams of childhood, and then out right steal their money >> wishing to start a family >> we lost over $20,000 trying to do surrogacy in mexico >> but left with broken hearts and empty pockets >> how much money do you owe people >> around $350,000 >> praying on the vulnerable >> i have nothing to hide, if i was a scam artist, i would have cut and run from here >> surrogacy inc. an american tonight investigative report only on al jazeera america >> welcome back. you're watching al jazeera news hour. let's take you to the stop stories. more than 100 palestinians have been killed on tuesday and some of israel's most intense shelling, 1,191 palestinians

have now been killed since the 22-day conflict began. 53 israeli soldiers and three civilians have also been killed. meanwhile efforts are continuing to broke arrest short-term cease-fire. israel and hamas may be moving closer to a humanitarian truce. fighting in ukraine has killed 73 civilians, pro russian separatests are threatening to ban investigators from malaysi the crash site of the malaysian flight mh mh-17. >> this is fully protecting israel's rights. fully protecting israel's interests, and prime minister netanyahu said to me can you get

a peace fire for this period of time. if it weren't for his commitment to it, obviously the president of the united states and i would not be making this effort. i either take this at face value or someone is playing a different game here. >> let's get more from washington, d.c. interesting words from john kerry, patty, what else did he have to say? what more do we know? >> reporter: well, it's gotten even more interesting after he said that about taking it at face value because we heard reports coming out of israel from the prime minister's office saying that netanyahu never asked secretary kerry to get involved in trying to broke arrest cease-fire. then just within the past hour we've had the state department briefing. it was interesting. jen sacky, the state department's spokeswoman was asked did prime minister netanyahu ask secretary of state john kerry to get involved. she tried not to answe answer

but then admitted it was the u.n. the driving force. >> what is "l" happen next? >> reporter: another interesting thing from secretary kerry, he said its up to the parties. indicating that the u.s. isn't going to take any additional steps. here's what we know. the u.s. is still calling for a cease-fire. but at the same time secretary kerry said he wants a cease-fire that still allows israel to target the tunnels in gaza. not clear how that would be a cease-fire. here's what we know. president barack obama picked up the phone and talked to prime minister netanyahu on sunday and called for an immediate cease-fire. we know that did not happen. the response from the administration the next day, machine, to send susan rice to prominent jewish leaders where she fully wholeheartedly backed up israel for so-called right to self defense.

it does not appear that the white house is going to make any sort of additional calls or reach any consequences for failure of a cease-fire. >> more reports suggesting that boast sides are close to agreeing possibly on a humanitarian cease-fire. >> the first step is to announce a cease-fire for 24 hours which will extend it to 72 hours. after that there will an meeting with israeli leaders to find an resolution. this is what is required. a relationship is between one country and another. palestinians stays within its quarters and israelis stay within its quarts. >> how close or how far away are we from a short-term humanitarian cease-fire.

>> we could get to a cease-fire but in the wider scheme of things it's almost meaningless. unless there is serious will on the part of the parties to take this short in order to work for a longer one, i think everyone is wasting time and playing with people's feelings, and, in fact, playing with people's lives. one thing is to get people to shut up for 24 hours. another thing is for them to get serious about the long-term consequences of what is happening in gaza. >> and when you speak about the need for people to perhaps be quiet for a while we're in a situation where there is a conflict going on, you have divisions even amongst the two parties on either side, and then you had the plo trying to initiate some sort of process which then hamas rejected. it seems that messages are getting confused.

israel and hamas don't talk directly to each other which adds to the complexity. >> there are certain tactical differences but not strategic differences. all fangs want an end to the siege in gaza. they all want a cease-fire that is based on realizing the effect on palestinians. the real question is gaza under fire. some would like to see a quicker process moving forward towards that, but the ones that are under fire in gaza with hamas would like to see iron clad guarantees if they do stop this is not going to go to continue. >> that's the problem. isn't it. they want the guarantees before the fire or the rocket fire can

stop. >> the problem here, and people are funny in this way. people just want freedom. there are almost a million people, the south africans paid with hundreds of thousands of lives. afghanis have paid thousands of lives to gain their freedom from occupation. but the palestinians want freedom from occupation. it's on the israelis to understand that yes, all wars are stupid, but some wars are stupider than the other wars. >> you're right. fatah and plo have endorsed the demands but the question is what israel wants in return, and now

talking about the demilitarization of gaza. >> we need to be clear about what is at stake. is it the engine of the conflict or the symptoms of the conflict. everyone, especially some of our viewers are saying why are you not talking about the rockets. here i am talking about the rockets. the rockets are important part of this conflict, but the rockets are a symptom of the conflict. they are not the reason for the conflict. when the conflict started there was no rockets. when the confront started there was no hamas. this is all new because all the other means have failed. it's problem is the occupation of the palestinian people. once you start talking about serious guarantees assuring basic rights to live free outside of the prison that they

are in whether they're in the west bank in jerusalem or other places in the refuge. once you start guaranteeing all of it, but once you start resolving it and start giving some guarantees there should be no rockets, terrorism, no violence or threat to any israeli citizen. >> i suppose it's past the question of more israeli political establishment seeing a two-state solution being in their interest. it seems that netanyahu is under pressure with the need to please the far right, and the israeli commentators. he has talked about escalation in the campaign saying what do the israelis want out of the military campaign? is it eliminating hamas all together? is that a realistic goal? >> with the declared goal of this offensive as stated by prime minister netanyahu and his lieutenants, they want to finish

hamas. so whatever this is, it's backfiring. you know the famous proverb or saying once you continue to do the same thing again and again expecting a different result it's a sign of craziness. you cannot continue to do the same thing hoping that the palestinians are going to change their minds. the palestinians have committed to hamas and fatah to honor and reach a deal with israel on a two-state solution. two-state sovereign independent continuous states. the apparently the israeli is not committed and will not allow the palestinian full sovereignty on the west bank and gaza. that's the problem. israel is expanding settlements.

you cannot negotiate over a pizza if you're already eating parts of the pizza. israel needs to stop the settlements. it needs to release the prisoners. in order for the rockets to stop. in order for the violence to stop. then they need to give guarantees like all other people in the world have a right of sovereignty in their own homeland. justs camjews came to the land over the last century. previously this was a land occupied by the palestinians. we have to make that happen. we have to make that a realization, and then make sure that the rockets stop because israel has a right not to be threatened by rockets from gaza. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> well, you can keep up to speed with all developments from our website. we have analysis and blogs from

our reporters on the ground all that and more from www.aljazeera.com. in other stories 30 people have been killed in overnight fighting between libya forces and militia. thousands are leaving the country to escape the violence, and militia has agreed to stop fighting in the capitol. >> reporter: it looks like an impossible job on the grow under. the oil depot burning out of control. there is fear that it could cause a giant fireball endangering lives. the fire was started by stray rockets from rival militias. rebels from the city have been fighting each other for more

than two weeks around tripoli. there is fighting in bengahzi. rebels have taken control of the biggest military camp. libya has experienced a drop in oil production because of fighting. people are suffering from lack of security and lack of oil. >> libya is the world's third largest producer of oil. how is it possible not to have oil? >> reporter: more than 5,000 people have fled the violence in libya by crossing the border into the last 4 hours. sources at the main check points say they included libyans, foreigners and diplomats. the foreign ministry is asking nationals to evacuate from libya. >> our understanding is that approximately 4,500 nationals are registered with the indian mission have. >> reporter: many indians agreed to leave, and including many

medical staff. other countries are advising people to get out as well. solving the issue of the fight something inevitably tangled. efforts to put out the blaze had to be stopped on monday because of the ongoing violence. the government is warning of environmental disaster. caroline malone, al jazeera. >> kurdish officials in iraq are asking western powers for help in fighting against the islamic state group. it's a tough battle that could drag kurdish forces into a wider war. >> reporter: heading to the front line. it's a battle kurdish forces cannot lose. the enemy is the islamic state group. these fighters have fortified

their positions. a gas field that energy complex is just hundreds of meters away. >> they use precise mortar shells and rockets. >> reporter: the army threat after assault by sunni rebels on a number of cities including kirkuk. that puts them at the forefront of battles with islamic state. the flag of islamic group has raised over a building about 800 meters away from where i am. kurdish forces are engaged in fierce battles on a number of fronts. they are overstretched. the commander shows me the hot spot under his command but says the battle is much wider.

>> we have eight different battlefields with the fighters. we have 1,000 kilometers of border with the islamic state. from the syrian border all the way to the border with iran we ared a ready for them. they're all well trained former army fighters. >> reporter: not far from kirkuk this is a force. fighters from the islamic street drag the streets of the town. they're well armed and determined to carry on. kurdish security officials say that they they're armed with weapons seized from the iraqi army. the kurdish are preparing for a long battle. they have managed to secure itself away from the violence and the rest of iraq, now it's being dragged in to it. >> three al jazeera journalists have spent 213 days in an

egyptian prison. two were given seven-year sentences. bader mohammed also received seven years but received another three years for an empty bullet casing in his possession. al jazeera continues to demand they be freed. h know.

>> we're here in the vortex. only on al jazeera america.

>> welcome back. time out for sport. >> thank you. l.a. clippers owners donald sterling ha's wife sold the sale. sterling tried to block the sale to steve ballmer, but the judge gave the go ahead which could be completed in two weeks. >> i want to thank everyone who helped me. my attorneys, they were fabulous, this is going to be a good thing for the city, for the league, for my family. for all of us. i just want to thank you all. come see the clippers next year. >> we're comfortable if we get a right to appeal this, these

mistakes as i call them it will give us a right to appeal, and this decision will not stand up. >> reporter: a bit more on this from xavier pope a sports legal analyst. he joins me live from chicago. what other legal avenues does sterling have in front of him. what can he do now? >> well, donald sterling's legal avenues are very limited at this point. through the california probate court, a state law ruling and 1310 b, he can't even withhold the sale while in appeal. the sale will be closed in a couple of weeks and he'll be appealing as a former owner. the team will have changed hands at this point. >> he's set to make a huge profit if this sale does go ahead, why do you think he's being so difficult about it? >> reporter: great question.

you see when he initially gave permission for his wife to sell the team, then took it back. then once the team was sold, he said okay, then there was proof that there was incapacitated issues. he went on television without help. there is a functionality of donald sterling not having his mind together to make proper decisions for the los angeles clippers. >> can you explain why shelly sterling was entrusted with the clippers in the first place? >> sure, great question. well initially when you have large assets such as the los angeles clippers, to avoid certain taxes upon death they could be held inside of a trust. when donald sterling gets a little bit older incapacitated, he transfers that power over to

his wife. that's what it was used for. but you see an extraordinary situation where she took the team from him and sold it to steve ballmer, former ceo of microsoft. >> will other nba owners be watching this? could they be worried that they could lose their teams and be kicked out of the nba. >> great question. i think owners are very worried about this situation. i don't think the owners will address in the nba by laws and constitution changing what is existing on the books to be able to make it easier for them to get kicked out of the league. i think it would an pr nightmare for them to take steps to make it harder for one of them to be kicked out of the league. i would be worried about managing books properly, manage what they're saying and what they're doing. >> we'll leave it there for now. xavier pope is a sports analyst from chicago. thanks so much for your time.

carlothe father of carlos teves was kidnapped. police are investigating. tevez is believed to be flying back to argentina. the world's most expensive teenager luke shaw has been told he's not good enough by manchester united. he moved in june and believed to be worth $50 million. he would train by himself to get in condition. >> i think he needs to be fit, and he's not very fit, therefore he cannot perform what i want.

so he has to be first fit, and then he has to train. >> cricket in england has chipped away at the indian batting line up. india is 323-8. they're chasing the first inning score of 569-7 declared. one of apolog nigeria's gold medals has failed a drug test. the youngest ever winner winning women's competition on friday. she failed the test and now has been suspended from the game. if her b test comes back positive she will be stripped from her goal. it's now back to mariam.

>> thank you. now to haiti where the government has double ohe doubled it's budget. we have reports now from haiti's southern coast on a project aiming to make waves in the international surfing scene. >> reporter: in jacmel in hate he's souther haiti's southern coast servers are not an unusual site. before they could not swim but now look at them. it's all part of surf haiti bringing tourists to the beaches. they say surfing here is more than catching waves. >> you have to take pleasure to take some waves, but the pleasure is to share the life of

people. >> and to a place where most people live on $2 a day that sense of community is vital. the boys are taught about the environment and there are plans to make surfboards and learn to run surf haiti themselves. one of the first boys to learn to surf here tells us the project has the potential to change the lives of his entire community. but it's not going to be an easy road. i traveled all over haiti, and there are various tourist destinations. but for surfists it doesn't get better than this. the biggest challenge is to get people to come to haiti in the first place. for many tourists haiti is perceived as being dangerous and dirty. in jacmel the beaches are not exactly pristine.

it's a chance to be part of the lives of people like samson who hope to draw surfers to these waves and hope to make tourism grow. >> i would love there to be haitian representation in the surfing circuit. once they announce yeah, this kid is from haiti and's ripping it, people go, haiti surfing and the whole industry will pay attention. >> surf haiti remains a small project, and they hope that that will soon change. al jazeera jacmel, haiti. >> so this is the scene live in washington, d.c. at the moment. just by the white house. respecting a statement from president obama shortly. we'll bring that to you shortly

as it gets under way. patty, i guess you could say we've got two big international stories. you have the downed malaysian airlining, and then you have palestinians being killed, what are we expecting to hear from obama. >> reporter: the white house is saying that the president will come out and make a statement on ukraine. i want to preface that usually when the president makes a statement on ukraine he also mentions what is happening in gaza. the white house briefing that concluded just a short while ago many questions were about russian sanctions, about ukraine, about the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the obama

policy. there were only a couple of questions asked about gaza. domestically he may not feel pressure to speak about gaza, but he will speak about ukraine, and he'll be visiting wounded troops at walter reed and then head to kansas city to talk to regular americans before giving an economic speech. >> the ukraine is expected to feature prominently in his speech no doubt, but speaking earlier about the war of words, if you call it, the rhetoric that is taking place between israel and the u.s. over the situation in gaza. usually you wouldn't question u.s. involvement in israeli-palestinian conflict particularly when it comes to talks with israel. but in this case it seems as though there are questions about the sort of circumstances of john kerry's involvement, if you can say it like that.

>> exactly. you're right, you don't normally see this when it comes to allies like the u.s. and israel. they try to make sure that at least publicly they're on the same page. behind this is all the intense criticism that secretary of state john kerry was facing in israel. they felt it was coming directly from prime minister netanyahu as office, and they were angry. today we saw secretary kerry come out and defend his action saying just last night he poke with prime minister netanyahu trying to come up with a way to find a humanitarian cease-fire. he said 9 only reason why the president got involved with the cease-fire is because israel asked them to. then the prime minister refuted that. he didn't ask secretary kerry to