>> a probe in possible war crimes. the icc investigate israeli actions in palestinian territory territories. hello, we're live in al jazeera headquarters in doha. thousands of refugees are trapped and desperate for aid. stepping up security. belgium deploys hundreds of troops to protect key sites from attacks. the pope cut short his stay because of bad weather.

israel and the united states are describing it as scandalous and a tragic irony. but launching an inquiry of possible war crimes. it would look into crimes committed during some of israel's vault on the gaza strip and could bring charges on both sides of the conflict. >> over 2,100 dead, almost 500 of them children, the war in gaza made 2014 the deadliest year for palestinians since 1967. now the very first stage of a legal process that could see war crimes charges launched. when the palestinian president mahmood abbas signed the statute

on the last day of last year, he also signed a declaration giving the court jurisdiction from the 13th of june 2014. the chief prosecutor of the court has now launched a preliminary examination into event from that date to launch an inquiry into a form investigation. she said upon receipt of a referral or valid declaration the office of the prosecuteor is an office opens a preliminary examination of the situation at hand 37 accordingly the prosecutor has opened the inquiry. into the situation in palestine. the office will conduct its analysis in full independence and impartiality. israeli prime minister benjamin

netanyahu said: >> i think israeli authorities should understand this is a judicial process and inherent in that is impartiality and application of law. they also need to understand that the prosecutor will be looking at serious crimes committed by israelis as well as serious crimes committed by palestinians. >> it's almost three weeks since the palestinians signed up to the statute. the aim there was partly legal but also political. they knew that the legal process now in it's very earliest stage was going to be extremely drawn out. politically, though, in this highly charged period of israeli

election campaign they're already making waves. james base, al jazeera, the united united nations. >> we're going to the court in. not the publicity. we're going to the court the most important international court on criminal matters. it is an impartial court. it is based on the charter that israel refused to sign and commitment. israel thinks that the international court is like it's own courts, kangaroo courts that have been sending thousands of palestinians to jail without any due process. no we're going to the international legality and to that court come what may. >> in yemen houthi fighters say

they've kidnapped the president's chief of staff. he was taken from his office in the capitol on saturday morning. the united nations said its increasingly worried about the refugee trapped. they have not been able to distribute aid for six weeks because of ongoing fighting. the camp south of the capitol of damascus is cut off from the outside world. erica wood has more on the living conditions there. >> reporter: the palestinians refugee who is once sought shelter here because of trouble back home are now desperate to escape. because of fuel prices generators are an expensive luxury that most cannot afford. >> the generate operates but not

regularly. my electric generator operates every other day. >> every effort is made to reinstate power and cut off again. >> the citizens department has averted huge efforts to offer supplies to other cities. the regime has cut these lines. >> locals rely on rechargeable batteries, but it is not a dependable source, and it is expensive. >> we need $1.30 every day to recharge the battery. every single day we need $1 for the laptop and mobile phone but we don't have jobs. the situation is very bad. >> the u.n. says there are around 18,000 palestinian refugees living in the yarmouk camp in an area two square kilometers. 400 food parcels are needed each day to meet the minimum requirements for those inside,

but for months they have not been able to meet those needs. the u.n. has called on all parties to stop activities and give access to the camp, but so far those calls have been ignored. last year this showed the level of starvation and level of nutrition in yarmouk. since then little has improved, and medical supplies still can't be delivered. they are just some of the millions who have suffered from a war that is now almost four years old. erica woods al jazeera. >> belgium is stepping up it's security efforts to deploy hundreds of troops to guard key sites. for the first time in 30 years soldiers will be use to help the police deter attacks.

>> protester against the satirical magazine charlie hebdo and it's di di depiction of muslims. the >> when the french think of the suburbs, many think of bleak, highrise housing like here.

>> he wascherif kouachi was unremarkable. he road a bicycle, like me. >> orphan who had become a rapper and small time criminal but slowly falling under the influence of radical influence. cherif and his brother said kouchi met here. >> there were thousands praying here last friday. how can i know one person from another. anyway, the mosque is not here to play detective. we're here to teach the principles of islam. >> we come to a prison outside of paris. it was here that cherif kouachi spent a few months in connection

with a plot to sent send people to iraq. we think both men were hardened by their experiences here. >> these pictures were secretly taken inside that square. it shows what a squall i had degrading place it was. they trained in al-qaeda in afghanistan. >> young prisoners take refugee in reasonable because prison is so terrible. many young people are looking for something to hold on to. there are questions and they go seeking answers where they can find them.

>> so how many more kouachis, and amedi coulibaly are out there? france needs to build a society where more people feel they belong and do not lash out in rage. >> greeks go to the polls next weekend. greece has lost at third of its economy through spending cuts. we have reports from the party opposing the bail out and the man leading it. >> this is the man that most people see as greece's man in waiting. it's proposal to free the state and individuals from a debt it cannot pay. >> people come where they suffer. now ravaged greece is rising up

on its feet. >> greeks owe, and it will freeze much of the private debt to rebuild a productive economy. in the short term the party would spend $12 billion a year to those who have lost their livelihoods. >> it's a powerful message to a society that has lost a third of its income. yet, greeks are approaching the party with caution. they have anger mixed with fear. austerity has not balanced greece's budget. >> i don't trust them. are we going to wake up the day

after the election and find all our problems have been solved? i don't think so. >> it has now tempered its message. >> we will never consider a default. we have always said that the debt serving cannot deprive the country of the value of the resources, which are needed for the social cohesion and growth. now there are many voices in europe who agree with us. high unemployment are not only great problems. >> lingering skepticism has kept its popularity under 30% roughly the same as it's 2012 election performance. what makes this is winner now is the ruling conservative and socialists have tumble. they dream of leading the

revolution against austerity may come true, but not all greeks believe in it. >> time for a short break. when we come back how peshmerga have allowed the kurdish capitol to flourish. and in china a boat capsize, killing 22 people.

>> welcome back. a quick reminder of the headlines. the u.s. and israel have condemned the international

criminal courts to investigate palestinian charges. belgium is stepping up it's security earths to find hundreds of troops to guard key sites. for the first time in 30 years forces are used to deter attacks at key sites. the situation is no better for syrian refugee who is have fled the fighting. jordan is now home to 800,000. turkey is struggleing to provide for 1 million syrians. but it's lebanon that bears the brunt: nicole johnson has this report from the lebanese

board{^l"^^}. >> i'm in the town of al of arsal. over the last couple of weeks a big problem has been the weather. overnight sometimes its dropped to below minus 10 degrees across the valley, reports that many have died from the cold. we met one family who suffered that. >> a harsh winter has come to the valley. covering the hills and homes with snow. this house has no heating. it's a bitterly cold cement shell. the duani family escaped the fighting in syria and moved to lebanon in 2011. they've lived in this house for the last five months. a week ago the overnight temperature dropped to minus 10 degrees celsius.

>> when my mother passed away there was nothing wrong with her. it was because of the freezing cold weather. i would wake up early in the morning, and i saw her shivering. we rushed to warm her up, and we couldn't. we took her next door to try to get her warm, but it wasn't enough. she passed away. >> the youngest daughter is 14 years old. we see where the family slept together in one room. there are holes in the wall and ceiling. the night their mother died there was no gas to heat the place up. their father is away in syria waiting for permission to enter lebanon. the children say they won't live in this house again. it's too painful. the children have moved in with a lebanese family next door. here it's warm and safe. they're waiting to get help from the united nations they're waiting for their father to return.

until he does they'll stay here. >> the children are staying in my home. what you had i do. put them in the streets? they lost their mother because of cold. they don't have heat, gas or food. they don't have anything. >> the body could in the be buried for four days. the ground was frozen hard. she has been buried in the valley. and for that reason her children will stay in lebanon close to their mother's grave. >> syrian refugees were able to move freelyly and look for work but it's different here. thesivean recommendings are not allowed to move in and out. now the lebanese army has done this because in august of last year fighters from isil and the al nusra front moved into the

town and took control of it, they had a battle with the lebanese army for five days. eventually a cease-fire was reached, and they moved to the outskirts of town. the security situation is still precarious here. people say this is a frustrating situation for them. they want to try and get work, but they're stuck in this town in the camps and they're not allowed to leave. >> in iraq eight people have been killed in two separate explosions in busy markets. the first attack took praise in a vegetable market north of baghdad. another bomb explodeed no groups have claim responsibility. now some of the heaviest fighting in northern iraq has taken place outside of erbil. the people in the city itself enjoy a high degree of comfort and security. thanks to its own peshmerga army. we have reports from erbil.

>> on the move against isil, peshmerga fronts on one of the front lines against the armed group. these men are engaged in daily battles to keep isil away from erbil. so far their lines have held. a short drive away is the city of erbil. here people calmly go about their business almost oblivious to the fighting outside their city. >> they have the ability to attack and be closer. >> with more than 6,000 years of history erbil is one of the oldest cities in the world. relics next to the city's sky scrapers. thanks to the regions oil

resources erbil is experiencing a construction boom. today the city hosts world-class hotels and state of the art facilities. >> things have not always been like this. our parents and grandparents faced hardship. we're very likely and hopefully erbil will remain safe from isil. >> eager to show off their new found welt. this is one of many showrooms where kurdish come to buy luxury automobiles. the point they're hoping to make is that erbil is a far cry from its past.

>> it's good for now. it's good. the cars are expensive and also they're luxury cars. >> kurdish authorities believe that close relationship they're stuck with the united states will only help their long battle for independence. for now they continue to build what they hope will one day be the capital capitol of their own country. >> the head of the african union commission said it's on stand by and ready to assist in the fight against boko haram. nigerian president goodluck jonathan has been fiercely criticized in failure to defeat the armed group. in mali two car bombs have exploded in a northern town. the second car managed to drive into the camp before setting off

explosives. one soldier from chad was killed andify others from injured. the haitian president said that a consensus government will be announced in the next two days. it follows more protests. parliament was dissolved on tuesday leaving haiti without a functioning government. crews in china are recovering body from a boat that capsized in the river. 22 people are confirmed dead. we have more from beijing. [ crying ] >> as soon as they heard the news that the tugboat had shrunk many of the crews' relatives came to where it happened to wait for news. but their despair turned to anger when they felt not enough was being done. they were frustrated by what they thought was a slow recovery effort. >> what are you doing here? my family is inside there.

>> some wanted to bring their loved ones bodies immediately. they took it out on the police. >> we're here to bring you back. come back home with us. >> state news media reported that 30 vessels were involved. swift currents hampered the rescue. it was not until saturday that rescue teams were able to pull the boat to shallow waters to conduct a thorough search inside. out of the 25 people on board only three were rescued. one of them was a man who was working as an interpreter for a foreign national on board the boat. he was pulled to safety 14 hours after the boat capsized. when rescue teams managed to cut through the hull. >> we knocked on the boat. we knocked once and there was a response. we knew that there was a survivor on the boat. >> the boat started to lift and water rushed in.

he survived by clinging to a pump. but the north on board were not so lucky. there is no indication of what caused the newly built vessel to capsize. the local government has accused the hip owners of ship owners for recording its route or its plans. >> bad weather has forced pope francis to cut short his trip. >> drenched by unseasonable rain a devout crowd as he held mass for millions of people. pope francis' visit here in an area where people have suffered through intense and frequent

storms it said that the vatican would shortly issue a new catholic doctrine on its position on climate change. there he is. pope francis delivering a message of compassion, and delivering a message to the world about the devastating effects of climate change. >> changing weather patterns are part of why life continues to be difficult in seaside communities here. these women survived typhoon haiyan and formed an association to help themselves. >> they book forward as a break from all this. and hopefully the pope will put some sense into how people understand poverty and the effects of climb change climate

change and on poverty. >> they try to overcome the fear of the sea and remember their relatives and friends who were killed. hope francis managed to meet typhoon haiyan survivors and a mass grave but the pope apologized for having to cut short his visit. another typhoon was moving in. al jazeera, the philippines. >> one of al jazeera's journalists is imprisoned in egypt for more than a year has urged the canadian prime minister stephen harper to intervene on the case. mohamed fahmy, bader mohammed, and peter greste were accused of broadcasting false news and helping the outlawed muslim

brotherhood. there has been an order for a retrial. they've been in jail for 385 days. a quick reminder you can keep up-to-date with all the news on our website. there it is, new and improveed www.aljazeera.com. that's www.aljazeera.com. >> there is a new rule book for dealings between cuba and the united states. the obama administration is released a new set of guidelines governing rules for travel money, technology and more. now the hard part starts. that's inside story. hello, i'm ray suarez.