that's our show for today. i'm ali velshi. the people of gaza venture out in to the streets as a ceasefire takes effect. israeli soldiers are still dismantling gads a's tunnel network. we ask hamas with whether their fighters can hold fire. ♪ ♪ hello, welcome to al jazerra life from our had you had quarters herheadquarters herein. ray series of mass i can explosions in taiwan leave 25 dead and hundreds more injured. and building new treatment centers for the victims of

africas he bola out break as the who announced $100 million in new funding. welcome to the program. it's not a long-term solution, but all sides in the gaza conflict have agreed to a 72-hour humanitarian truce. it started at 8:00 local time. that's about two hours ago. it came in the form of a joint announcement from the united nations and the united states last night. all sides have agreed to hold fire, but are expected to hold negotiations later in he cairo. but israeli soldiers will be allowed to stand their ground in gaza. part of the joint statement from the u.n. secretary of general ban ki-moon and u.s. secretary of state john kerry said during this time the forces on the ground will remain in place.

we urge all parties to act with restraint until this humanitarian ceasefire begins. and to fully abide by their commitments during the ceasefire. >> israel will be able to continue its defensive operations for those tums that are behind its lines. and the palestinians will be able to receive food, medicine, and additional humanitarian assistance as well as to be able to tend to their wounded. bury their dead. >> well, a chance for perhaps some respite in the gaza strip. let's go over to israel and to -- sorry, to the occupied territories, our james bays our diplomatic editor is in west gentleman lose ruujerusalem.

a bit of diplomatic activity. israel claims its took place will stay on the ground in gaza and continue to destroy the apparent tums there. now, could that be viewed as a violation of the ceasefire? that's a big question. and also how the palestinians will act if it does continue. >> reporter: well, i think you heard john kerry there spell out what is the delicate balance that he is trying to strike here. you heard him say that behind the lines where israeli troops are they can continue that work destroying the tunnels, but they cannot move forward any further. now, i think this is going to be controversial here inside israeli society because the israeli public have been led to believe that they can actually destroy all of these tums, they have been given very high expectations. so i think there might be some distress among the israeli

public and look to potential problems among the political class in israel before this deal for this 72-hour paw pause was e there was a cabinet meeting in which prime minister netanyahu said the operation will continue until we did he troy all of thostroydestroy all thosetunnel. he was getting decent. israeli media are reporting that two senior ministers, gilbert and sylvan who is the energy minister, both said they felt there should be a much greater objective of the operation and that is completely removing hamas from the gaza strip. >> if that's the case, james, then do the public and the politicians and those sitting in cab get give the prime minister the benefit of the doubt? because after 72 hours, are they then expecting the israelis to continue their shelling of the gaza strip? >> reporter: well, i there is even a problem, so with the 72

hour period we've got here, and that's just unfortunate timing. it is, of course, the holy day, friday for miss muslims right now, and we know that sundown it will be holy time for the jews too. the palestinian delegation that we have heard about, we have seen a list of 12 members, three from the gaza strip, the west from the west bank or other parts of the middle east, they will be leaving we believe at mid taye local time just a couple of hours from now, i am told the israeli delegation will not be leading until saturday even so the negotiations won't be starting in cairo until saturday evening at the earliest. that's halfway through the 72-hour period. and we are already hearing that u.s. officials and we believe that the deputy secretary of state bill burns will be going to cairo are already trying to negotiate an extension because

they don't think the 72 hours is going to be long enough to actually sit down and get down to proper, substantive negotiations about.issues that both sides want to talk about. >> there lies another problem that you have touched upon really, james, is who represents the palestinian factions and who will or won't talk to each other at these proposed talks in cairo and who is actually seen as a mediator and a fair broker. >> reporter: well, i think you've got that problem poe potential on on both sides. you have technically a consensus ube unity government of the palestinians. you have a list of parties, certainly a large part is from hamas, members of fatah, islamic jihad and other parties in those that are going to cairo. but will they all agree on the way forward when they are actually around the table? we have to wait and see. will the israeli delegation be

getting mixed signals coming back from west jerusalem from the government here on the way they need to proceed. and, remember, the other factor in all of this, you got the regional did he mission, lots of different countries in the region have stakes, wants to have influence and leverage over the final deal that's done. because, remember, what we've got now is a 72-hour paws in hostilities. this isn't a final ceasefire deal. that needs to be negotiated. >> indeed we'll be following events with you, james from west jerusalem as the day progresses, that's for joining us, james bays our diplomatic editor there. let's go to gaza now. joining me on the phone, explain to our viewers where you are at the moment and what you are seeing as we are now two hours in to the ceasefire. >> reporter: i am in the east of the gaza strip.

it has seen perhaps some of the worst israel i bombardment of this 25-day campaign. and what i see here is the scene of utter chaos and utter di destruction. nearly every building i am looking at is damaged in some way. some buildings completely destroyed. and the air here, the air is just thick with the smell of death. we can only imagine it is the smell of rotting corpses. keep in mind, people haven't been able to come here for days now. even though some people have tried to leave, others simply were unable to him they were either too old or had nowhere to go. and so, again, just scenes of utter carnage here, just over two weeks ago, you may remember, saw perhaps one of the deadliest strikes of this 25 day assault by israeli forces over 70 people were killed here over a matter

of a few hours. >> of course the infrastructure as you say is so badly damaged there. given an opportunity for family to his try to return to see the conditions of that i have homes is there anything that they can actually rescue? >> reporter: well, this is perhaps one of the most stunning things that i am seeing right now. i see people with whatever meager belongings that they have coming back. they are coming back to what is left of their homes, and i want to stress what's left of their homes because there is very little in many cases. most of these buildings don't look inhabitable. but here we are two hours in the ceasefire and people wanting to come back, wanting to assess what is left of their lives because even though it's badly damaged, even though the roads here are just full of rubble and as i was saying the air here is thick with the smell of rotting corpses, this is still people's homes, this is still people's

neighborhoods, and before me i can see people, men, well, children, carrying mattresses, carrying clothes, water, heading back to what is left of their neighborhood. >> very desperate situation there. but we'll continue to follow events with you throughout the day. he is there for us in gas. now the deputy minister of foreign affairs for hamas, he joins me on the telephone line from gaza. thank you for joining us live on al jazerra, sir. on the surface, are you in control of the factions and will you respect the ceasefire? and will they? >> i can see that we have a good understanding and a good commitment from both factions, and we have good talks with them and is a think all of them, all of them respect the ceasefire. because we think this is.

[ inaudible ] and also to give a chance for the folks in cairo to see. but i think the conditions is a commitment of the israel occupation forces to stop all military activities on the ground. and i think this message will conte for mr. kerry and to the unites nations and all international observers that they should stop all military operations activities. [ inaudible ] >> that's what i was going to ask you next. what is your position on the position that israeli troops will stay where they are? will stay on the land that they have gained during this operation and will continue to search for apparent tums and detroit them. >> for the moment we talk to international. [ inaudible ] this is not accepted. this is aggression. and i think israel has not the

right to continue the military operation on the grounds because they will use it and to demolish more homes, it will be open for what they want. and at the same time,. [ inaudible ] this is not fair. we talk to the international observers, that if israel continue its military operation on the ground. as our right to defend ourselves and to take the necessary measures against them. >> does that mean if there is a military operation against tunnels by the israelis in gaza, you will retaliate? >> it is our right to defend ourself and stop any military aggression. and as i told you before. if there are tanks here there is

are this is an aggression against ourselves and our people. we have thousands of people that want to go home. and inside the. [ inaudible ] and i think this kind of aggression, we have to stop this. >> now, nothing has happened at the moment. so we continue with the potential of talks in cairo. and a representative group, as we heard from our correspondent in west jerusalem, a pal tin general groups going to cairo. a very difficult few hours ahead because not everybody wants to talk to hamas and hamas doesn't wants to talk to everybody that's there. who will you talk to? >> first of all one poll any on religion and one policy on. [ inaudible ] and we will go as one delegation turned a palestinian delegation and we

will sit together in order to have a common region and after that we will does it with the egyptian side and also in order to achieve an understanding or how can i say this it, a verbal agreement for policy and egyptians and hopefully the egyptians will move the israeli side and discuss with them the demands of the palestinian people. we insist that all of israel should stop all of the military operation and they should move out of gaza. and also to limit the siege in gaza for the materials, for export and import and also to release the prisoners who were detained again, rearrested against the agreement of 2011. >> indeed. the demands by both sides are great and important and we will follow events from cairo as the day progresses, for the moment,

deputy minister for foreign affairs for hamas, thank you so much. well, still to come here on al jazerra, the moment gas exploded in taiwan's second largest city and the devastating result. and risking their lives the health workers trying to stop the spread of ebola. ♪

i voted for culture... ...with a 'k.' how are you? i voted for plausible deniability.

i didn't kill her, david. and i voted for decisive military action. ♪ america, you cast your votes. now, go to xfinity on demand and select the people's hotlist to see this summer's top 100 shows and movies. i voted! ♪ ♪ welcome back, you are watching al jazerra. these are our top stories. a 72-hour ceasefire is in place in gaza. these are live pictures coming out of the strip.

there has been calm now for two hours and 15 minutes. hamas told us on this program that they will return fire if israeli troops continue to dismantle the tunnel network. the troops organized by the u.s. and the u.n. does allow for israeli soldiers to continue that operation. negotiations will be held in egypt during the talks, let's hope a longer lasting piece with be bicycle are brokered more than 1400 have been killed. five israel i soldiers were killed on the gaza border late on thursday. overall 61 soldiers have died as well as two israeli civilians and a thai worker. israeli troops working in gaza will stay there during the truce. over to far east asia now, where a series of massive gas he is please in taiwan have killed

25 people and injured hundreds more, it's feared many more casualties will be found you were the rubble. >> reporter: the moment of an explosion caught on camera. it was a quiet thursday night. and then this. a series of violent blasts rocks the city. the intensity of the flame light up the streets. and the shock of the people filming these pictures is clear. they drive through the city and find another blast site. so far, five different explosions have been documented. >> right now there is emergency senters and they opened hotels free for the people to get evacuated and the area is around the area two to three-kilometers, which is

pretty large. >> reporter: the explosions upended cars and threw them across the streets. more than 20 200 casualties have been reported so far. >> translator: i saw victims laying on the ground after the explosion, they couldn't move. i assume the blast broke their legs. >> reporter: there was a gas league in the sewer system. some people have reported seeing smoke coming out of the drains accompanied by a gas-like smell. just before the blasts. in this footage, the person filming can be heard explaining some of the damage. >> it's very dangerous and i don't want to get anymore close to that. >> reporter: this is taiwan's second largest city with a population of two and three quarter million people. with such a wide area effected, emergency crews fear many more casuallies will be found in the coming hours. dominick kane, al jazerra. a photo journalist who was at the scene of the explores, he joins me now on the phone.

thanks for joining us live on al jazerra. it seems from the pictures that we are seeing, that the explosion has ripped in to a huge swath of the city from residential areas to business and commercial areas, just describe the scene for us. >> the scene is like really horrifying because a lot of people are there trying to help out the firefighters, including the police, and including of course the journa journalists, e is there to help out. the fire is like really big and the blast went down really deep. at the same time, like a lot of scooter drivers, scooter drivers, even the firefighters trucks went down in the rubble. >> this part of the city is -- this area of the city is very busy. 24 hours a day. the injuries, as we have heard them at the moment, is only 20 killed, as many as 300 injured.

what sort of figures are local television channels or radio stations there telling you about the people that have died or are injured? >> well, right now the injuries like right now the injuries increase right now because last night while i was over there, i only hear like 15 deaths and only 11 lost. and also more than 240 injured. and this morning it has increased even more and more. that area, that area that that happened was a very crowded area. a lot of like malls are nearby and a lot of like, you know, like tourist area is nearby. >> many people who experienced the explosion and we are seeing some cctv footage of that now. describe it as an earthquake. along with that there was a smell of gas. what more do you know about

that? >> when it happened, before i know when it happened, i was at home, actually, and next thing you know, is like explosion, we felt that shock wave, the door was like shaking and the window was shaking and next thing i know like i got a call from the police station around nearby the radio and saying it's a huge explosion nearby and if i report nearby to help out. >> obviously this has affected the sewer system and the road system there. but also can you tell us has it affected electricity supplies or water distribution or power issues, anything like that? >> actually the area that they are in, that area where the explosion is really near to a lot of like gas stations and elecelectricity power lines, i d that more than 3,000 areas nearby was iowas in block out when that happened, it was like

the traffic was disaster. and i was trying to actually drive in ask try to drive to the area when it happened. did you it's really i hard to drive because everyone is driving crazy and everyone was like trying to figure out directions, where to go base it totally blackout, no light no, nothing. the only light you see on the scooter and on the car. >> it certainly is still a developing story there as the rescue operation continues for the moment, danny chu thanks foo joining us from taiwan. the relike us leader of china's largest mosque has been murdered during the latest round in the violence in the region. the men attacked with knives and axes after morning players on thursday. he was a controversial figure and known for backing the government in his attempt to control muslim separatists. two of the attackers were shot

by police while a third was arrested. napal has allowed the funeral of a senior leader of tibetan buddhism to go ahead despite claims of pressure from china. thousands flew in from abroad to pay their final respects, he died in germany in june. he wanted to be created in nepal but the government refused at first. they feared the cremation rights would turn in to an anti chinese tibetans angry over china's rule of their home lands. rescue workers in india are trying to find survivors after a landslide flattened almost an entire village. 35 people have been confirmed dead after wednesday's lands slide. it's thought dozens more could be buried under the rubble. sierra lyon and liberia have both declared a state of emergency in response to the out break of ebola. it's killed more than 700 people in west africa since march.

and now the world health organization has announced a $100 million emergency plan to bad the disease. it will pay for several hundred medical personnel, including doctors, nurses and epidemiologists. it will help to protect neighboring at-risk countries. communities will be mobilized to help deal with the out break. the importance of screening at borders will also be emphasized. now this report. >> reporter: struggling to cope with an epidemic that has killed at least 720 people so far. health workers treating ebola patience in a hospital in sierra lyon. it is a race against time as health workers fear the out break is getting out of control. an alarm is spreading in other countries. the u.s. peace core is evacuated 340 volunteers, from sarah lyon, and liberia. here in nigeria where one by lear vinnie man has known to

have died of the is he stkao*ez, authoritiedisease.authorities ao deal with the disease, they are screening suspected cases in the airport. >> we are insuring that passengers that are boarding those flights tar ebola free. we are also insuring that as soon as those passengers are ready to take off, we also have lists of the manifests, which we look at. and also we have professionals on the grounds who look at the passengers especially from areas that ebola effected. >> reporter: an out break in nigeria would have a huge i believe pack not just in the country but across the region. the authorities here hope such measures will help to stop the virus spreading in nigeria. but any fear any major out break will find a way in through the porous land and seaboarders. it's spread through close

contact with those affected he especially through bodily fluids some say dietary condition is affecting. complete isolation is also add to this problem. >> they are very concerned about what kinds of opportunities they will have to stay in contact with tear families because they know that they will be isolated and they understand why. but they are, of course, concerned about dieing alone. >> reporter: that is complicating the effort to stop the disease. the out break in west africa is already the worst the region has seen and both government and medical experts are braising themselves for more bad news. al jazerra, nigeria. al jazerra journalist peter greste's family has described his conviction as a serious

injustice, they were given long sentences in june after being accused of did h defaming egypt. >> we accept the integrity and independence of any country's judicial system. and administration of the law. in no way would we want to challenge that. however, we passionately and absolutely know that a grave and very serious injustice has taken place in peter's case. and we won't shy away from professing that position as long as we can. >> in his mind and ours too, there is absolutely no way that he's going to be there for the next seven years. it's a matter of, you know, going through the appeals process and hopefully we will get to the stage where the --

they have realized that this is a mistake. >> the three al jazerra journalists have now spent 216 days in an egyptian prison. al jazerra continues to demands their release. as with many favt food restaurants, when you work in most american mcdonald's, you are in a business owned by a franchise holder. the national relation board issued a decision that could shake up the rules of game. it's "inside story". hello, i'm ray suarez.