>> hezbollah attacks an israeli convoy on the israel, lebanon border. israel has fired dozens of shells back into lebanon. >> hello, also on the program in japan and jordan, negotiations for the release of their citizens held by isil. >> people celebrate in the syrian town of kobane. >> hezbollah said it's

responsible for an attack on an israeli convoy. it says the attack is in response to an alleged israeli strike inside syria last week which killed hezbollah members. there are conflicts reports on the number of casualties. a number of israeli soldiers has been injured. we have more live from israel. still a confusing picture. what more are you hearing there in jerusalem? >> well, not much more. when it comes to casualties among israeli soldiers, usually the army takes its time to diligently confirm this information and inform the teams of the soldiers killed. all we know according to the army is that it was an anti tank

missile fired along the lebanese israel border. after hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack, the army said basically that they hold responsible hezbollah for this attack. we know israel has fired back and is responding. we know that from media reports and from the israeli foreign minister, benjamin netanyahu who cut short a visit to southern israel close to the gaza strip in order to head to a closed security meeting with top security officials in tel-aviv, and there he said that the army is responding to the incidents in the north and that to those who are trying to challenge at the northern border, i recommend that they look at hamas in gaza, because he said hamas since its formation took its hardest hits in the last gaza war and that israel is always ready and able to respond in order to end the attacks on israel and end

breaches of sovereignty of israel's sovereignty. that said, there have been reports that a number of israeli soldiers were either wobbled or killed in the attack but we are not able to confirm this. we are hearing reports from some israeli media channels that the pictures put out by hezbollah showing vehicles on flames and on fire is not authentic. on the ground that the background shows a different area is what channel 10 is saying at the moment, but little information coming from the government about the fate of the israeli soldiers, who may have been inside that vehicle that was targeted by hezbollah earlier. >> will this just be left as yet another prickly border confrontation or is there an

appetite for a wider confrontation. >> that is the question being asked now by many observers and analysts. local channels are talking about that that israel may want to contain this and this. israel will certainly they say respond to this recent attack, and continue to respond as it has overnight after two rockets were launched from syria into the golden heights on tuesday. israel responded immediately and continued to fire mortar shells inside syria overnight saying that they will respond to defend israeli civilians and to end breaches of israeli sovereignty. the question now is what is israel going to do. i don't think there is a lot of appetite for an open war with hezbollah and i don't think that is the case on the hezbollah sides in lebanon. for israel, we're going to see an early election at the end of

marsh -- march. hezbollah has an open front inside syria against rebels as it is supporting the bashar al assad government in order to reclaim control of territory. i don't think their interested in this point with an open-ended war with israel at this point in time. >> you won't have heard this or may not have, but we are just getting a report on the wire here a single source from lebanon's national news agency. it says that an israeli soldier has been captured during the operation. from lebanon's national news agency a source saying an israeli soldier has been

captured during the operation. if true, it's a significant development and how does it change the dynamic of what's happening? >> well, i can tell you that we heard these reports earlier and actually they were denied by official sources that someone may have been kidnapped. what we know is that this line was immediately denied by some israeli sources but we had heard it before. obviously, if this is later confirmed, it would be very significant, because israeli is extremely sensitive about the capture of its soldiers. we saw what happened in gaza when hamas held a soldier for four years. this is something that israel is extremely sensitive about and something that could escalate the situation. we did hear reports denying that this was at all true, but again very limited information coming

from the israeli side about the result of the attacks in northern israel this morning. >> thank you. >> syrian kurds displaced in turkey are celebrating after learning that the town of kobane was captured from isil fighters. the security is still too dangerous for them to return home. >> carefully stepping outside watched by those who fought for their freedom with kurdish forces now in control it's hoped life will return to the streets of kobane. the sign is for peace and victory. for the tense and thousands who fled and hope to return, the road ahead is long. homes reduced to rubble, entire blocks destroyed. officials here say that after four months of battle, at least half the city is gone.

syrian refugees in turkey, getting home isn't easy. thousands came to the border on tuesday, some hoping to cross but as the border is still officially closed, turkish security forces pushed the group back. those in the turkish town say they still have reason to celebrate. >> many people from our nation and all the city es of turkey have come here. we are celebrating. we have come here from kobane. kobane is liberated now and we are extremely happy. >> kobane is liberated today. we are extremely happy and celebrating here. all our friends are here. i hope that we will be able to go back to our land soon. >> taking control of kobane was a joint effort, with u.s.-led airstrikes iraqi and syrian kurdish fighters and diplomatic maneuvering which saw turkey

agree to go let the peshmerga through. the fight is far from over. it has fighters in hundreds of towns around kobane and proved the damage it can do. >> we have this update from kobane. >> we're now inside kobane. this is the roundabout, which is referred to as freedom roundabout. this area was the scene of intense fighting between islamic state and the kurdish forces. the international alliance aimed at isil targets. you can see the result of these airstrikes. you can see there's destruction all around in places where isil fighters were based. kurdish forces were fighting all over the town. now the battle is at the out

skirts left of the city. >> russia is hosting talks between some syrian opposition groups and the assad government. the main group isn't there. it says that moscow is not an honest broker, as it's an important backer of president bashar al assad. russia trying to broker these talks between various dispratt

disparate groups. what russia is starting needs to be vastly improved and this is where i believe the europeans the u.s. need to come in and make that clear and also of course for us to involve the right to a group of syrians including most importantly the groups fighting on the ground. >> you were saying that the russian prime minister lavrov is expected to speak. >> what i'm hearing from the inside even the opposition group, there's not been a clear agreement on the way forward. many would want to discuss how you transition from assad how you change the system. that's been a red line for the regime from the start. >> let's shift to breaking news

we've had here this morning this violence on the israeli-lebanese border. is this going to be left as another prickly border fracile or will it escalate? >> this is a very, very serious situation. what we are hearing is that benjamin netanyahu days away from an election, promising countering force on all front. on the other side, will hezbollah retaliate further? if it remains in the south what happens in shaba usually stays

there. if it doesn't if we get to other retaliatory fire, i'm afraid all bets are off. it's difficult beyond speculating. >> we're going to talk to you in a little bit about another important middle east story because jordan says it will release an attempted suicide bomber it is holding on death row if it releases a pilot they are holding hostage. japan is work to go get released a japanese hostage released. we are joined live from the jordan capital amman. we have this iraqi female prisoner perhaps a jordanian fighter pilot could be part of

the deal. what's the deal in the swap? >> the 40-year-old iraqi woman was arrested in jordan in 2005 after a failed suicide attack. she was part of a larger group who had attacked different locations in jordan where dozens were killed in a major attack. her husband was killed in that attack. her belt of explosives failed to detonate and that's why she was arrest offed. she says she was going to carry out the attack to avenge the killing of her three brothers killed by the american forces in iraq. isil wants this woman to be released. they want her to be released in order to release the japanese hostage, but they are not going to release the jordanian pilot captured by isil when he was bombing their target as part of the coalition forces. what they are saying is that the

jordanian pilot and the jam piece journalist will be killed if she is not released. if she is released, they will release the japanese hostage. there's pressure on the government from the family of the pilot to release him. they want the government to do whatever it takes just to spare his life. they are saying even if releasing him will not be in his release but at least spare his life, please do it. >> what you are saying is that the jordanian pilot is basically the sticking point in this deal at the moment. the jordanians want him freed

isil saying we will only release the iraqi female prisoner. >> exactly. just an hour ago the jordanian government said they will release the woman in prison, but only if they release the jordanian, as well. the japanese government is one of the biggest aid donors to jordan. there is political pressure on the government. many people in jordan feel this is not their war. they don't understand why the jordanian pilot is bombing the isil targets over syria. they say that jordan should not have been part of this coalition. this is not the belief among all jordanians but a good portion this is what they believe including members of parliament. the jordanian government, on one

hand don't want to release the prisoner without the release of the pilot. however, if they don't, he might be killed. >> salman, what is clear that is even though the public face of this deal is the japanese government in terms of international media it's the jordanians who really have the power to be able to negotiate with isil and broker this deal. how much pressure has the jordanian government been under? they are saying look, we want our pilot back. >> absolutely. a ruler is absolutely right. there's a lot of pressure in jordan bewilderment why jordan is engaging in such a visible way against isil, even though most jordanians feel the threat

of daish. >> daish being isil. >> isil, of course. these are areas which have already shown quite a lot of resistance to the jordanian effort with regards to daish. what daish has done is they've put the jordanians on the spot. they must get the release of their pilot. it has to be part of a double deal but that's not what daish has said from the start. the japanese, who are so desperate to get out at least one of their hostages, but the jordanians won't unless they see the release of the pilot. >> is there a worry in jordan, as well, that the government may

cave in to isil's demands? what we're seeing here that is hostages are going to be released perhaps if they get a deal perhaps money's being paid. we don't know that. >> the principle's already been set. millions of dollars are being exchanged for other hostages, not just with daish or al-nusra, but criminal gangs who call themselves one of those things. the principle in this case has already been set. we are negotiating with dish. the tribal connections that the jordanians have which stretch across syria and iraq are also significant. this is probably one of the reasons why daish is itself

negotiating. >> it is a big money earner for them, as well as the propaganda value that it has the kind of doubt that it sows into the arab states that may well be finding themselves have gone to negotiate in this way. of course it's a money earner. as the oil and other revenues are perhaps affected and start to dry up, live human beings that can have major impact on international television screens both in the west and arab states have become a very valuable commodity. >> what's clear here that is hostage taking is a very, very lucrative business for isil, part of their revenue mix and also an important part of their revenue mix. >> absolutely. as the oil revenues and other such revenues start to dry up, this is something that they're going to have to rely on increasingly. even the italian hostages taken by the criminal gaining, two ladies were probably exchanged

for $10 million $11 million. we have seen deals of 10-25-mile dollars. these are big big revenue earners not just for daish but the overall war economy that has grown up. >> you talk about the overall war economy. we've covered a story about residents going back to kobane on the syrian border. is there a sense of perhaps size as i will mayisilmay be getting more desperate because they are losing ground and in the battle space. >> only in kobane. in syria, they're expanding. they've lost men but replenished men. they have more men. in fact, if we're not careful going back to my earlier point we don't have a political process in syria we're going to continue to see daish expanding itself not just around the northeast of the country in relation to iraq, but also on the border with lebanon and in

and around damascus. this should abvery grave warning to us in that respect. >> thank you for your insight. we'll talk to you throughout the day in terms of ongoing developments across the middle east. >> hezbollah is saying it's responsible for an attack on an israeli military convoy along the southern border. what more can you tell us? >> we are hearing reports here, but they are attributed to sources in lebanon. we just heard that a u.n. source may have possibly confirmed the death, the killing of a united nations peace keeper based on the border between israeli and lebanon. we have no confirmation from the israeli side if this is true. it is basically, i would say a

needless casualty in this escalation between israel and lebanon, and syria but as you know, they have peace keepers based at that border between israel and lebanon because technically, these two countries are still at war. they have been there for several years, several decades to make sure that these incidents don't happen but in the past few years since the war started in syria, we have seen many cases where obviously there were cross border incidents and attacks and indeed if confirmed this would be unfortunate incident that someone based on that border serving as a u.s. peace keeper was killed in israeli shelling in response to the attack claimed by hezbollah that hit the israeli convoy this morning. >> just a quick final thought is there any appetite in israel for any kind of wider escalation with hezbollah?

>> i don't think so at this point, although we do know from the way the israeli army acts is that there's always a response. they never leave something or what they describe as a breach of their sovereignty without what we describe as retaliation. there will be a response. a lot of analysis suggest that go maybe israeli will be looking for a response that will contain and end this latest round of cross border violence between israel and lebanon and syria. we are approaching an election, an early election at the end of march in which prime minister bennett is hoping to win again and also israel recently got out of a very long war with gaza, where a lot of casualties on the israeli side compared to previous wars with hamas and gaza and hezbollah in lebanon. i think i can say the same about

hezbollah in lebanon which has an open front inside syria sending fighters against the bashar al assad regime, so have sent many of their resource to say syria in order to win that war. i don't think they're interested in opening another front. we heard reports that the hezbollah may have captured and kidnapped an israel soldier. we were able to speak to the israeli army, which denied that this happened, so no israeli soldier has been confirmed as being kidnapped by hezbollah in the attack this morning by hezbollah on an israeli army vehicle on the lebanon-israeli border. >> thank you. >> philippine president aquino addressed the nation in the wake of a deadly police raid that killed up to 44 officers. heavy fighting broke out in the southern province sunday. the president is under pressure

to maintain a peace deal. >> the philippine president defended the police action and explained to the public as best he could, he said before getting the formal findings from an inquiry. he reprimanded people who were spreading rumors or listening to hearsay, saying it was not constructive to the peace situation in the southern philippines. a formal peace was just signed with a rebel group after two decades of negotiations. he is trying very hard to make sure that this peace pros is not derailed. as it is, many legislators and other politicians are already withdrawing support from this peace deal, questioning the intentions of the muslim fighters the rebel group saying that if it was in deed a mistaken encounter between two force that is should have been friendly meaning the government police forces and the rebel fighters that signed a peace deal with the government, then

why did the encount their left more than 40 policeman dead last more than 12 hours. the killings weren't just from gunshots but there were some officers believed to be beheaded, as well. many have the public quite upset over what transpired here, asking why rebel groups haven't been decommissioned yet why weapons are still with them. their control in the southern philippines is almost holding the national government hostage to them and their whims. >> afghanistan's parliament is voting on the president's cabinet. >> mexico's attorney general declared that all 43 students who went missing in september are dead, saying they were killed by a gang which mistook

them for rival criminals. many don't believe that account. we have a report from mexico city. >> mexico's attorney general said there's no doubt what happened to the 43 students. the evidence allows us to determine that the students were kidnapped, killed, burnt and dumped in a river. he cited 39 confessions including this man's felipe rodriguez said gang bosses called him to dispose of the students. in addition to the confessions the conference was completed with slick produced videos and reenactments all to add weight to the attorney general's argument. it's unlikely to convince a skeptical country. protests continue to call the government's argument into question. so far forensic experts have only identified the remains of one of the students. fire experts say there's no way 41 person were burned by a gang

member at this dump. >> we don't believe it. yesterday, they saw many marching in the street, so they want to close the case. >> the conference came after the president gave a speech earlier tuesday in which he said mexico could no longer be held back by that awful crime. >> there needs to be punishment for those responsible for these unfortunate events, but we need to take the path in the direction of continuing to move forward to ensure that in mexico the best is still to come. >> the truth is many mexicans don't want to move forward. many believe that federal police and the army participated in the attacks. if anything, mexicans say they want an even fuller accounting of what happened that night. >> he didn't say case closed, but the attorney general did make clear he was convinced he had all the necessary facts so prosecute the case. in the coming days, that certainty will surely be called

into question by a skeptical public. >> al jazeera mexico city. >> a quick reminder, you can keep up to date with all the news on our website all the latest on the violence on the israel-lebanon border, aljazeera.com. tore eses and we are here to talk about technology. let's check out our team of hard-core nerds. maria is a biologist specializing in ecool ecology and evolution. scientists hunt down a bacterial killer. bionic eye.