the humanitarian ceasefire in gazaeneded its second day as talks -- gaza ended its second day as talks for a long-term truce began in egypt. >> you are watching al jazeera, live from our headquarters in doha. in the next 30 minutes - the spillover from the war in syria. battles on the border town. a landslide hits sworn china, delaying efforts after a deadly earth quake. >> and we'll tell you about a much anticipated rhonda view

that's been -- rehneda view that's been 10 years in the making. welcome to the programme. a 3-day humanitarian ceasefire in gaza is holding. israeli ground forces have left the territory, allowing residents to return to what is left of their home. the process turns to the diplomats. the palestinians actions and israel have delegations in cairo for talks through mediators. these are pictures of the gaza skyline. quiet at the moment. we hope it stays that way. let's check in with our correspondent in gaza city. just over 24 hours into the accuracy fire, it appears to be holding. it's giving people a chance to get out and about, back to their homes, trying to get belongings

and food supplies, i suppose. >> that's right, since the ceasefire started at 8am local time we noticed a lot of people coming on to the streets. back in gaza city, there are scores of people outside a bank machine, trying to get access to cash. filling up supermarkets, getting enough food and supply as they could. in the first few hours of the ceasefire, it started to look like it was going to hold. still, it should we said that life is far from normal. as well as dealing with the practicalityies, they are coming to interpret with the enormity of what they lost. people have come to terms with many relatives who have been killed and are discovering what has happened to their homes. in many cases homes have been damaged or completely destroyed.

>> of course, a deeply distressing period of time for those people going back home, not just to see whether the appropriaty is standing, but the chaos of what is gaza. the next question is do people feel confident that the ceasefire will hold and there is light at the end of the tunnel, if the end of the fighting can be reached. . >> i think people are paying more attention to what is happening in cairo than in previous ceasefires. this is the first time a number of ceasefires, where people believe it will hold, we'll see a full 72 hours of this humanitarian ceasefire, and perhaps even some sort of agreement reached. but in saying that, when you speak to people about what they think of a deal that hamas or israel or the other groups can

come up with, they almost seem resigned to the fact that they'll see violence again - maybe not in the next few days or months, but the next few years. bear in mind since 2008/2009 there has been three conflicts in gaza, many died. many badly injured. some for life and property has been destroyed. here we are again. people want to see an end to this conflict. >> there's little hope there'll be a lasting peace. we'll follow you throughout the day. now the human cost of the latest gaza offensive. 64 israeli soldiers and three civilians, including a thai national died. gaza's health ministry says 1,875 palestinians have been killed, the u.n. saying three-quarters are civilians. more than 9,500 palestinians have been injured and obvious

200,000 are living in u.n. shelters. the focus shifts to the diplomats as we said and the negotiations aimed at finding a lasting peace. israeli and palestinian factions are meeting in cairo. the goal has to be to prevent hamas from rebuilding its military machine. we don't want to see more rockets, any terror tunnels. we have to make sure that hamas cannot rebuild its formittible terrorist military machine. in the longer term we have to talk about demilitarizing the gaza strip. a commitment the palestinians made, and time the international community demanded that hamas implement that commitment. >> we are asking a simple question - do you want to rebuild gaza so another israeli prime minister can destroy it again in 2016, and another in 2018? do you want to - the international community to call

on us to go back to negotiations and once we are back on the negotiating table, binyamin netanyahu and his government will go business as usual, doing what is takes to undermine the two-state solution. this status call will not, no more. >> what are the palestinian factions, including hamas, asking for? they want full israeli withdrawal from gaza, an pd to the israeli -- end end to the israeli and egyptian block i said. international assistance in the reconstruction of gaza. for its part israel demands that gaza be demilitarized requiring hamas to give up weapons, and want to wait to prevent hamas from rearming in the future. the demands are great. diplomatic editor james bays has been making sense of what is

going on over the last three or four weeks. the lull in the short ceasefire seems to be holding. the focus moves to cairo. a delegation was supposed to go from israel. do we know if they have gone. when they do, what the make-up of that delegation will be? >> let me tell you what we think we know about all of the timings, and who is taking part. it is taking a fair bit of time to get all of this together we understand, and the israeli government are not confirming many details at all. we understand the israeli delegation, according to some israeli media sources is in cairo. the palestinian delegation, which is made up of lots of different palestinian groups, including islam, jihad, hamas and other members, that has been in cairo for some time. what we are understanding is other international players. the u.s. is in cairo, u.n. envoy

robert serry is in jerusalem, but will go to cairo shortly, as will tony blair, the negotiator on behalf of the quartet. the negotiations, we think, will be between the palestinians and the egyptians and the israelis and the egyptians, with international players involved in talking as well. so a series of different bilateral meetings, rather than everyone getting around the same table. then, we think, some time on there's be mediations between the israelis, and the palestinians. but they won't ever come together. these are going to be proximity talks. you heard the demands of both sides. this will be difficult. it could take considerable time possibly, i think, beyond the end of the 72 hour ceasefire. one. things that they may well

be negotiating first with both sides is getting an extension. so they have space to run. >> they have to watch and wait patiently. it seems where you are, the israeli prime minister is on the receiving end of more than a little criticism from the local press. what seems to be happening there? >> yes. well, even in his own cabinet, and his own party, there are people who believe he should not have gone to cairo, he should not be negotiating, he should end on his own terms. there are those in his own party who believe he should have conditioned the military operation and completely smashed hamas and destroyed its leadership. it's worth bearing in mind, and we don't know what is going on in cairo, in the palestinian delegation, but there are likely to be differences on the palestinian side. they have a consensus government in name, but not much consensus internally. that presents a problem.

there's a gap between the two sides, and differences on both sides. >> for the moment thank you for joining us from west jerusalem. we'll follow ents from the occupied territory throughout the day. saudi arabia is reported to be giving lebanon's military $1 billion to fight the islamic state on the syrian border. after a brief ceasefire the battle around the town is now into its fifth day and described as the worst spill over of the war into syria. zeina khodr reports. >> reporter: they were whisked out of ar sell, three members of the lebanon military forces were released. among more than 30 held by fighters linked to the islamic state, and the al qaeda branch al nusra front. their release has netted by muslim clerics, called a goodwill gesture. the lebanese army and government

said that they are not interested in neeghting with what they -- negotiating with what they call terrorists. the only deal they are ready to accept is one involving armed fighters releasing captors and withdrawing. >> ar sell is on the nearby border with syria. the army regained control of hilltops. up to 3,000 fighters are believed to be holed up inside ar sell. the only way out is to syria. on that side of the border the syrian government and the lebanese allies, hezbollah, have been closing in on their positions. this will not be an easy battle for either side. the lebanese army has not stormed the up to, because it wants to avoid civilian casualties. up to 100,000 syrian refugees, and 30,000 lebanese live there. syria's war spilled over to lebanon on several occasions with the lebanese army describe the battle as the most serious

yet. kurdish troops pushed further into northern iraq against fighters from the islamic state book. a peshmerga brigade is now in control of several abandoned villages. the fighters remain in charge of three cities captured on seat. tens of thousands of people have been forced to lee their home. >> to europe -- leave their homes. >> to europe. the u.n. security council held a meeting on the humanitarian situation in ukraine. fighting in the east killed more than 1,000 civilians. thousands fled to russia and other parts of ukraine. >> donetsk and luhansk, home to 1.5 million people. the water supply is reduced to a few hours a day. heath supplies are low. 75% of health personnel have fled the area. that leaves access to medical care reduced.

damages to housing affected 1600 families. supply routes are disrupted by conflict. and coping mechanisms are deteriorating. >> many civilians in eastern ukraine are struggling to find a safe place away. we have this report from donetsk. >> this family walks to safety. they are from a suburb of donetsk, where ukrainians are battling separatists. they have relatives and friends they can stay with. they can't afford to reach them light now. the camp for the displaced is at home. >> the event that are happening feel like a play, one side pushes the other and the other pushes back. a lot of civilians have been killed by shrapnel and gun fire. >> for a few hours people are

allowed to leave donetsk. driving out along the humanitarian corridor some tied white flags to their cars, hoping that will be enough to protect them. in the sunflower fields ukrainians wait for orders. they are pushing forward. pragz has been slow and dangerous. the ukranian fighters are closer to donetsk, but are meeting heavy resistance from the pro-separatists, you can see how close the shell landed to their position. this is a propaganda war. russia says the men are ukranian deserters who cross the border. ukraine says they are prisoners of war and should be returned. one thing is clear - many of these soldiers do not want to be here. >> you want to return to your families as soap as possible. >> yes -- as soon as possible. >> yes, as soon as possible to see our family. >> that is unlikely to happen.

kiev says it will not stop until it retakes the land. after we left the ukranian checkpoint was shelled by separatists, forcing people to turn back to the fighting. it's tearing apart the country. still to come - should scotland be an independent country? the opposing side meet in a televised debate. 10 years in space. at last the ossetia probe nears its destination, those details coming up.

welcome back to al jazeera. these are the top stories - the humanitarian ceasefire in gaza is holding as it enters the second day. israeli armed forces have moved to the border. residents are returning to what is left of their homes. focus turns to diplomatic efforts to forge a lasting piece. israel and hamas have factions in cairo to talk through mediators. >> russia calls an emergency meeting of the security council to discuss the fighting in ukraine. in the east it has claimed the lives of more than 1,000 civilians. >> a landslide following sunday's earthquake caused more casualties dozens are trapped and there are fears the death toll could rise. it's nearing 600.

emergency workers are conducting operations at both sides after spending 50 hours buried. an 88 year-old woman was buried alive. >> adrian brown with more on the relief efforts. >> there are 10,000 members of the people's liberation army in the earthquake your zone. they are supported by thousands, coming from not just this province, but other parts of china. in many cases the volunteers are using their bare hands to dig in to the debris. it's happening under the red flag of china. there's a patriotic fervor to all of this. the problem is one of logistics, there's aid, it's getting it to the people. the epicentre is the village whose only link to the outside world is blocked with

landslides, it's hampered the relief operations. there's no shortage of help. prime minister has been in the area and promised to give the zone up to 100 million pounds to help the community get back on its feet. the money will be used to rebuild the village, where 70% of the homes have been demolished. the problem the government will have is this. many of the people we have spoken to don't want to leave their homes, even though they are living in a quake zone. >> australia has conducted a dutch company to search for a missing malaysian airliner believed to have crashed into the indian ocean. flight mh370 disregard on march 8th. it had flown far off quours from kuala lumpur to beijing. it is expected to take up to a year to search a 60,000 care kilometres.

>> indonesia's constitutional court has begun to hear a challenge to the election. the governor was declared the winner, but his losing candidate alleges there was wide-spread fraud. the court's ruling is expected on august the 21st. it can't be appealed. >> to europe. scotland will go to the polls in six weeks to decide on whether to stay within the u.k. ahead of the vote scotland's first minister has gone head to head with the leader of the pro-u.k. campaign. phil lavelle has more from glasgow. >> you could liken it to a marriage. they've been together for years, not all happy, and now there's talk of a separation. could scotland be about to break up with the rest of the u.k. and go it alone. that is what this man wants. alex dedicating his life to

taking scotland out of the u.k. he's against alastair darling. they'll get a chance to vote on the issue in a referendum in a few weeks time. many are undecided there is, as they say, everything to play for. which is why this huge battle hit the small screen. a tv debate, a chance to convert or convince. no sign of this man, prime minister david cameron, refusing to take part. this is a fight for scotland being waged by scots. >> every time scotland goes into a germ election there's -- general election, we have a risk of having people we didn't vote for ruling over us. >> any 8-year-old can tell you the flag, capital of a county and its currency. i assume the flag is the same, the capital edmonton, but you can't tell us the currency. >> john knows a lot about this

subject. would this have made a difference. >> what if it hasn't made a difference, doesn't move the opinion polls. that will be crucial. the f side wept into the debating chamber, behind in the opinion polls. this was their best opportunity of gaining momentum to narrow the lead. if they failed to do so, the chances of doing so, or winning, is looking slim indeed. >> this with an is chance to reach those still undecided. >> you heard there, will it affect your decision. >> yes, it made me go no. >> you wept from unsure to yes. >> yes -- you wept from unsure to yes. >> yes. >> handshakes or not. she is men are at odds. as is scotland, the u.k. is safe. but now, will it be in six weeks time. >> phil lavelle, al jazeera,

glasgow. british airways suspended flights to and from sierra leone because of the concern with the ebola outbreak. >> meanwhile the second american aid worker to be affected has observed back in the united states. new suspected cases have been identified in saudi arabia, and nigeria. u.s. president obama announced $14 billion in investments by u.s. companies in africa. speaking at the u.s.-africa business forum in africa, president obama wants to shift the u.s. to form an economic partnership on the continent. he said africa was important because it's home to six of the world's 10 fastest economies. >> flagstone will invest in afghanistan can energy. coca-cola will bring clean water to the communities. g.e. will help to build african

infrastructure. ma mary yacht builds hotels. companies are announcing new deals in aviation, banking, construction, worth more than $14 billion, spurring development across africa, spurring goods stamped with the label made in america. >> and argentinian human rights activist who campaigned for families to be reunited with missing children, found her own grandson 35 years after he was tape at birth. we have the story from buenos aires. >> reporter: it was the moment that she had spent 36 years hoping for. the news that her grandson was alive and wanted to be reunited with his true family. she lived it with much of an emotional argentina crying with her. >> translation: he will now sit

in the empty seat. the empty picture frames will be filled. >> reporter: she was one of 30,000 military rule. she was kidnapped while pregnant and gave birth while in captivity in june the following year. two months later he was probably killed. >> translation: there's a lot to be done. we have to keep searching because the other grandmothers must feel what i feel today. thank you everyone, thank you everyone. i didn't want to die without hugging him. now i will hug him. >> reporter: the mothers, an estimated 400 to 500, were held, tortured and killed in detention centers like this one. the grandmothers never gave up the search for the grandchildren

they never held. estellea is the president of the grandmothers of a group that reunited more than 100 lost children. now in their 30s with their true families. >> gu. >> do was -- guido was number 114. the search goes on. time, too, marches on. the grandparents and those that committed the human rights abuses are old and fray, or have died. this d.n.a. bank in buenos aires helps to match people who suspect they may be stolen children, with the families searching for them. argentina moved on. the search continues to find justice, and to heal the wounds of one of the barkest periods in the country's history. after 10 years and 6 billion kilometres, a european space mission is about to become the first in history.

if everything goes to plan, it may land. we have the story. [ cheering ] . >> reporter: celebrations in germany after the hibernation of two years and reawakening of "ossetia." thanks to the u.n. space agency it's been travelling space. it's about to get to within 100km of a target. a comet. if all goes well, it will be the first space mission to rhonda view with the comet. >> we'll divert the trajectory thus that we stay near the comet. we look carefully and build our motors to fly around it. >> images taken in recent weeks show the comet in a fair amount of detail. what is the fascination with this object, 4km wide. >> they are primitive bodies. they can perhaps tell us a lot about the formation of our solar

system, and, in particular about where vital components such as water came from. we know today that the - our earth has a great deal of water on it. we don't know where it came from. it's likely that comets had a lot to do with the process. since blasting off from french giana, rosetta travelled 6 billion kilometres. in a way its journey is beginning. then at the end of this year it will deliver a lander. scientists in germany tested the harpoon, which will be used to fasten the lander to the comets surface. the challenge is that we know almost nothing about the comet. we knew less when we built the probe. we don't know what the surface is like, whether it's soft or hard like ice. by the end of next year they

hope to know more. >> fascinating. of course, you can follow all the stories we are covering on al jazeera by logging on to the website at aljazeera.com. the top story is the ceasefire in gaza. >> the war to end all wars didn't. but it did change things in ways big and small. world war i began 100 years ago this summer, and we live in the world it made. it's the "inside story." >> hello, i'm ray suarez.