>> tech know. >> we're here in the vortex. only on al jazeera america. humanitarian disas ter in gaza. hospitals are overwhelmed after more israeli air strikes. ♪ ♪ also ahead, thousands flee libya as the country's two biggest cities decent in to chaos. thailand's military strengthens its grips two months after taking power in a coup. exploring the mysteries of

mercury. nasa's mission continues on a decade on from launch. ♪ ♪ >> israeli air strikes on gaza have stretched in to a 27th day. in the past two gaze they have mainly targeted the city of rafah, which has seen a spike in violence since a humanitarian collapse on friday. israel's president says the offensive will continue until all of its goals of met. >> translator: the israeli army continues to work with full effectiveness to complete the objectives of the operation, which are the return of long-term calm and security for the sis are citizens of israel while causing severe damage for the foundations of terror. >> the bombard. a rafah means journalists can't gain access. charles is just outside rafah and sent this report. warning that you might find some of the images in his report

disturbing. >> reporter: three-year-old's face was burnt because an israeli air strike hit her home. her mother was killed in the attack in the town of rafah in the southern gaza strip. in another bed lies is rah and her daughter, she has had both of her legs amputated after her home was hit also. >> translator: i was trying to leave the house when the rocket exploded. >> reporter: her daughter has suffered terrible burns on his feet. her husband and her son have had their legs amputated as well. another daughter has suffered serious burns. three members of the family were killed in the attack. >> translator: there are many injured in rafah. there aren't sufficient hospital facilities there to treat them and we can't bring them here. >> reporter: these pictures were shot by a journalist in rafah with the routers news exactly. the town has been sealed off by

the israeli military since the breakdown of the latest ceasefire, we drove south from gaza city in convoy with other journalists there was almost no one else on the road. behind me is about four-kilometers to the town of rafah where we have seen this intense israel i military bomb bart. we have been speaking to ambulance men and locals that managed to get out. they are telling us it's literally too dangerous to go down there at the moment. this an ambulance is one of two that was attacked as it tried to reach wounded people inside rafah. >> translator: it's impossible to coordinate with the israeli military to get our ambulances in. it is very dangerous. >> reporter: abdullah says a colleague wag trying to coordinate with the israeli military in rafah when his ambulance was hit. in rafah there is no security for anyone to move. no taxis in civilian cars none on the streets. the ambulance drop people off at the hospital that's when the

strike happened. the vehicle took a direct hit. >> reporter: these medics say they will keep trying to get in to rafah to help the injured. innocent children, like her who have no role somewhat israel describes as hamas' terror campaign. charles stratford. al jazerra. also in gaza for us, it looks like you are at the site of yet more destruction. tell us about what you are seeing there. >> reporter: that's right. i am in an interesting front since this conflict began now more than three weeks ago. this is an area which is mostly agricultural land but it's close to the border with israel. the reason that is significant, is because israel has had the large ground presence, tanks, soldiers, snipers and the likes, but what we have noticed in the past sort of 10 hours or so is that the shelling that we have

seen, the ground presence that we have seen, seems to be easing off to a relatively large degree. but what we have seen a lot of, is air strikes and i am standing at a house, i will just have my cameraman sort of just pan over my shoulder and just show you. this house was destroyed by an air strike. so although it seems that the ground fighting that has really just gripped gaza for well over two weeks, seems to be subsiding a little bit. these air strikes continue and this is the sum result of those air strikes, a lot of devastation. in saying that, it hasn't been quiet in gaza, we know that in several areas, there have been attacks in rafah, gentleman ball i can't, in fact i can hear the loud thud of what we can only assume is artillery shelling of some sort. that hasn't stopped altogether. but, again, there does seem to be some sort of shift going on in israel's approach to this bombardment of the gaza strip.

>> okay. just stay with us so we can so on you viewers how four walks of bombard. has taken a toll. gaza's medical services are on the blink of collapse with 40% of medical staff unable to get to hospitals and clinics. a third of all hospitals being damaged due to israeli shelling. and half of all primary care clinics being closed. it's clear the medical situation? a dire state. thousands of people's lives as where you were right now. it has been thrown in disarray. hour people trying to cope? >> reporter: in a word, barely. people are barely coping with this now more than three-week long offensive. i will have my cameraman pan to what i am seeing over my

shoulder. you can see a family sheltering in the shade here. this family is a family whose home that i have just shown you was completely destroyed. in an israel i air strike, they have just come back in the last few hours, the reason they came back is they heard -- they weren't told directly but they heard israeli forces were pulling out of this area and it would be relatively safe. but as you can see, they have very little with them. their home is completely destroyed. and they find themselves in a very, very dire situation. and they are not alone. this is one family. but there are thousands and thousands of families all over the gaza strip just like this family who have lost everything. all they have left with them is the cloth on the ground their back. and in the case of this family. their lives. but not all of them, we understand that in the previous two conflicts, remember we have seen two conflicts here in gaza over the past five years before

this one started, they lost nine family members. and now they have lost their home as well. >> thanks very much for bringing us such di detailed and vivid pictures there of the situation this morning in gaza. so that is what is is going on there in the gaza strip. strip. let's now cross over to israel and join our diplomatic editor james bays in west jerusalem. what are you hear from the israeli side then this morning? >> reporter: well, you have heard the words of prime minister netanyahu, this operation will go on as long as it takes. i think that's an announcement that israel is now doing everything on its terms. but what is also clear from the israeli media who have been speaking to these israeli military is at the same time, they are actually pulling back their forces, what he was talking about on the ground, a relative lull in the bombing, and a removal some of the ground force is his what is the orders from the military commanders at

this stage. it seems that israel is completing its operations, winding up its operations and slowly redeploying its troops and certainly removing some of those troops out of gaza. now i think there is another significant development worth mention insurgent the last couple of hours, that's the announcement by the israeli military that that soldier that they earlier said was captured, goldin, they announced that he is dead. they are saying there is no doubt they believe he is dead. so that also means that those operations that they were doing in the rafah area they said to search for him obviously have come to an end. therthere is some speculation hy not have been killed by hamas, but by israeli bombardment in that area because we know the israeli military bombarded rafah immediately after it was reported that he had been captured. >> indeed. we believe over 150 palestinians killed in that particular

operation. james, let's move on to the diplomatic front of we have palestinian delegation arriving in coul cairo. we understand the u.s. delegation on also on its way. any further worked from the israelis on whether will attend? yesterday they were against it, does that still stand? >> reporter: it seems to be the case. and i think this is an interesting area of discussion now. because it looks like israel is now decided not to go down the plan of john kerry and ban ki-moon to have these talks to deal with all of the substantial issues. they have decided to do this on their own, to take their own action and to end this the way that they want to end it on their own, with the military option continuing and then one suspects a unilateral ceasefire. the problem with that is that those mediating the both sides, ban ki-moon, the u.n. secretary general and john kerry have made it quite clear they want to deal

with the substantial problems behind all of this. including the restricts on the people of gaza. as hamas and other palestinian politicians say lifting the siege of gaza. and i think there is going to be an interesting debate between the international community and israel, because certainly the international community have made it clear that it's not acceptable that this situation occurs every 18 months or so. they need to deal with it once and for all and it looks like israel, for now, is simply going to deal with it on its own terms. >> absolutely. okay, james, thanks very much. for bringing us the very latest there from west jerusalem. we are keeping a close eye on events there in gaza. but for now let's bring you some other news and fierce fighting has turned libya's two biggest cities in to battle grounds. near the capital tripoli oil depots burned after being hit by shells fired by rival militias and in libya's second largest city of ben gaz pennsylvania gae

renegade gem has been dealt a blow after militias overran several army bases and took control of the city. thousands of people continue to flee libya to neighboring tunisia. britain has announced it will send a navy ship to evacuate its citizens. we are more from tunisia. >> reporter: they all look the same, exhausted but relieved. this 19-year-old mont 19-year-on says it's not safe there anymore. >> translator: the missiles landed next to our house. >> reporter: so he packed his bag and left. >> translator: it's not secure in tripoli. it's chaos, no fuel, for oil, no electricity. nothing. >> reporter: thousands chose to flee as rival militias fought on the streets of the capital and

other cities, for some of these people it took days to be able to cross as desperate families tried to use the boarder crossing. >> translator: the situation is dangerous, you can hear heavy gone shots. we are scared for our lives so we fled to tunisia. >> reporter: after closing its border for a derrek the tunisian government reopened it on saturday. but only partially. and only for those who have proof that they are passing through tunisia and not planning to stay. government officials say tunisia can't become a shelter for refugees, just a transit for those trying to leave. the restriction meant that thousands of egyptians were stranded on the board fore days. on saturday a plan was agreed to start the process of evacuations, a couple of thousands a day will be allowed in to go straight to the airport, like this are these egyptians who were lucky enough to get through. but it will take days.

hundreds of thousands make their living here. only a track shun have left the country so far, but they are expected to evacuate as the violence raises and neighboring true missions has concerned on how such an exodus will effect their economy and security. especially since egypt has closed its borders and for many this is the only route out. al jazerra. tunisia. kilstill do on him. has the president of iran lived up to the hype? conflicted commemoration, the effort to remind germans of the historical significance of would war one.

why didn't you go tell your mom? >> betrayed by those they believed in the most >> there's bad people out there in youth sports >> could this happen to your child? >> my sole purpose in coming forward, is to help change the culture of sports >> an america tonight investigative report only on al jazeera america >> now available, the new al jazeea america mobile news app. get our exclusive in depth, reporting when you want it. a global perspective wherever you are. the major headlines in context. mashable says... you'll never miss the latest news >> they will continue looking for survivors... >> the potential for energy production is huge... >> no noise, no clutter, just real reporting. the new al jazeera

hello again, a reminder of the top stories here this hour on al jazerra. air strikes are continue to go pudge pummel gaza in what is now the 27th days of israel's offensive. within thousand 734 have been killed at least and 90 900 inju, an israeli soldier who had been missing in gaza has now been confirmed dead. the number of israeli troops killed is now at 64.

the united nations says gaza's medical% is about to collapse, 40% can't even get to the facilities and others are 30% damaged from shelling. it's been a year ins he took over as iranian president, he offered a series of proms, freedoms rights and an end to sanctionsanctions and dispute or ryan's nuclear program, but what so far has he delivered. 37 million iranians we want to the ballots looking for better tiles, with the weight of their expectations he stepped in to the role as president, political. practicinpragmatic and patrioti. >> translator: i am proud of the great people of iran, the honorable people thought i deserved this. they trust immediate so that i can begin on the path to serve the country. to enhance people's lives and welfare and national pride and interest. i deeply feel that i need you to

be there on this path. i need your cooperation. >> reporter: it was always going to be a long shot, even rouhani said so, iranians say his predecessor had pushed the country to the brink. the economy had crashed. iran's international reputation was in tatters. a decade of nuclear talks had gone nowhere and threat of war hungover the country. but a year in to rouhani's presidential term that is mostly no longer the case, say analysts. >> the relationship with the united states in iran in tone has changed dramatically. but moreover, fact that iranian and iranian officials are now in regular contact, that the foreign ministers regularly talk to each other and have no problem sitting down at the same table is a dramatic shift than what it was before. >> reporter: in doing so, rouhani's government secured a temporary nuclear deal. it has seen limited sanctions removed from iran. the value of the iranian real

has stabilized and the economy is growing again. his charm offensive has drawn presses, prime ministers and international business back to iran and has made him a hero at home. it's also helped calm the waters between iran and its parisian gulf neighbors worried about teheran's regional and nuclear ambitions, so instead of trying focus strengthening relationships with russia and latin american countries like his predecessor did, did the thgovernment of rouhani is makig hess relationships a priority. civil rights have not improved and that's the one thing iranians wants more than anything else. though rouhani's government does not control the institution's responsible for domestic supression, many believe that he can influence those that do. the question is do iranians have the patience to see if he actually can and will.

al jazerra. take you back now to live pictures that we are seeing from gaza city. the smoke has just cleared there. but there has been a huge explosion in an area of the center of gaza city coming under heavy israeli fire. i think we can bring you pictures of the moment of impact of that explosion. there you go. huge explosion there in the center of that heavily populated area in gaza city. and now we are going to take you back to the live shot. these are pictures of a second explosion there in that same area. it's very similar explosion happened there in the center of gaza city. now this is happening after the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu came on and promised that hamas would pay an

insufferable price for the rocket fire that has continued to be fired from gaza in to israel. saying this operation in gaza will take as much time as necessary, just earlier we were speaking to our correspondent in gads a and he said there appeared to be a relatively lull in the fighting there on sunday morning. but there had been sounds of artillery fire. i believe we can speak to him now. we have just seen two very big explosions there in the center of gaza city. are you getting any information as to where exactly they were hit something. >> reporter: it was in the center of gaza city. this is a very built up area. it's a commercial area, but also a residential area as well we understand that it was some sort of artillery shelling, which is interesting, because over the past several hours, we have seen a sharp decrease in that kind of

tactic or offensive by israeli forces. what we have really seen over the past several hours is more air strikes and perhaps even drone strikes. but, again, the sort of ground fighting which is required for this kind of artillery shelling seemed to have dropped off a little bit. how have, since you and i last spoke, maybe 15 or 20 minutes ago, i have heard the consistent sound of artillery shelling in the distance from where i am standing now. which is not very far from gaza city. so it appears again, although the israelis have publicly said that they are going to be scaling back some of their ground operation, it's clearly continuing. >> yeah, this artillery shelling that you are talking about indicates that this is part of the ground offensive of israel? >> reporter: that's right. the ground offensive rather israel's ground offensive began around a week to nine days after

their aerial bomb bart. of the gaza strip began. that's really when we saw the number of israeli soldiers, the number of dead -- the death toll of israel i soldiers kind of skyrocket. coming in to gaza on the ground is very tricky for this military, we can only describe it as urban warfare. this is a very small strip of land with a lot of people living on it. this ground offensive that they have take own has also struck a very large civilian toll as we well. but, again, as we have been hearing from the israelis that is that they were going to start scaling back on that kind of combat here in gaza. but as we have been seeing on our own cameras, that zip the case and inevitably whenever we see artillery shelling in these heavily-built up areas particularly in gaza cities there are casuallies as tell. >> thanks very much for joining us and making sense of those pictures that we are seeing on

our screens. just a recap for viewers, two rather large explosions seen in the very center of gas city. this indicates that the ground offensive there is continuing despite a relative lull in fighting that we have been seeing over the past few hours, we'll keep a close eye on gaza and bring you the changes as they happen. in meantime, thailand's rulings are insisting they are on the path to democracy. but this parliament is highly made up of those chose be by the coup leaders. more from bang congress. >> reporter: thailand's political landmarks have largely sat empty since a coup just over two months ago, providing an opportunity for a clean up. those who used to work here in government or opposition are now watching from the sidelines. >> i am jobless, actually.

>> reporter: parliament, though, is about to return to life. but not like it used to be. the army has taken the first steps towards forming a golf t government but the people about to enter this building have not been democratically elected. they have been handpicked by the army and more than half of them are current or retired members of the armed forces. the man who is expected to be interim prime minister is the man who led the coup, army chief general. beneath him in the assembly, there will be no representatives from political parties. >> translator: people believe that most problems are politically related. so to solve our problems which will only take a year or so, we want to be as neutral as possible and to be neutral, we don't want any political ties. >> reporter: this is all part of what the military says is a road map to democracy. culminating in an election possibly towards the end of neck

year. but there is concern about what the end product will look like. >> what we are afraid is whether or not the democracy, which is going to be return to people, will be really democracy. >> reporter: at the moment, there is no physical sign of any resistence to the coup. leaders and groups that supported the ousted government wouldn't appear on camera. one told us they felt like they had gun to his their heads. even this small gathering to mark 100 days since the murder of a prominent political activist was closely watched biplane clothed police and military. under martial law, thailand is peaceful again, some worry that if the army tries hang onto power too long, things could change. >> from now on i think there will be a lot of challenges, economically, socially, and politically for them. and the tide could turn. >> reporter: for now government houses the office of the prime minister sits vacant waiting for its next occupant who is likely

to be an orem army general. now 10 years ago nasa launched an ambitious mission to explore the mysteries of mercury. the space craft messenger is now orbiting less than 100-kilometers above the planet surface and sending back information way beyond initial expectations. tom ackerman reports. >> reporter: it took messenger more than six years to journey close enough to enter orbit around mercury. almost 58 million-kilometers from earth. the scientist who his designed and built it at the johns hopkins advanced physics laboratory figured they could send back at most 2,000 images of a planet that is too close to the blinding sun for telescopes to observe. now after receiving 10 times that number of pictures, they have a wealth of day tate a datr couey where temperatures range from 40 fast down to min minus 150 degrees celsius.

they have mapped the topography with new information sent back by messenger as recently as a few moose ago. messenger has produced conclusive evidence inside the craters lie deposits of water ice an encouraging fining for those who dream of making settlement in deep space a reality. >> this is saying to us that one of processes that takes place in our solar system can trap water and have it there if we ever get there. >> reporter: the facts learned about the properties on, below and above mercury's surface are small pieces of a grant solar system puzzle that the sign tiffs want to solve. >> there is a big difference in a progression of how these planets look what their composition is, and we are trying to understand how it all makes one consistent picture of the formation and evolution of the solar system. >> reporter: messenger is project today lose object bit and finally crash in nba to the

planet sometime next april. it will take another year for its data to be analyzed but in the coming decade the european space agency plans to hawpe of two more orbiters to carry on the mission of uncovering mercury's mysteries. tom ackerman, al jazerra. >> new dawn in beijing, the ancient capital of the world's fastest growing country, home to the 2008 olympics. it's the vibrant centre, the super power, where the old wrestles with the new. communism clashes with capitalism and a new global