peace in gaza after 50 days of conflict with israel, we counting the cost to both sides who are both claiming victory. ♪ this is al jazeera, live from our headquarters in doha. also coming up -- >> i have instructed my lawyer to appeal this decision, which i consider totally without merit. >> on the defensive imf boss is being formally investigated by french authorities. syrian forces and fighters from the islamic state group are accused of committing war

crimes. and i'm fill lavel in venice where the world's oldest film festival is getting underway. the big question, who will take the golden lion in ten day's time. ♪ gaza and israel are enjoying the first day of a long-term ceasefire. both sides are claiming victory, but after 50 days of pain was it really a victory or did everyone come out of this worse off. 64 israeli soldiers and 6 civilians have been killed one a thai national. 2,142 palestinians were stilled that includes 579 children, and the u.n. says that almost three-quarters of the dead are civilians, and the cost of the damage to gaza has been estimated to be at least $6 billion u.s. dollars. jane ferguson has this report.

>> reporter: in just 50 days much of gaza was destroyed. the morning after peace returned here, the dust was literally settling. 1.8 million gazans are now surveying the worst war damage they have experienced. reconstruction will take years and billions of dollars. it should be a boom time for this cement factory owner, but his business was badly hit. >> translator: first of all we have to rebuild our factory. we are waiting for the crossings to reopen, this will help to get the construction materials we need to repair the factory, metal, cement, and other materials. >> reporter: importing such items has been heavily restricted by israel throughout the siege. part of the ceasefire involves easing such rules so reconstruction can begin.

money from the international community will be needed to rebuild gaza, but this won't be the first time. again and again here infrastructure projects paid for by foreign donations have been bombed by israel when conflicts break out. the yasser arafat international airport was a multi-million dollars initiative paid for by the international community. just over there where the dome was was the vip section of the airport, beyond that was the runway. it opened in 1998, but it was only open for a few years before it was bombed by the israelis, and has never been functional since. three times over the last six years, gaza has needed reconstruction after conflict. this time, says the u.n. is the last time. >> they are all tired of this cycle. their secretary general said a

couple of weeks ago that this must be the last time that we are repairing gaza, and, you know, even before the war there were plenty of things to do here. 52% without work, young people without hope, and 95% without potable water. >> reporter: but without a real political solution to the conflict, people in gaza will end up rebuilding their lives from scratch many more times. jane ferguson, al jazeera, gaza. with the ceasefire in place, two leading palestinian figures have come out of hiding. this senior hamas leader came out of hiding shortly after the news of the truce was announced and addressed the crowds. and this is the islamic jihad leader, he also emerged after the truce was announced. islamic jihad was one of the

groups involved in brokering the ceasefire. benjamin netenyahu has received support from the israelis for the campaign in gaza, but as the war dragged on that support waned considerably. >> reporter: a shopping mall in jerusalem. it is the summer holiday, but business is slow. >> i brought my family to be here and show the people of israel that we're with them. >> translator: i'm not afraid because i love to travel and war doesn't stop me. >> reporter: these visitors bring in vital foreign currency. confidence among tourists and investors is affected by sentiment. so even if the immediate danger has passed, as long as people

have perceived a threat, they will stay away. tourism is the life blood of the israeli economy. pilgrims of all religions come to the old city while some head to the beach. but for most tourists war is the ultimate turnover. >> i used to make about 5,000 shackles a month. this was in june. and then after that tourism started dying like my july pay was about 2,500 shackles, and this month i hardly made 500 shackles. >> reporter: israelis are taking stock of what has been achieved after 50 days of conflict. the images from the gaza strip have tarnished the country's reputation. and the inconclusive ceasefire has damaged israeli's military

deterrents. >> israel came out as the goliath, as the super power that -- or if you like, an elephant that is fighting fly and not even succeeding. >> reporter: israeli's satisfaction with their prime minister has dropped dramatically. on july 23rd after ground troops entered gaza, 82% said they approved of his performance. on august 25th, only 38% said they were satisfied. so a few days of rest before the end of the summer break, but it's only a brief respite. israeli and palestinian negotiators will soon have to grapple with the biggest issues that the ceasefire does not address. and if they fail to agree, many israelis fear the quiet will be short lived. >> jackie what do most israelis

make of the ceasefire? >> well, the government as you said, have been trying to prostray this as a success, saying they struck a serious military blow to hamas. and in the end hamas was forced to accept a ceasefire without securing agreement on previous conditions namely that it wented to open a sea port and airport. however, some of the government's critics within the parliament are saying that in their view, a ceasefire without demilitarization of the gaza strip is simply giving hamas time in which to rearm itself. as for ordinary israelis they are feeling very cautious about this ceasefire. we are not seeing those scenes that we saw in gaza and even the west bank, and people who live with the threat day in, day out,

people who have particularly suffered from mortar fire as well as rocket fire, they are very skeptical. they have been seen previous ceasefires agreed to and then broken. and a 4-year-old child who was killed during one of those ceasefires as it was broken. these people in particular are doubtful. and some of the gloomiest predictions suggest that those ceasefire agreements would falter, and there could be a renewed conflict within matter of weeks or months. >> jackie rowland, reporting from west jerusalem, thank you. well, the head of the international monetary fund is being normally investigated by french authorities. magistrates are questioning her about a $531 million payment to a businessman while she was french finance minister six

years a ago. >> reporter: the exact nature of the allegation is that as finance minister of fran. in 2008, she acted improperly, negligently in her handling of an arbitration between the state and a businessman. an arbitration over a commercial dispute that resulted in the payment of hundreds of millions of dollars to the businessman to settle the dispute. the suggest was the arbitration was manipulated in his favor, because he had been a benefactor of sarkozy's campaign in 2007. she has been questioned four times by magistrates. she has always maintained her innocents and continues to do

so. she has instructed her lawyers to appeal the decision to place her under investigation, one that she says is totally without merit, and she said she is going to explain herself to the imf board in washington. how are they likely to respond? up until now the board has stood behind her, but of course, all this time she was treated as a witness, and now she is being charged with a crime, a crime that could carry a sentence of a year in prison. to syria, and rebel fighters have taking control of a crossing on the boarder of iraq. an israeli army officer was wounded when stray fire from the battle crossed the border >> and an independent body at the united nations has occurred

syrian government fighters and islamic state group fighters of war crimes. and accuse the international community of failing to protect the victims of syria's war. [ explosion ] >> reporter: for three and a half years syria and its people have been torn in half. almost 200,000 people dead, many of them civilians, and millions forced from their homes, fleeing the bombs, the gunfire, the reported atrocities. there has been little free and fair reporting of syria's civil war, the risks to journalists enormous. to the release of an independent u.n. investigation presents one of the clearest pictures of what syrians have endured. and it's not a pretty picture.

syrian government forces are accused of targeting civilians, committing murder rape and torture. in one example forced truces were followed by mass disappears and deaths and detention. but the syrian government's primary adversary in the war the islamic state group is found in to be equally culpable. the u.n. says public executions have been its signature technique and with children often present. >> it's a total impunity because crimes are committed each day from all parties, and to nobody's dealing with the criminal responsibility for that crime. [ explosion ] >> reporter: the report also highlights the plight of children across syria, killed and injured at the hands of government forces, and recruited by rebel groups for active roles

in combat. [ explosion ] >> reporter: and then, there are the barrel bombs. the united nations accuses the syrian government of dropping barrel bombs using chemical agents in eight separate incidents. >> the international community has completely failed to protect the civilians. we must remember that most victims of this war are innocent bystanders to the destruction of their homeland. >> reporter: this is the u.n.'s eighth report on the conflict in syria, and it admits the previous seven haven't stopped the atrocity. investigators say they have drawn up lists of suspects. they want their work to send a message to the perpetrators; that they have been identified and that justice will be pursued. an american journalist had

been working in syria when we was captured last august. last week he appeared in a video by the islamic state group. his mother issued this plea for his life. >> i'm sending this message to you [ inaudible ] the kalif of the islamic state. my son is in your hands. stephen is a journalist who travelled to the middle east to cover the suffering of muslims at the hand of tyrants. steven is a loyal and genous son, brother and grandson. he is an honorable man and has always tried to help the weak. we have not seen steven for over a year, and we miss him very much. we want to see him home safe and sound and to hug him. since steven's capture i have learned a lot about islam.

i have learned that islam teached that no individual should be held responsible for the sins of others. steven has no control over the actions of the u.s. government. he is an innocent journalist. i have always learned that you the kalif can grant amnesty. i ask you to please release my child. as a mother i ask for justice to be merciful, i ask you to use your authority to spare his life, and to follow the example set by the profit mohammed who protected people of the book. i want what every mother wants to live to see her children's children. i plea with you to grant me this. still ahead on al jazeera, afghanistan's presidential election has hit a brick wall as the candidates pull out of an

audit supervised by the u.n. and one of two labs in sierra leon have been closed. on al jazeera america >> it's a chilling and draconian sentence... it simply cannot stand. >> its disgraceful... the only crime they really committed is journalism... >> they are truth seekers... >> all they really wanna do is find out what's happening, so they can tell people... >> governments around the world all united to condemn this... >> as you can see, it's still a very much volatile situation...

>> the government is prepared to carry out mass array... >> if you want free press in the

♪ the top stories on al jazeera. ♪ >> celebrations are being held in gaza on the first day of the long-term ceasefire signed by hamas and israel. but the 50-day war is estimated to have caused at least $6 billion in gaza. and the head of the imf has

dismissed a formal investigation launched into a long-running fraud case. magistrates are questioning her about a payment to a businessman while she was french finance minister six years ago. afghanistan's presidential election has run into more trouble. both candidates have pulled out of the u.n. supervised recount. abdullah abdullah's spokesman described the audit as a joke. it's a worry for the united states of abdullah said the vote in june was rigged. >> reporter: the ballot review process was briefly halted when representatives of candidate abdullah abdullah failed to arrive at the headquarters. officials had a solution, officials from the other candidate should also withdraw. the gani team agreed. >> translator: until the time

that abdullah comes back to the process, the process will continue. >> reporter: there is a deadline the inauguration is scheduled for september 2nd, so a new president can attend the nato summit next week. 74% of boxes have been audited, the remaining are the most contentious and need to be recounted. ghani's supporters say the process should proceed. >> we should not succumb to threats. the groups who are threatening us because they are losing power, their threats will be short lived. >> the impact of the election on the economy, on security, has been devastating, and the afghan government coffers are empty, and taliban have been attacking in several provinces and making progresses. >> reporter: the outcoming president has met the candidates price this week to try to keep

the process on track. abdullah's team says it will not recognize the outcome of the audit, because it is not there to observe. this hasn't just hurt the economy, it also threatens afghan's faith in democracy. some afghans may fear that whoever becomes president was elected unfairly. iraq's prime minister is working to form a new government to deal with the country's security crisis. the constitutional deadline is two weeks away, but political leaders say that they are aiming to complete the government before that. jane has more from bagdad. >> reporter: iraqi politicians are scrambling to meet a deadline of september 9th to form a new government. but so far they haven't sat down together in the same room. that's because kurdish parties, sunni blocks, as well as shiite politicians are trying to decide

each on their own the priorities for any new government. when they come up with what they call a plan of action, then they say they will decide who gets which cabinet post, but their leaders will still pledging they will meet that deadline f. it's increasingly important as the fight continues against the islamic state group in the north and west of the country. general lloyd austin has arrived in bagdad for talks on the way forward. iraq is expecting a widening range of military options with help from the americans as well as a growing number of other countries who are sending arms and ammunition to bagdad and the kurdish regional government. the prime minister now a caretaker prime minister is expected to be part of iraq's future as well. political sources say he will likely be offered the post of vice president. al jazeera is demanding the release of its three journalists

jailed in egypt, baher mohamed, mohammed fahmy, and peter greste have been imprisoned for 242 days. they are falsely accused of helping the outlawed muslim brotherhood. the french government has called on air france to stop flights to sierra leon's capitol because of the ebola outbreak. almost 400 people have died there. >> reporter: evacuated from sierra leon on an emergency flight this doctor who caught ebola is now in germany. the lab where he was working, one of just two used in sierra

leon has been closed. reports too that a third doctor has died after contracting the virus. more than 240 healthcare workers in the region have been inflakted. half have so far died. the u.n. says the outbreak is having a devastating effect on already poorly resourced leheal systems. >> who estimates in the three hardist hit countries only one to two doctors are available to treat 100,000 people. >> reporter: in liberia, the country's president has sacked some senior government officials. last month she warned that they would lose their jobs if they failed to return to the country to help deal with the crisis. and the opening of primary and secondary schools have been delayed a month in nigeria due to the outbreak.

>> ebola infection is not a death sentence. this is buttressed by the recovery of several of people who have been reintegrated successfully with their families and communities. >> closing the school for a month may or may not have an impact, although it may provide reassurance that something is being done. >> reporter: there's no proven treatment for the virus, but a few people have been given doses of the untested drug zmac, but how effective it has been is unclear. the u.n. is exploring wider use of this and other unproven treatments. >> translator: we have certain experimental drugs at the moment. we have had talks with companies, but we also have to talk to human rights groups to

see if it is possible to use the drug for the fight against the virus. >> reporter: the outbreak has now killed more than 1400 people in west africa, but it is not yet under control. even when it is contained, the u.n. says the effect will continue to be felt for years to come with so many experienced and dedicated health workers lost to the virus. the ukrainian military says that more russian soldiers have crossed the border into eastern ukraine. the latest group entered in five armored infantry carriers as well as a truck. on tuesday ukraine says ten paratroopers were ceased in the donetsk region. the russian authorities say they crossed the border by mistake. both men in turkey have

appeared at a meeting of their party. little culture now, and it's lights camera action in venice. the italian city's famous film festival is getting underway, and 20 films are completing for the big prize. >> reporter: the big theme is war and conflict this year. every year there seems to be some sort of film, but this year a quarter tell tails of war and conflict. you look at the u.s. roll in afghanistan, and a man who works as a remote drone operator. and then there is a look at armenian genocide, and a film which looks at the algearian war, and one getting people very excited here called "the look of silence."

this talks about the indonesian genocide in the 1960s. it is a true story. some are already touting that as a winner of the golden lion. although out of all of the festivals venice is probably the most difficult to predict, because although it looks very traditional, beneath the veneer there is this obsession, almost with films that are slightly edgy. last year's winner -- nobody saw it coming was an italian documentary about a motorway. the first film to be shown is "bird man." critics are not particularly kind about that film. "the look of silence" could win. and there is a film about

pigeons sitting on a branch looking at the people below them. until then a lot of people walking the red carpet, films to be screens and fingers crossed here in venice. >> just a reminder you can keep up to date with all of the news on our website, it's aljazeera.com. ♪ you're in the stream. don't send your kid to the ivy league. why elite colleges, according to a guest, don't measure up. a budding movement that spreads to more states? and later, the department of education has found an interesting demographic trend that could change the way schools operate.