time. >> thithisthis is al jazeera. >> hello and welcome to the news hour. in doha, it's good to have you with us. coming up on this program. heartache as palestinians take advantage to ceasefire in gaza to return to their homes. diplomats are trying to broker a permanent truce. moves across the border from syria into lebanon. more misery in china's efforts to find victims of the

earthquake are troubled by a landslide. catching up with a speeding comet. >> well, the diplomatic effort to dpree greet a permanent cease in gaza is gaining momentum. in the meantime, representatives are meeting egyptian officials in cairo. egypt is trying to broker the truce but it seems like the two sides are still unable to reach agreement on several sticking points. among the other demands palestinians want an end to the siege on gaza while israel wants an end on the rocket fire. since the conflict began, gaza's health ministry says 1875

palestinians have been killed, nearly three quarters civilians according to the u.n. more than 9500 palestinians have been injured. many are still living in shelters. bt ceasefire entered the second day and it appears to be holding. these are the latest pictures showing people coming back to the streets. it will be a long time before life returns back to normal. got the latest as people return to salvage what they can find in their neighborhoods. >> reporter: increasing numbers of people have come out to the streets here in gaza city. and indeed right across the gaza strip as we're thousand into the second full day of -- now into the second full day of this 72-hour ceasefire. people going to banks to get cash, supermarkets to get food and seeking owl medical treatments for relatively minor

issues such as stomach ailments or skin problems, issues they haven't received help for because hospitals are stretched dealing with sheer volume of casualties since fighting began. still people are paying attention to what's going on in cairo. they hope leaders will be able to come up with some kind of agreement that will reach a piece that will see an end to this conflict but many are uncertain that they will see a lasting peace here in gaza. they say that the fighting can start at any time, whether it's been days, months or even years. and have very little faith that war will not come back here. three brothers, three very different progress notice progr. suffered mostl mostly cuts and bruises, omar, the second oldest will need surgery, but with the

right treatment he should survive. mohamed suffered burn and shrapnel injuries. his condition is so bad doctors don't think he'll live long enough to see his second birthday. her cousin was also in the house when it was hit. >> the israelis are criminals. where is the humanity? these are just children. they didn't do anything, they didn't resist. they were just sleeping. >> reporter: mohamed calls out for his mother but she isn't there to console him. she and four other members of the family died in the same attack. the united nations estimates that thousands of palestinians are casualties and called on the commission to consider whether israel committed war crimes. most of these babies have only known conflict. born over the last couple of

weeks. medical workers say since the conflict began, there have been many premature births. >> sometimes we have spare parts, to repair, we have shortage of staff. but this compounds the problem. as i said before, exposed many to be. >> reporter: one month into this conflict and close to 3,000 palestinian children wounded, hundreds have been killed. medics say they desperately need help to save more children like mohamed. as we have been seeing children badly affected by this conflict, this conflict which lasted nearly four weeks and as we've been saying, many people are paying attention to what's going on in cairo. hoping that leaders can come up with an agreement for a lasting peace.

>> well, al jazeera senior political analyst, joins us from london. marwin, i want to talk about discussions coming out of cairo. scale of destruction, the type of injuries people in gaza have faced. now over the years, gaza has come under onslaught from the israelis but if you have to put this in context what would you say about it? >> well, this is certainly accumulation of all the previous invasions, attacks, offenses against gaza. and you know the thing about it maybe we in the media we don't have much of a memory. but the people of goo gaza do. the people of palestine do, the arab community, international community meaning people around the world. what goes on in gaza does not stay in gaza contrary to a lot of israelis think.

what goes on in gaza have been covered by 700 journalists from around the world who came down and camped, mostly in the palestinian territories. most of this word got out, the arab world and gazans no more than 9/11 else. while this is worse than the previous times, this is the last accumulation of the previous oppression, destruction in gaza. so how many times can you really render someone a yxg how many times carefugee?how many times o be a spokesperson, a dying child, weeping father or a grieving sister? this is very difficult, it's very difficult for the palestinians and while they may be negotiating some kind of ceasefire, you are not going to be able to negotiate emotions and the mindset of people who are getting tired of all of

this. >> that's right marwan, it has received unprecedented coverage i would say. but the key issue here now is regarding what the rest -- regardless of what the rest of the world says, the cairo indirect talks between the palestinians and the israeli negotiators, given the points or demands can you see them making any headway on those? >> i think if the israelis have any rationale left behind their offensive they need to give in to all the palestinians' demands because they are not actually you know major strategic or you know some sort of imaginative demands. these are very basic human rights. human rights, even for those under occupations. when you say something like, i want my political prisoners as you've signed on, released, i want you to stop violating your agreements. i want you to lift the siege of

gaza because gaza should not be under siege. i would like you to allow for the reconstruction of those 10,000 houses that you destroyed. i want our injured, who cannot seek treatment in our own hospitals half of which you destroyed, and the schools which you destroyed to be able to get some sort of treatment outside. we want to be able to fish in our sea because guess what? people don't find food according to anymore. a lot of those basic demands are human rights demands, are natural demands of people to live as humans, not as subhumans. now there are the other demands that have to do with more of the political nature, something like what happens next? how many crossings you going to open? how you going to allow the gaza strip to o open up to west bank and east jerusalem? can families be reunified

throughout palestine? those other humanitarian and political demands will come out next but for the time being what the palestinians are asking for are basic human rights and i think they should be met and if they are not going to be met there is not going to be a ceasefire. >> thank you very much. marwin good to speak to you. well the u.n. general assembly is speaking over ways to of stop the conflict in gaza. outrageous acceptable and unjustifiable and said israel's actions raise new questions about international law and accountability. >> let me be clear. we have suspicion of mill -- mere suspicion of militant activity, does not justify jeopardizing the lives of innocent citizens.

international humanitarian law clearly requires protection by all parties of civilians and civilian facilities including u.n. staff and u.n. premises. >> our diplomatic editor james bays joins me from west jerusalem. james you have been listening to alt the u.n. chiefs updating the rest of the unga about the crisis in gaza. if you could pick up a few points you have heard that would have a huge impact on the listening members, what would they be? >> well, you certainly heard ban ki-moon there with again very, very strong words about the situation, the current situation in gaza. and the fact that he believes israel has broken international humanitarian law. but after he spoke, then his human rights chief came and spoke and i thought what was significant there is perhaps she didn't have the same sound bytes

as the secretary general and the conclusions you heard him draw there but she went into more of the detail and as marwan was talking, the historical background of all of this. and i thought it was notable that she actually said, israel was still in breach of u.n. security council resolution 242, that was several years ago april, after the israel six-day war, binding international law said that israel should pull out of those occupied territories. and she went on to say that israel has broken many subsequent resolutions. so not just talking about the current crisis. but putting into -- it into historical context. i also think it was interesting that we heard a little bit of a glimpse of what's going on in cairo. those talks that marwan was talking about. robert serri, the u.n. coordinator for peace process,

he's the u.s.'s man into cairo. the u.n. wants to see the palestinian authority involved. it wants the palestinian authority, now there is a consensus government at least in main to take control of some of the borders, and i think this is the u.n.'s idea to try and build confidence on both sides, so that the restrictions on gazans can begin to be lifted. >> james, this meeting was basically pushed or motivated by our country saying that the u.n. has been largely inactive in trying to stop the fighting, or make some kind of a truce between the israelis and palestinians. given what we've heard today do you think that they are equipped to act? or find a solution? >> it really was just a briefing from the officials. and i think arab nations felt it was helpful to have all of these issues, particularly human rights issues, and issues of accountability, raised before

the general assembly. but what the general assembly does is not international law. but behind the scenes they have been talking at the u.n. security council, they are not going to vote on that immediately. i think they're having it on stand by in case the talks in cairo fail. but that resolution says, if it was passed, and that's a bik if because we don't -- a big if, because we don't know how the u.s. would vote. if cairo doesn't deal with the underlying issues and those include for the palestinian side the lifting of the siege, there is another option for the arab countries and jordan, to put the issues to a vote. >> james bays, thank you. now to other news.

the world health organization has begun a two day emergency meeting on geneva on the ebola outbreak which is affecting parts of west africa. a doctor treating lye we'rian patients has died and communities are being quarantined. a man tested 50 virus has also died in saudi arabia. a second american aid worker infected with ebola has now returned to the united states. the virus has so far killed 932 people since march. now, let's cross to lebanon where there's a standardoff outside the town of arsal. days of fighting near the region of syria where fighters from the group calling itself islamic state, the most dangerous spillover from the war in syria so far. authorities have agreed to extend a ceasefire for 24 hours.

zena hoder, can you tell us what's happening? >> well, a delegation of sunni clerics are holding a press conference as we speak. they are announcing details of an agreement they have reached with fighters in the town of arsel. before the press conference they were in a meeting with the army command. still no statements from the army on whether or not they agree with the terms. i can tell you some of the details. a 24 hour truce will be in place. until tomorrow, 7:00 local time. during these 24 hours, the armed fighters holed up in arsel in the town will withdraw. they will withdraw to the outskirts of the town which really is a mountainous region that lies on the border with syria, almost a no man's land really.

they will withdraw. what we don't know from these are people is whether or not the fighters are ready to release more than 30 security officers who have been held hostage really, kidnapped for the past few days. they have said that they are well and negotiations will continue. so as well as the army has made clear, they're not interested in negotiating with the terrorists. what they want, the only solution they will agree to is that the armed forces leave, the route to syria and all these hostages will be set free. the delegation talking about progress saying that they are going to prevent more bloodshed and it's true, if there is no end to this conflict at the time be prolonged and deadly. caught in the cross fire, we do not know the figures, simply

because the whole area has been sealed off, it has been a no-go area for journalists. >> zezena hoder, thank you. at least 70 people have been killed by an air strike in northern iraq. islamic state group in western mosul. the building was used to detain prisoners against the group but the 300 people there were freed before the strikes. meanwhile in the city of fallujah, the iraqi military has dropped barrel bombs on a hospital. suggesting at least five people have been killed. use of barrel bombs is considered a war crime. kurdish authorities have appealed to the international community for help. dealing with thousands of people who have left cities taken by the islamic state group in recent days. many of them are from the yizidi

community compose ed of ethic kurds. >> a holy place for many yahzidis. now it lies in ruins, islamic state, formerly known as the islamic state of iraq and the levant. since falling on friday, many have left packing what they could carry and heading to safer areas in kurdish areas of iraq. >> i am speaking here in the name of humanity, save us, save us i beg you. in the past 48 hours alone, 30,000 people are trapped in the mountains around sinja without food or water they are dying. >> the yazid rvetion community in iraq said it has exifgd for more than a thousand years.

incorporating christian and slawk elements. their number has dropped to around 500,000. >> the members of the security council condemn the attacks on sinja and tal afar. depress their deep concern about the hundreds of thousands of iraqis, many of them from vulnerable minority communities, especially yazidis displaced by i.s.i.l.'s attacks and in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. >> many yazidis have appealed to iraqis for help. peshmerga has made advances in recent days but says its weaponry is not sufficient to defeat the islamic state alone. >> translator: we want to make the whole world aware including america that is it is the duty of humanity to help yazidis,

they deserve to be taken care of. >> involved in territorial disputes with each other and the yazidi community is trapped in the middle. dominic kane, al jazeera. >> and still to come this news hour. the last two laps, three and a half decades later, a verdict is expected against the leaders of the khmer rouge in cambodia. >> i understand. a little overwhelmed for a second, that's totally fine. >> a melt down for one of tennis's best young players. players. rescue teams are pouring into remote corner of southwest china which was struck by an earthquake on sunday. struck with subsequent landslides, sometimes the death

toll is reaching 600, the government says that number is expected to rise. long po chan the quake epicenter. >> reporter: returning to homes in the quake zone, a sad silent procession. on the way, we reach this person traveling for three days. walking the final stage because he has no alternative. >> translator: it's hard to get a lift on a motor bike. there are not a lot of people with good hearts and it's expensive to pay for a ride. >> reporter: unless you are part of the emergency services the only way into the quake zone is by motorcycle or on a boat. the returnees have come back to a village where 70% of the homes have been destroyed. some have lost loved ones. but he has been fortunate. under the shade of a tree a reunion with his wife and son. saverring what he thought he --

savoring what he thought he had lost. new shoes and clothes, necessities now. see what happened for himself what happened to his home. walking through his old neighborhood he's lost in his thoughts. nothing's the same. >> i felt really sad. i was devastated when i first saw this. i almost burst into tears. >> reporter: he knew his house had been destroyed. but nothing prepared him for this. the home he remembered, gone. >> translator: we still owe a lot of debt from buying this house. it's really heartbreaking to see it like this. >> reporter: in the rubble he recognizes familiar and mundane objects. he borrowed 19,000 dollars from relevance 13 yearrelatives 13 yy

this. now he's without a home or an income but he walks away to what he does have left. a wife, child and the hope he will one day regain o regain whs lost. adrian brown. al jazeera, southwest china. >> fighting again after the prime minister and government of the central african republic had resigned. samba-panza will remain in place until elections next year. heavy rain caused rivers to burst their banks. rescuers are evacuating residents from their homes. heavy rain in may in serb ya

bosnia forced residents from their homes. rebel stronghold of donetske, officials say they are preparing to retake the city from rebel pro-russian separatists. u.n. council has been warned that the humanitarian situation in eastern ukraine is steadily worsening. now a verdict is due in the trial of two surviving khmer rouge leaders. charged with crimes against humanity. these charges stem from the late 1970s when the khmer rouge regime left nearly a quarter of the cambodian population dead. face life in prison. stephy cowan reports. >> it is been one of the world's most carefully scrutinized trials since it began.

chief idealogue, having escaped justice for more than 35 years they were finally being tried for their role in the deaths of at least 1.7 million people between 1975 and '79. but human rights activist who lost at least five members of his family during the khmer rouge period believes the trial has failed to reach international standards. >> it is very political in its nature the way the court is set up, it is very political in the way witnesses could be called upon, you know, the number of cases that people can be investigated, for example, the jobs of the judge and the office of the prosecutors, for example, the ability to investigate properly, none of notices things -- those things meet any

standards. >> he believes the government sacrificed its principles in the effort to get trials underway. it was felt they would not live to reach the end of the trial. her husband died a year after she was diagnosed with dementia. always proclaimed their innocence. the hearing on thursday will deliver only the second verdict in eight years by the tribunal at a cost to date of more than $200 million. doubts remain among some over the value of the trial. >> as a victim, as a humanitarian activist i would say no. this process has already been tainted beyond repair. >> still others who survived the horrors of the s-21 torture center believe the trials triel and thursday's verdicts have

served their pickup. to bring those responsible for a four year long nightmare to justice. stephanie scowan, al jazeera. still ahead, we'll tell you about a dream fulfilled for the argentinian activist. >> i'm in south africa and i'll be showing you how this is being used in communities where there is no electricity. >> and in sports, basketball is not just a game.

>> 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.