♪ this is al jazeera. >> welcome to the newshour at al jazeera's headquarters. of over the next 60 minutes, palestinians bury 10 members of the same family killed by annitsisi airstrike while sheltering in a united nations school. isition's defenses switches to an air campaign as prime minister benjamin netanyahu warns of an intolerable price if palestinian fighters continue to fire on israel. rescuers search for survivors after an earthquake in southern

china kills more than 175. we will have the latest. >> an al jazeera exclusive with the latest on fighting in syria's biggest city, aleppo. and why a mission to mercury has deliver delivered a new message from a son-scorched world. palestinians have been burying dead after renewed israeli attacks. this time, an airstrike tilled 10 members of the same family who were taking cover inside a united nation's school which was being used as a shelter. campaign is now in its 27th day and the human cost continues to climb. 64 israeli soldiers have now been killed. three civilians have also been

killed in israel. one of whom was a thai national. 1 with 8 palestinians have been killed in the israeli operation. the u.n. estimates around 80% of them are civilians. more than 9,370 people have been injur injured. ,500 are children. >> palestinians are taking shelter in u.n. shelters trying to escape the bombardment. this was the scene at that particular airstrike that killed 10 people in rafa, a school being used by the united nations to house those fleeing the fighting was hith, a school being used by the united nations to house those fleeing the fighting was hit. 10 were killed and more than 30 others injuries. the united nations secretary general has issued a statement. the attack is another gross violation of international humanitarian law which clearly requires protection by both parties of palestinian

civilians, u.n. staff and u.n. premises among other u.n. facilities. the secretary general repeats his demand to the parties to immediately end the fighting and return to the path of peace. this madness must stop. our correspondent has been to the site of the attack in rafah, and here is his eyewitness report. >> we spoken to witnesses who have pretty much confirmed the u.n.'s version of events which is basically a drone targeted two people on what is believed to be a motorcycle and a number of people were killed and injured. in fact, i am going to have my cameraman show you where this drone hit. we understand that it was a hell fire missile. you can tell it's a fairly small hole, fairly small point where it targeted, but again, we are hearing at least 10 people killed and many, many more injured. let me just give you an idea just how close it is to this u.n. school which has been used as a shelter for several weeks

now. a shelter where more than 3,000 people displaced by this conflict live, many of them children. in fact, let's take a look at this school. now, this is the rafah prepatory boys' school, again, it's a school in times of peace but it's been the home of people for several weeks now. as we have been saying, many of these people are children. you can probably see them around me everywhere. there are children as far as you can see just crowding everywhere and it really just gives you a sense of just whenever these strikes occur, whenever these attacks occur, it's these young people who are caught in it disproportionately. and we understand that among the dead, among 20 or rather the 70 or so who are injured in this strike, some of them were children. >> to get a sense of just how devastating an airstrike can be, just take a look at the satellite images. now, this was taken on the 6th of july, and it showed a number of buildings in gaza city before an israeli airstrike.

now, this next image of the exact same place was taken three weeks later. as you can see, it shows all of the buildings completely destroyed. it is children and families that are bearing the brunt of israel's assault. some families have almost been completely wiped out. hospitals are struggling to cope. charles stratford reports now from konunis. a warning some viewers may find some of these images disturbing. >> mohammed was playing with his friends in the refugee example when the strike happened. 10 children and one man were killed. he is now paralyzed from the waist down. it should not have been this way. surgery could have saved his legs. he had the right papers to be evacuated into egypt for emergency treatment. >> we prepared all of the documents. he keeps telling me to tell his friends he will be back soon to play again.

but we know now he will never walk again. >> his friend, mohammed aila is a victim of the same attack, badly burned, happennal in his youngs. he needs creams and medicines to treat his burns but supplies at the hospital have run out. u.n. representatives in gaza say a humanitarian disaster is unfolding. the doctor shows me some of the supplies he says the hospital needs. the strangulation of gaza continues. it's getting worse. we get hundreds of patients every day. we urgently need stronger antibiotics. we need blood coagulants action basics like surgical gloves, tubes to aid patients' breathing. >> he says the israeli military has warned the hospital it may be targeted. >> on more than one occasion, we have had a warning call from the israeli military that they are going to target shifa hospital. it was total panic here they have hit the eastern wall already. the pal stipian ministry of health says 36 ambulances have

been partially or completely destroyed. 102 medical staff have been injured and 19 killed. since israel's military offensive began there have been terrible difficulties for ambulance drivers to get to the wounded. some medical workers and ambulances have been targeted. the man who was driving this ambulance was killed in schumachsho shuyj overtime a a few days ago. >> the bullet holes in his ambulance >> translator: we cannot trust the israeli military and the red cross to coordinate for us to get the injured out. they told us on the phone that my colleague to go to rescue someone. he was killed when his ambulance was attacked. >> outside shiba hospital, hundreds are living in tents or on the pavements. major of their homes have been destroyed. sofi came here with his family of 10 more than two weeks ago. >> there is no water for us, no bathrooms, no power, no food. we are getting no help from the

hospital, nothing from the u.n. we had help during ramadan, but now, there is nothing. >> the children's ward, mohammed lays terrified in his bed. he will never play with his friends like he did before. if the hospital had been able to treat him, he may have been able to walk again. charles stratford, al jazeera, gaza. >> there is no end to the violence following the failure of friday's careflite. there is some dispute over who broke the careflite. a blame game that followed show the international community is being quick to jump to conclusions. much of the criticism centered on a soldier known as lou look tenant golden that israel said had been captured. violence broke out again in southern gaza almost immediately. two israeli soldiers and about 150 palestinians were then killed. now, one of the men who brokered the deal, u.s. secretary of state john kerry said hamas had

carried out an outrageous violation and the other was banl ki moon called for the unconditionable release of the captured soldier. barack obamaed's obama made the call. one of his spokesmen said the violation of the careflite was barbaric but in a statement early on saturday morning, hamas's military wing said it did not know of golden's location. it suggested he may have been killed by israeli airstrikes on friday morning. then early on sunday, israeli's pilt said golden was dead, killed in battle on friday. joining me live from west jerusalem is lieutenant peter lerner, theitionisi spokesman. thank you for joining us here on al jazeera. now, the israeli army has now acknowledged that golden did die in battle. if you could just discipline to us how exactly did he die?

>> what we know is that on friday, a suicide bomber came out of a tunnel, detonated himself, behind him, at least three or four gunmen, that suicide bomber killed two solids on the spot and in the aftermath of that, we had a soldier missing, which was golden. in our searchs in the immediate aftermath, we located some items with the the tunnel, we suspected he had been abducted and since that time, we have carried out, in parallel, both forensic investigation and, also, actions on the ground to try to locate and see if he was indeed within the gaza strip and specifically the rafah area. >> that's where the israeli army went wrong? you presumed he had been captured. in effect, he hadn't. >> he had been abducted. >> because you had said that he had been captured by hamas, as

such, we saw the international community then condemn hamas. we then saw the israeli army conduct another military offensive. basically, you instigated this. you used his death in order to -- in order to launch a second offensive? >> you have got -- i think, no. this is -- you have severe blocks and holes in your theory. what we do know -- and this is fact -- that golden was snatched into the tunnel. we have not located his body. we located items that he had with him. we located forensic evidence in order that gives us enough to determine that he was killed in action. we don't have a body for him. we do not. so we have he have scientifically ruled out that he is alive. we refuse to be held abducted by these terrorists. sti still, we don't know where his body is. >> lieutenant? >> we carried out a funeral today. we carried out the funeral

today. we carried out the funeral today. >> to launch a military offensive? >> that is an absolute falsification. >> earlier on -- >> i think it is really important to get the facts straight. >> in order for the israeli army to launch their first and initial attack on gaza. are you manipulating once again to continues your military presence in gaza? >> i think we need to get back to the facts. hadar golden was abducted, taken by hamas terrorists into a tunnel in the gaza strip, in the outskirts of rafah. t carried out a mission, hot pursuit in order to find him. we did not locate him. we located items within the tunnel. we located possible remnants. we carried out the forensic investigation that took a day and a half to determine that it was indeed him and it was sufficient in order to determine that he was killed in action.

we do not have him. maybe they do. maybe they have, you know, over the courts of the last three and a half weeks, we have had at least six cases of attempted ab duction of body parts and soldiers. >> right. >> this is what these bar barrons do. this is what they do they have tried time and time again. >> missing, aram. the brigades say they have captured shaoul iram. what information do you have on him? >> indeed, we determined once again with this case in our forensic investigation which was much more complicated due to the circumstances of the attack on the second or third day of the ground force operation as we were going in to sujea. >> do you have his body? >> no. >> in order to say he is dead? >> no, we don't.

>> you don't actually know where he is? >> no, we don't. we have -- no. we don't. we have determined according to the findings of the forensic evidence in the burned up armed personnel year which held the body of the remains of him and seven of his friends. >> how is it that you are confident? >> he was killed in action. >> you don't know where he is g but you are con find event golden had been captured? >> we know that golden was snatched into a tunnel for certain. we found items of these inside the tunnel. >> that's fact. that is what we know. >> now, lieutenant colonel, i want to move on to this recent strike, drone strike on the u.n.-run school in rafah. now, the u.n. says that a drone, an israeli drone, had struck this particular school. are you deliberately,

deliberately targeting civilian areas? a in places where people are sheltering? >> no. absolutely not. i think as your footage shows, the strike was on a group of terrorists. we are carried out a strike this morning on two terrorists that were on a motorcycle. we did not carry out a strike on the school. this is currently being investigated, the result. we carried out the strike against terrorists who were in the area on a motorcycle. >> are you investigating other strikes that may also have killed innocent civilians as well? you say that the israeli army is striking certain target did but there are, of course, the fallout that other civilians will die in those particular targets. are you investigating those strike as well? and if so, will anyone be held accountable for killing innocent civilians? >> we are investigating.

we are invest 2k3w5i9ing each and every instance where civilians were caught in the midst of combat. we will be reviewing all of the incidents in order to determine what actually happened in the battleground and under what circumstances. i notice that you pointed out in the story before my interview a supposed attack on the shifa hospital which was a complete falsification, a hamas rocket or palestinian rocket that smashed into the hospital, itself. there have been several instances where hamas have tried to pin on israel attacks from within gaza that have miss fallen and landed within the gaza strip just in the last hour, we have had another barrage of rockets out of gaza. >> what do you say of secretary kerry's statement that this is a gross violation of international humanitarian law? >> we are reviewing the incident of earlier today. we will get to the bottom of it.

indeed, we were targeting terrorists that were moving from one place to another. perhaps they had some explosives on them that caused the extra damage. we struck the terrorists. this is the situation. we do not intentionally strike u.n. facilities. we just don't to that. >> you have done that several times, though, in the last three weeks or so. you keep apologizing for targeting u.n. sites. however, schools continue to be targeted. now, may i remind you, i don't actually need to remind you that israel does have the superior military power here surely, you can pinpoint your attacks. why the need, then, to target innocent civilians or people who are taking shelter? >> thoere is a difference betwen targeting and a difference between targeting and people that get caught up in the crossfire. yesterday, there was extensive rocket fire that took place, over 60 rockets that were fired into israel from gaza. 11 cases of them were fired from

around a u.n. school. 11 cases. what does that tell you? it tells me that there are people, hamas terrorists, that are intentionally placing their capabilities around u.n. facilities in order to try to draw in that. >> the u.n. has told al jazeera that no weapons have been found in any of the u.n.-run schools. how then can you justify your, as you say, targeted attacks? >> that's ridiculous. the u.n. have released on three occasions announcements that rockets have been found within their schools. >> that's ridiculous. so, indeed, in and around the facilities. >> there were, however -- >> just yesterday. >> colonel, you specifically -- >> 11 cases of rockets fired. >> not in schools where people were sheltering. ? >> this is a u.n. facility where rockets were hidden within. this is reality. they announced it.

>> how -- other officials have announced that rockets are being fired from adjacent to these facilities. >> given your superior power and manpower, there is no denying that you have had the better advantage over the hamas government. given the disparity, too, and the number of casualties and suffering on both sides, do you think that international community will believe israel's rhetoric on the need to defend itself. you must see yourself the disparity in the numbers, the images that are coming out of gaza. >> this is the big picture. a terrorist organization operating from the gaza strip has abused every single attempt to carry out a careflite: every single attempt. every time they have inswaesed -- >> can i point out israel, too has violated the careflite in israel -- >> absolutely not. >> that's absolutely not true. >> that's absolutely not true

every single time t the ibf has done the most unnatural thing for a military to do. while its kuvenlts tree was being attacked by theircountry g attacked by their. we were sitting on our hands trying to deescalate the situation. these terrorists have no regard for human life. they are fighting. they are launching these attacks. they are attacking us via tunnels. it's incomprehensible, not acceptable. this is a reality we are not willing to live with. >> that's why we are on this operation. the people of gaza say they are not willing to move with a blockade? >> the oppression against the state of israel. they choose -- >> open the borders, perhaps then israel will not have to fear for its own security. >> they choose aggression. they choose -- >> as does israel. >> they choose to pour

$100 million into the ground in a network of terror tunnels that have one goal to attack israel. >> israel has just received funding from the u.s. congress? >> why would you choose. >> to improve their position. surely you can see the unfair advantage? >> $100 million in tunnels that have one goal the. to attack israel. >> that's the reality. >> that's this organization. >> that's the people who are responsible for the gaza strip. those are the people that need to be held accountable. lieutenants colonel, we thank you for your time. peter lerner there, israel army spokesman speaking to us from west jerusalem. talks are taking place in cairo on the gaza crisis. the leader of the democratic front for the liberation of palestine and part of the delegation that is in cairo for the talks. he says the future of prisoners will be central to the

negotiation. the idea is to have a ceasefire with the israeli troops from gaza and commitment to end the blockades which has been inflicted on the gaza strip since seven years. and and the release of the prisoners that were rearrested, the detainees freed through the agreement and then also the fourth installment of prisoners, three oslo prime ministers that were not released -- doctor -- prisoners that were the fourth point is to start the

reconstruction of gaza. ♪ ♪ . >> at least 175 people have been killed after an earthquake in southern china. the magnitude 6.3 quake struck in a remote mountainous part of unon prove incident. more than 1,400 people have been injured. officials say several buildings have collapsed including thousands of homes and a school. troops have been deployed and emergency relief is being sent to the area. our china correspondent joins us on the line now from there. adrian, give us a sense of what's been the aftermath of the quake. >> well, as of this moment, the death toll still stands at that figure of 175. it is sort of slowly inching up. geographically, we are talking about a very, very remote area.

it's mountainous and very poor as well. so, it's, you know, fair to assume that some of the buildings may not necessarily have been earth proof. a big rescue relief operation, as you say, is now underway. local rescue teams, emergency services are doing what thing. but it's unlikely to be until monday before help reaches from regional center. the peoples liberation army is almost certainly involved because they have huge resources as i saw for myself during the scheuan earthquake six years ago. this earth wake was the strongest to hit the proof i knew but not the country in 14 years. two years ago, we must remember, more than 80 people died after a quake also in the same area. and in 1970, an earthquake

killed 150 open people. this is an area that is prone to earthquakes. this one, though, was not as strong. the epicenter. jolt was in a place called ludian county, where getting on for half a million people live. a lot of homes have been destroyed, we know, and social media has shown people being carried away on stretchers and also for now, communications in that area have been seriously affected. it's hard to get an accurate picture of exactly what is happening on the ground tonight. >> adrienne thank you very much speaking to us from china. >> a new body called the syrian revolution command council. 14 faxes will have just one command center. the announcement comes as opposition fighters say they have managed to take control of several buildings in aleppo. mohammed val has our exclusive report.

syria rebels on the offensive in aleppo. this v obtained by al jazeera. they say they have stormed the security unit in the western side of the city. the unit was tasked with protecting the aleppo military academy which hosts the syrian army's main base in the area. >> rebels say they have occupied several blocks allowing them to inch closer to the based on saturday. this building in front of us is that of the military security unit. >> we did it by the grace of god and that i can to the heroism of our mujahadine. >> they say it's key because it's the site where the syrian army maps out its strategy for the eastern front. it's also under the supervision of syrian, iranian, iraqi and hezbollah military officers. the new oftenbsive comes a few weeks after government troops made some major advances against the rebels by retaking the

industry area and the eastern district. rebels say if they take this area, they may keep the balance of pour in their favor and they will be able to interrupt the army's only supply route to its basis in this side of al aleppo. >> stay with syria and government forces have reportedly killed 50 levels. separately fighters, they crossed into lebanon killing eight soldiers and two civilians. jane ferguson has the latest. >> wresting back control action lebanese troops rush into the town. syrian fighters have stormed across the border before but never this deep nor have their attacks been this brazen. they take over a police station, capture soldiers and fire on local residents. their demand for the lebanese military to release a front leader arrested earlier on

saturday. this is a renewed attempt to drag the town into a fight with the army. we have witnessed events like this will, fight with the army a few months ago left an officer dead. it's also regarded as a transit point for weapons and rebels entering syria in recent years the population has swelled with tennessee of thousands of syrian refugees settling there. the infiltration means a lot when it comes to human and political costs. the lebanese army has other missions in the north. in a statement, the lebanese army says its forces are back in control of arsal. lebanese security forces are having to deal with violence spilling back into the country.

like all countries bordering syria, trying to get the war out is increasingly difficult. jane ferguson, al jazeera, beirut. still ahead on the news hour: >> i am tim friend in berlin cher germans are remembering a war that many of them had almost forgotten. >> in sports, sirina williams storms into the final in stanford. details a little later this news hour.