>> secretary of state john kerry, secretary-general ban ki-moon, from the middle east peace quart et, and president abdul fatah al-sisi speaking new. >> we are happy to host you here in egypt, and happy because of your response to accept the invitation - egypt, norway and different countries. in order to express our solidarity for the gazans in their deal, and the best ways to

provide support to their legitimate leadership and government in the efforts to reconstruct the gaza strip. gaza is and will be a part and parcel of the palestinian state which is looking forward to its independence, and enjoy legitimate rights on every effort of its journey. this conference is an important step to support the egyptian effort since the sart of the latest -- start of the latest crisis in gaza. egypt has always been supporting the bloodshed and keeping the palestinians, the innocent palestinians, and keep and support the legitimate rights of the palestinian people. >> egypt has continued its efforts since the initiative of

egypt to stop fighting. we have seen so many rounds of talks during 51 days of fighting. we have succeeded despite all the obstacles that were trying to hinter its efforts, and we have reached a presencive ceasefire on the 26th -- comprehensive ceasefire on 26 august last. the egyptian efforts have been continuing in order to follow up this achievement, and this has been achieved through the invitation of both palestinian and israel sides, deciding to resume indirect talks in cairo. last month, in order to reach a memorandum about the issues and to reach a compromise about the resumption of talks during the second half of this month. and egypt is also trying to not

to expand the rift and the gap between the palestinians. egypt is trying to narrow the view points and points of view. the egyptian efforts have succeeded in reaching compromises and its for reconciliation, and the palestinian authority is in gaza strip. and the reconciliation government is doing its job to stress the unity of the palestinian territories under one flag, under one item, which is legitimacy. egypt made a political effort, and also egypt exerted efforts on the human level, through providing the needs for the palestinians medical supplies and foot supplies and alike. and we received the injured and wounded in the egyptian hospitals.

egypt will always be committed towards the palestinian people and its just cause. egypt expressed its stands and positions. egypt has shown the brotherly hood with the palestinians, as the palestinian issue is the core of the main cause in the arab world. these will pave the way to activate the international immediate move through coordination with the palestinian government in order to reconstruct the gaza strip, and to reform the crisis that happened due to the recent war. the reconstruction of gaza strip, and providing people with the needs depends on two main anglers. the palestinian authority has to protect its authority in gaza strip. and we have to make sure that

the palestinian people is not led down at all, so the palestinian people really hopes we are going to leave that at that point. that was egypt's president abdul fatah al-sisi making the opening remarks at the beginning of the don jor conference to help rebuild gaza in cairo. we'll come back to that conference to hear palestinian president mahmoud abbas, and that man, u.s. secretary of state john kerry as and when they speak. israel's 50 day assault on gaza had a devastating impact. more than 2,000 were killed, including 511 children. the financial cost, though, is in the billions, for a population that suffered for years under israel's land and sea and air blockade. the palestinians seeking 4 billion to rebuild homes, schools and hospitals damaged by

the bombing. in a moment we'll speak with the correspondent on the rafah border crossing in the gaza strip. in fact, we'll speak now. >> nts, the palestinians hoping to raise $4 billion at the catholic church, given the conflict is not resolved. do you think that's, perhaps, a tad optimistic. >> it's certainly not a lot of money, but underscores the scale of destruction here in gaza during that 50 day conflict. what we understand is that this $4 billion that the palestinians were asking for is for a three year reconstruction plan. they are hoping to get $1.5 billion at the commence for immediate construction relief, but there's a lot of problems across the gaza strip. it's a huge structural issue,

but beyond that there are other pressing issues as well, as my colleague reports. >> reporter: mohammed inspects the broken irrigation pipes on his dusty field close to the border with israel. tank tracks left scars in the sand. nothing remains of this year's tomato crop. >> i lost $500,000 in the war. i would have harvested around 600 tonnes. i could onward salvage around 19. >> the economic growth in palestine dropped to minus is% in the first quarter -- 1% in the first quarter of 2014. the struggling situation was made worse by the war. it was described how the tanks came up from the border, destroying their crops, millions worth of produce, generating money for an economy that suffered years under israel's

blockade. >> mohammed's tomatoes would have ended at a factory like this. the owner says this is the first year in 20 he had to import tomatoes from abroad. the shells were used to produce tomato concentrate. >> translation: this is the biggest factory, if you count the farmers, traders and transport companies involved, around 3,000 lost their job. >> israel's land, air and sea blockade meant little goods were allowed into gaza, and exports zero. despite the government strengthening its position, the west bank said it was facing a gap in the range of $50 million. that is without additional expenditure resulting from the war. >> translation: it seems israel wants to destroy our economy.

they hit up to 700 of our factories and businesses. the war brought our economy to its knees. >> it's estimated rebuilding gaza could cost up to 6 billion. gaza has long been shunned by foreign investors, scared off or scared about dealing with hamas, an organisation the u.s. and others describe as terrorists. there's no sign israel is willing to lift the blockade. getting the materials in to begin rebuilding, and getting gaza's economy a chance is as remote as ever regardless of the amounts of money pledged, the blockade is in place. how on earth will construction materials get in to gaza? >> that's right. gaza remains effectively blockaded and it was interesting listening to the egyptian

president abdul fatah al-sisi using warm words to describe egypt's relationship with gaza. it's only nominally open. only around 300 people are able to cross on a given day. the flow of goods slowed to a trickle. until the issue of lifting the blockade and allowing goods and materials in to gaza - until that is resolved, we'll continue to see a lot of suffering here across the gaza strip. >> for the moment. thank you. live at the rafah crossing. we are expecting to hear from the palestinian president mahmoud abbas in a few minutes. we'll cross back to that conference as and when he speaks. for the moment we are moving on to the rest of the day's news. the u.s. air force dropped supplies. government forces have been pushed back by i.s.i.l. some officials are calling for american boots on the ground to stop them.

the head of iraq's western anbar province shows i.s.i.l. has advanced as far as abu ghraib. 10km from the city center. >> let's go live to baghdad. imran khan is there. >> i.s.i.l. fighters are just a short distance away from the center of baghdad. >> certainly an alarming statement from the head of the provincial council. over the last year i.s.i.l. fighters edged ever closer to balling dad. we know that they are, according to security forces that i spoke to in small number around the perimeter of the capital, but what we are hearing is they are not in the numbers they need to get through. officially the ministry of defense said that the area surrounding baghdad is secure, that they have put in place new security measures, including

increasing troop levels and heavy armory surrounding the army belt. it sounds like an alarming statistic. it is something that they say her prepared to deal with. the key statement here is from a key member of the anbar provincial council, saying that there needs to be boots on the ground and the air strikes are not working. they are not degrading i.s.i.l. enough. i.s.i.l. control three key towns, and that's a worry for the iraqis. >> thank you. let's get back to the donor conference for gaza upped way in cairo. palestine president mahmoud abbas is making his opening remarks. let's listen in. >> egyptians took our just cause. i'd like to thank the king dom of norway who have accepted our request to host this - to

convene this conference, being since 1993, leaders of the donors countries conferences. particularly after the kata strofy in gaza strip, and particularly after the destruction of the gaza strip infrastructure and institutions and buildings and even its inhabitants. this necessitates efforts to reconstruct the gaza strip, and to restore the lives of the palestinians and the dignity in the strip. your excellency, your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, i wished we were not in need to hold this conference for the second time, but the peace treaty, according to oslo, sends 20 years ago were not a

success. or theirar ab -- their arab piece initiative was not respected. or the two-state solution is not done, despite efforts of the tripartite and the efforts of the u.s. administration, and the international community as well. because, the israeli occupation, until now, is still having the plans to occupy more and more of the palestinian territories. let me say that the israeli aggression, and the destruction, and the crisis, and the disasters in gaza strip can not be tolerated and cannot go like this without accountability. despite that, we will continue our effort, and we will continue our coordination with the arab

republic of egypt, and the parties concerned, in order to continue this ceasefire. the very beginning - since the beginning of the israeli aggression in gaza strip, and out of our responsibilities towards our people, we have started contacts and meetings and visits in order to stop the bloodshed and in order to achieve a sort of ceasefire and we have said later a team was sent to the cairo in order to guarantee the achieve the of this school. our team have succeeded in making the preparations for the continuous operation of the cross woods and for the aim of reconstruction and for the aim of having projects and

supervision of the government with coordination with the united nations. also we have reached israeli authorities in order to achieve these goals. but, we still ask the parties concerned, all the parties concerned are urged to be up to the responsibilities to facilitate the implementation of this mission, and not to put any obstacles to face this, your excellency, ladies and gentlemen, gaz astrip, that has witnessed -- gaza strip that has witnessed three wars in six years, has been disrupted in building institutions, properties, and the number of martyrs, amounting to 3,460,

including 2,145 during the last war. 13,000 injured, including a big number in the recent war. the buildings and houses more than 80,000 houses and buildings have been constructed. the infrastructure in gaza strip, the general infrastructure, the public sector buildings have been also destructed, including the only power cessation in gaza, electricity, sewage, condangerous -- conduction and

others. massacres. catastrophes have been seen. whole districts have been constructed. more than 90 families were not there any more in the records. and thousands of people that survive are displaced. more than 100 are ... palestinian president mahmoud abbas making an impassioned plea to donor nations at a conference that is trying to put into place some sort of plan to rebuild gaza. let's bring in our correspondent at the rafah crossing at the gaza strip. with the exception of the gulf nations, one could imagine donor nations being concerned about committing to the rebuilding or rebuilding of gaza, given the

conflict is not yet over, and given also the fact that the community palestinian government for a while, even though they are presenting is sol eyed face to the world, looked pretty shaky. big questions remain with the unity government, whether or not it will be able to tran cend the deep decision. but whatever the case, i don't think plivening to the palestinian president. it outlines the serious issues that the grip is facing. this is a tiny part of the world where 1.7 million lived and who have been subjected to a war every two years, claiming thousands of lives, destroying tens of thousands of homes, and traumatising a population, and as you rightly point out, it will be challenging for donors

to commit huge sums of money to the restriction of gaza because of the fact we have seen so many conflicts over the past few years alone, broadly speaking when you look at the leaders, the people attending, people like ban ki-moon, katherine ashton, people like the u.s. secretary of state john kerry, they are also going to broadly look at ways to end the cycle of violence, that we can see an end to the kind of violence that we saw over 50 days of the summer in which 2200 people were killed, and over 10,000 people were badly injured. again, it will take a lot more money than that. it will take a lot of negotiation, talks with the israelis as well. again, as we have been hearing from the palestinian president, strong words saying that negotiations have not worked until now, and they've been saying that they plan to take

the palestinian cause internationally. he, of course, will go to the u.n. security council, and there are some suggestions, including by him, that they may go as far as the international criminal court. whatever the case, the situation for the people is dire, and the people hoping to see money committed to the reconstruction of their homes and livelihoods. >> we'll continue to keep an ear across the opening remarks of the conference in cairo and bring you anything news worthy in syria, kurdish forces in kobane plan to go on the attack in a fight against i.s.i.l. an intense battle has been going on for weeks, with kurdish fighters supported by u.s. air power. we go live to the turkish-syrian border. stefanie dekker is there. what is the latest? >> well, there's a change in

language and sentiment coming out of kobane. we spoke to our sources of the y.p.g. the sources say that they making head way. there were four in the early hours, and they managed to push i.s.i.s. further back. they are moving in an attack way rather than defensive. that's what we heard from a fighters, who came out, mildly injured. he had a positive message, saying he would go back wep he feels better. they believe they will push them back. some feel the air strikes have come too late. over 200,000 people have had to flee just behind us, many dealing with a difficult situation, dependent ept on handouts. people tell you there's many behind us watching what is going on, they are frustrated, they

want to help humanitarianly or fight. it's a message we hearts from the u.n. special envoy to syria, telling them to open their boarders, turkey refusing to do that, foreign ministers saying armed civilians would be a crime. the language is not helping. to wrap it up, it's a positive message that seems to change. thinking they are making headway against i.s.i.l. >> stefanie dekker reporting live from the turkey syrian border. authorities in mexico said some of the bodies found in mass graves are not those of 43 missing students. they were taken away by police in vans on 26 september. the kidnappings sparked protests across the country. >> reporter: the children are missing and they are angry. the students were taken by

police alleged to be linked to a criminal gang more than two weeks ago. bundled into vans and taken away. since then there has been no sign of them. on saturday a mass grave was found outside the city. 28 bodies were recovered there, and four more graves were found. in a news conference. the state governor had this message for the families. i can confirm that according to legal and forensic evidence do not correspondent to students. >> the case of the missing students led to demonstrations across mexico. protesters incensed at the thought that some police could have colluded with criminal gangs to allow the student to be taken. there has been calls for the president peno nieto to resign. so far he has given no sign of

that. >> today it is clear that we must strengthen the government institutions at every level. this is particularly necessary in those areas where due to different factors local authorities have been overwombe overwombed. -- overwhelmed. tens of thousands have been killed in the last seven years. despite presidential promises during that time, nothing seems to change hong kong's chief executive cy leung says that protesters have an almost zero chance of securing free elections. speaking to a local tv station, leung said the police would use a minimum amount of voice if they have to clear protest sites. hundreds of demonstrators are conditioning their sit in on the streets of hong kong for a third week on the indian coast cyclone hudhud is causing damage after

making landfall they are the port city. two are confirmed dead. thousands have been moved from their homes in the states of andrea pradesh and odessa. we have this report from new dehli. >> reporter: india's south-eastern state of odessa and andrea pradesh are being battered by nature, a rear after cyclone phailin wreaked havoc. winds up to 195 k/hr are toppling powerlines and uprooting trees. >> we are facing a lot of problems from last night as we are not getting food items. no one is coming out of their houses. we have nothing to eat. >> a response force says it has prepared for the worst with cyclone hudhud, deploying 1800 emergency staff, equipped with boats and debris clearing

machinery. 100,000 have been evacuated seeking shelter. people are scared for the homes and farms they have left behind. >> around 10-sa buses have been stopped because of heavy winds. a few were blown backwards because of the wind force. >> 12 million were detected by cyclone phailin, but casualties were low. authorities say they are better prepared this year, and not taking chances. international monetary fund says it's ready to provide money to countries fighting ebola in west africa. the international monetary fund announced 130 million commitment for guinea, liberia, and sierra leone last month. i.m.f. chief christine lagarde said longer term issues must be tackled. >> many children in south africa walked long distances to school. some arrived late and drop out

altogether. because it takes so long to walk there. we have this report from orange farm outside johannesburg on a plan to improve attendance and punctuality. >> it's the third time this boy is late for school. his mother cannot afford to use public transport, so he walks more than 5km every day. >> i'm staying far, far away. i'm coming late to school. when i'm staying far like that, sometimes i'm not catching up the time. >> the 19-year-old south african is writing exams soon and is worried coming late and missing lessons could make him fail. >> most of them, you find. become irritable, they don't concentrate for the better part of the less job, and therefore it affects the results. so it's important that when they come in, then they get

everything on time. >> today there was good news. these knew bicycles were sent to the school. a 2-hour walk could be cut down 30 minutes on one of these. >> there are 12 million of our children walking to school. 500,000 walk longer than four hours to and from school. over a period of two years, we will monitor from the receipt of the bicycle to see if we can get a shift in a practical way, a shift of the current situation on the ground. >> more bicycles are needed. there aren't enough. it means some won't get one. priority is for the students that live furthest away and take longer to walk to school.

he now has his own wheels and hopes his final year in high school will be a smooth ride get the latest on the news at any time at the website, aljazeera.com.