[ technical difficulties ] >> these are the latest pictures in northwestern gaza. despite the collapse of the ceasefire, talks could still be on track. the leader of the palestinian authority says that a delegation is due to meet in cairo on saturday. gerald tan reports.

>> reporter: a truce in name, but perhaps now in tatters. the humanitarian ceasefire had just come into effect. both sides had agreed to a pause in hostilities under un and us-brokered deal. >> israel will be able to continue it's defensive operations for those tunnels 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. >> reporter: the trust took force at 8:00 am. shortly after, israelis resumed their shelling. >> and about 90 minutes into the ceasefire, out comes a suicide bomber, and a gunmen behind him,

blew himself up, killing two soldiers. >> reporter: but hamas has given its own account of events. the israeli enemy is the one that breached the trust. the palestinian resistance fought with them. and this was our right to defend ourselves. >> reporter: some of the fiercest fighting on friday has desends on rafa. many left the shelters and found themselves in hospitals. >> translator: we were told there was a truce at 8:00 in the morning, so we went home. and as we started sorting out our things they started striking our homes. >> translator: this is my mother uncles, they were hit while they

were in their car. >> reporter: the number of casualties is rising, not by the day, but by the hour. gerald tan, al jazeera. >> i'm going to take you live now to the united nations in new york, where there's a statement on the collapse of that un/u.s. brokered ceasefire. >> according to the latest reports, two soldiers were taken captive after the humanitarian ceasefire took effect. this is a grave violation of the ceasefire. and one that is likely to have serious consequences for the people of gaza, and beyond. the secretary general demands the immediate and unconditional release of the captured soldier. they are deeply concerned about the resumption of attacks on

gaza, and the killing of over 70 palestinians this morning, instead of giving both sides a much-needed retrieve, this breach of the ceasefire is now leading to renewed escalation. the secretary general urges both sides to show maximum restraint and return to the agreed 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire that tragically lasted such a brief period of time. he also urges those with influence over the parties to do everything to convince them to observe the ceasefire. and that has been emailed to you and is now online. the second statement regarding uganda. the secretary general welcomes the decision by to annul the

anti-homosexuality law. >> the un secretary general spokesman. now talking about a story we updated you a little earlier on here, and we'll be reporting again later in this bulletin, about striking down that law in uganda, but earlier he was talking about the collapse of the ceasefire in gaza. let's bring in james bayes who is in west jerusalem at the moment. you heard he was expressing the secretary general's dismay. james, what are the options now diplomatically for the un as it tries to broker a -- some sort of peace between the two sides? well, they have.

[ technical difficulties ] i think there will be questions about what the israeli military were doing at the time. and the exact words of this ceasefire agreement. because the ceasefire agreement wasn't very clear about what the israeli military could do. and john kerry gave his explanation, he said the israeli

military could carry on defensive operations behind the lines that they currently occupied, but there are -- >> james -- james -- i'm going to interrupt you, because we're going to go back to the un where he is talking about gaza again. >> reached 434,000 while 1.1 million people have been displaced by their homes. the rainy season has also increased the risk of diseases across the country. the mostly common reported illnesses include pneumonia, malaria and other rest pyre forry illnesses. most people are living in self made shelters, but some are still in open areas, and most rely on food distribution to

survive. the conditions in a protection site are particularly dire -- >> this is the un secretary general's spokesman speaking at the un in new york. as i said we're expecting him to get to a question-and-answer session in just a moment with the reporters who are present in the room. he is giving a briefing as you probably gathered. he was talking about gaza a few moments ago when i interrupted james, and then moved on to sudan. in the meantime let's bring in kristin who is at the un in new york. kristin, the fact that this -- this ceasefire collapsed so early on, is -- what is the reaction there at the united nations? is that seen as a failure? is there much anger about it? >> well, we just heard the

statement of the secretary general condemning this latest breakdown in the ceasefire talks. the un, of course, is very focused on the humanitarian situation in gaza, and getting some relief to the civilians. which the un is charged with protecting and providing assistance for some -- over 240,000 people have left their homes in gaza, some 200,000-plus of them are seeking shelter in un schools, so it is the un on the front lines trying to deal with these people who are in need of food, are in need of water, who don't have power for most of the day because the power plant has been knocked out, but in terms of the -- what happened on the ground, we heard the secretary general saying in a somewhat guarded statement that if two soldiers were killed and one abducted after the ceasefire was supposed to go

into effect, that would constitute a grave violation of the terms of the ceasefire and call in to credibility the commitment of the parties to that's fire. so the un, of course, is focused on the civilian toll and trying to find a way to deal with that in the midst of this very difficult situation. >> all right. kristin, many thanks indeed. let's go back to james bayes. i'm sorry to have interrupted you so unnecessarily james. but we were talking about reactivating that's fire. how can it be reactivated? it is dead or can it be renegotiated. the fact that it appeared that both sides could take their own interpretation of the wording. >> well, i think the one thing you have got to remember, to have a ceasefire, you need two partners in the ceasefire. now you have seen condemnation in the statements from the u.s.

and the un of hamas, but i think what you are going to see potentially in the coming hours, probably very soon, because about now there is an israeli security cabinet meeting underway is possibly a change in the israeli position. it is quite possible that israel does not right now want to sign up to another ceasefire and is going to go instead for military escalation. so we need to see where the international community particularly in the shape of the u.s. and the un respond to the new circumstances, but i don't think we know all of the new circumstances yet. i think it's possible that we will have to wait and see what prime minister netenyahu announces. the security cab note meeting, and i can tell you it is likely, because it is coming up to shabat where it gets dark here, that that meeting won't be too long, and we'll probably hear a response from the israelis, and then i think the difficult task

for the international mediators to work out a new plan or reactivate the existing 72-hour ceasefire plan that fail sod bad -- failed so badly. >> james many thanks. we'll bring you anything news worthy that comes out of the un. let's take you live now to gaza city. charles stratford is there. charles you managed to get south of gaza city and go to some of the more inaccessible areas. what did you see today? >> yes, we went south to a town which has been closed now for a couple of weeks, and like other areas in the north has suffered repeated heavy israeli bomba bombardme bombardment. and people haven't been allowed

to get in. so we were down there about 2.5 hours after the ceasefire started. and this is what we found. >> reporter: we arrived near the border around 2.5 hours after the ceasefire started. already the tank shelling had begun. most of the ambulances waiting to ferry the dead and injured out could get no further blocked by a crate for from a shell. people were walking across the land carrying the bodies on stretchers. >> translator: it looks like an earthquake has happened here. louses are completely destroyed. there's no organization to get the ambulances in and the dead and injured out. the bodies are decomposing in the heat. >> reporter: we pushed forward through the south.

14-wheel drive ambulance pushed through, but soon turned around. >> translator: the area is completely sealed off. it is a total no-go zone. we're trying to get to the bodies, but it's too dangerous. >> reporter: we stuck to the road as we moved forward we heard reports that two people ventured into the land on either side had been hit by snipers. what remained of people's homes lay ahead. one group told us not to film. as we passed we saw the dead man was wearing the fatigues of a palestinian fighter. another body laid wrapped in a clat to their side. this was as far as we could go. the pushed as far forward as we can now. people are running out of the village the smell of death is

overpowering. there was a sudden rush to get as far away from the tanks as possible. a bulldozer tried to clear a path for the ambulances. the ceasefire was over, there was no choice but to go. >> charles with the ceasefire over as you say then, now there in gaza and news that an israeli solder has been abducted, what is the mood there right now? >> well, it's a surprising. it's incredible to see how resilient the people are here in gaza. there are quite a people out on the streets trying to get on with their daily lives, but, yes, you are right, the news of the reported disappearance of the palestinian soldier has made things a little bit more tense. there have been warnings put out by the israeli military to stay

off of the streets after dark, and especially down in the south where we have seen some of the concentrated bombing in rafa all day that? shelling is [ technical difficulties ] >> and another two, closer here to gaza city. so there is a sense of tension here and this reported disappearance of this israeli soldier, and this ongoing cabinet meeting that we're hearing as well, and the

potential of another 80,000 reservists being called up and the reoccupation of rafa by the israeli military, yes, things are certainly increasing in tension here this evening. >> all right. charles, many thanks indeed. all right. let's bring in the head of international relations for fattah. he joins us live from ramallah. thanks for being with us. president abbas says that united palestinian delegation will be traveling to cairo tomorrow. what will they be doing there? >> well, we presume that the international community and egypt and the united states will still its best to rescue this ceasefire, and therefore, we -- our delegation, which includes five hamas participants would be ready in egypt to talk about what is required

immediately after that's fire, i.e., opening up gaza, ending the siege of gaza, releasing prisoners and so on. so as the people of gaza are resisting steadfastly, the delegation will be in cairo as an absolute show in reality of willingness to go through the ceasefire. >> how much of a set back to any negotiating process that you play enter into is the capture of an israeli soldier today? >> well, hamas have not as of yet admitted there is a captured israeli soldier, but we know what the israelis are doing that cannot be hidden. they are just bombarding gaza, north and south. they are killing at least 100 people today, and they are destroying homes as they go, and mr. netenyahu was prepared for that yesterday when he insisted that the ceasefire does not mean

that they will stop trying to blow up what he calls tunnels. blowing up these tunnels means blows up houses above them. and between 8:00 and 9:00 this morning, the israelis blew up 30 houses in the -- while claiming they are blowing tunnels. i don't know how can you -- with this happening claim that the israelis are respecting the ceasefire. >> are all factions, all palestinian factions united in their aims as they try to negotiate a ceasefire? and if they are, will there be anyone willing to talk to them when they get down to negotiating? >> well, the -- the -- the negotiating team shows a -- really, a very unique unity between the palestinian factions lead by president abbas, and that is to obtain an end of this

holocaust in gaza, an end to this israeli aggression, a real ceasefire, followed by a decent opportunity for the people of gaza to live safely to have access to water and -- and electricity and gas, to have access to a harbor from which they can send and receive exports and imports. chances for people of gaza to survive. as a step towards ending this israeli occupation, uniting gaza and the west bank, and producing eventually a -- a -- a real agreement, creating an independent palestinian state in the west bank and gaza. to do this we have to start with the first step, i.e., stopping this war in gaza and the killing of children, women, and men, in gaza. >> okay. good to talk to you. many thanks indeed. i will take you back to that press conference underway at the

united nations in new york let's listen in. >> the ceasefire seems to have lasted for maybe 90 minutes. it is a tragic opportunity for both sides to end the fear and suffering. and we need to find a way to get back to that. i think stephan has talked already about the situation. the situation now. you have asked me, the -- we see instead of calm today. instead of seeing palestinian families out able to tend to their daily needs, instead we see escalation, and it's the secretary general is quite, quite upset about this. and we're looking to see how the same partners can work together to try to get back to where we

hoped to be last night when the statement was released. this is not going to be easy. i think all of us have seen situations where in the past -- where there have been captures of israeli soldiers, and that has -- i think anyone could have predicted that was going to lead to escalation. now we have to figure out how to get away from the escalation and back to the ceasefire. and the secretary general called for the immediate release of the soldier reported missing and captured. >> there are going to be a lot of questions, so if you could stick to one question, we have time to get everybody. >> reporter: thank you. in fact hamas, the reality is hamas is a major party in this conflict. do you think that you should talk to hamas directly or maybe talk -- let's say you have been

promoting iran in the region, in the conflict in syria and lebanon, to talk to iran. do you believe you should talk directly to hamas or talk to iran? and i have another question on syria, what kind of relationship are you maintaining with the figures in the regime, especially [ inaudible ]? thank you. >> let's try to stick to gaza and the one question. thanks ali. >> the -- i think robert has said before, and i will paraphrase what he said, we could not do our job as the united nations if we did not have a way to talk to all parties. we need to be able to have channels of communication where all of the parties that includes

hamas know our views. where -- where we are able to hear from all parties. i'm not going to go into tactically how we do this, but i want to assure you, ali, that we -- hamas knows how to reach us, to debate things with us, we know how to reach hamas. but the assurances last night were assurances that not only we received but were conveyed to others. it was -- we had shared assumptions by those involved that the -- that there were assurances from all of the parties including hamas about honoring the ceasefire that began -- it was supposed to begin today at 8:00 and was supposed to have lasted for 72 hours. >> all right. that's the under secretary general for political affairs at the united nations. let's get some analysis, and we'll report anything news

worthy to you, of course. james what do you make of what you heard? >> well, i think you are hearing what the un has been saying for some considerable time on the process and how the process works. he was talking -- referring there to robert serry, robert serry and his and ban ki-moon's man in the region. there was a question about whether they are talking to hamas. he said they wouldn't give the tactical information, but makes it clear that the un does speak to all sides. and they have been trying to work towards this plan, the idea of a 72-hour ceasefire, and immediate talks in cairo. the double is that plan really has completely collapsed now. we have the israelis with a captured soldier, the palestinians with a large death toll on the day there was supposed to be a ceasefire. and right now as the un is

talking, so is the israeli security cabinet meeting. and mr. feltman is talking about trying to revive a ceasefire. i'm not at all sure -- we'll have to wait and see -- i'm not at all sure the security cabinet will be talking about that's fire. i think they may well will talking about military escalation now. >> james many thanks. the u.s. says hamas is to blame for the breakdown of the ceasefire. let's cross to washington, d.c. and speak with rosalyn jordan. the secretary of state has been talking about the collapse of this truce. what has he said? >> well, one thing that john kerry did not say in this particular statement, adrian was that the ceasefire is considered dead. what he did say was that the international community really needs to step up to put pressure on hamas to honor its commitments under the terms of the ceasefire, which apparently

took the better part of a week to negotiate. he also reiterated that the u.s. is standing by israel's efforts to try to recover the soldier who apparently was captured about 90 minutes after the ceasefire started at 5g on friday. this is hour, a very difficult situation for the u.s., because it seems every time that there is a moment where they might be able to get the warring parties to the negotiating table and try to get them to work out their differences, everything falls apart and then we're right back to square one. >> is the secretary of state willing to -- to -- to renegotiate this truce? or is it -- the one they have agreed on is the one that he's -- he's going to go with? what i'm trying to say is why did the u.s. leave this ambiguous language in the -- the truce deal that allowed israeli

soldiers to stay in gaza, even during the ceasefire? >> well, apparently this was one of the initial demands that prime minister benjamin netenyahu had when john kerry approached him on monday about trying to start another ceasefire, one that both sides would agree to. and the decision was made that because of the -- of the israeli concern that was breaching israeli territory and making possible hamas attacks on israeli persons and property, that they had to be left in. there's alls the very practical standpoint of this is a humanitarian ceasefire that was negotiated, not a military ceasefire, in which case you would see the israeli army pulling back across the border, and hamas fighters retreating to wherever they were, but this was not that kind of ceasefire.

and in fact the one that had been proposed more than a week ago would have been another humanitarian ceasefire. you would have not seen israeli troops leading gaza. and this is the kind of situation that happens much more frequently than i think most of our viewers realize. but if this had not been in the agreement. israel never would have signed on in the first place. >> many thanks rosalyn jordan there live in washington. saudi arabia king has made his first comments on israel east gaza offensive, which he called a crime against humanity. >> translator: all of this is happening under the eyes of the international community and human rights organizations. this constitutes a crime against humanity. this will create a generation that will only believe in violence, and those who are silent on terrorism will be the first vi