of our time. >> it's not traditionally what broadcast journalism does. >> the new home for original documentaries. al jazeera america presents "motherhood on ice". sunday, 10:00 eastern. only on al jazeera america >> hello there i'm barbara scera, and this is the news hour live front london. coming up on program exit polls show a dead heat between benjamin netanyahu and his arch rival in the election. and a breakthrough result for the ba'ath party. and ac sayings of a gas attack that killed six people.

and cyclone survivors say they're running out of food as relief teams reach outlying islands. and the odds in monaco to stay in the championships. >> polls closed just an hour ago, but the israeli election is too close to call with the two main blocks meck and neck. one poll gives benjamin netanyahu the narrowest of leads over the challenging alliance, while others give them the exactly same result. netanyahu has claimed the victory on twitter. he is seeking fourth term, and even if he loses this election, he could win with a coalition.

his main competitor is herzog. and let's look at the exit polls has they stand now. 28 for the union party. and 27 for the dienist union neck-and-neck. 3rd place with 1 and 12 seats for the -- party. and 5 seats for the israeli party. standing by at the headquarters of benjamin netanyahu's headquarters. we will speak to all of them. and let's start with mike hannah. and mike, he's already claiming victory on twitter so even though some people thought this

would be the end of benjamin netanyahu, he's not quite out of the race yet, is he? >> it's a night in which all can claim some kind of victory. the zionist party having a stronger showing than anyone predicted. and the polls show, all reality, it will be a lot easier for benjamin netanyahu to form a governing coalition than it will be for herzog and his zionist union. we can crunch the numbers. benjamin netanyahu can call on the settler unions, and the rich parties and with all of those together, le get some 64 seats in parliament. according to the exit polls this would give him 3 more than for an absolutely majority.

and including the party the presence of which would create problems for the ultra religious orthodox party. so it's much easier for benjamin netanyahu to form a coalition than it would be for a central zion i want union. however, it's all up now to the president, rubin, once all of the results are exclud, he will call on the parties and he will decide who to form a coalition government. >> mike, it's interesting. when benjamin netanyahu called the selection back in december, he thought it was a given that he would get it again. but in that time, there were a lot of question marks and a lot of doubts over whether he would be. a lot of people were saying, vote for anyone other than benjamin netanyahu and yet he has been able to call his way

back. what has been going since the election campaign to get the results. >> well, the desperation to his campaign, all of a sudden, he saw that he was lagging behind the zionist union and he did what benjamin netanyahu does best went to the support base, the right wing elements of israeli society and the ultra orthodox religious movements to the extreme extreme right of israeli politics, and recanted the statement in 2009 that he recognized the possibility of a two-state solution. he went to campaign meetings in settlements of the occupied west coastwest coastwest bank, areas that he has never been seen in.

it was clearly designed to show them that he's back to what he is. the right wing block not going to make any concessions and the exit polls indicated that he found it. >> mike in tel aviv, and thank you. and now let's go live to the labor party headquarters remains and speak to tie a. who has been there all day. now, in the last selection netanyahu had one seat, and yet in the end, it was benjamin netanyahu that formed the government. so following that reasoning they're not quite out of the race yet are they? who could they form a coalition with?

[ unintelligible ] [ unintelligible ] they may be able to get the coalition into, including the possibility of the joint list [ unintelligible ] the fact of the matter is that they're going to strug quite a bit to get that number. whatever the case --. >> i'm so sorry i'm just going to have to break in. we're going to have to break in. we're having some problems hearing you and it's very loud there, and we're having problems with your mic. we'll go live to you to get reaction at the headquarters,

and also presumably, we'll be hearing from many of the leaders in the next few hours. in the meantime, in a press statement, we heard from hamas' spokesman. and he said that hamas' reaction to the election, all of the israeli parties are alike to us, it's a statement from hamas. they may disagree on many things but what is the same is their constant denial of the rights of the palestinian people. that's from a press statement. those are the exit polls and we'll get the final ones in the early hours of wednesday morning. but right now, let's go to al shamar. in the headquarters, the union of arab/israeli, they have done

well. and predictions are 13 seats which makes it the third biggest. the question now on everyone's list, would they ever go back on what they said, would they not join a government? they could be king makers for whoever wants to form a coalition. >> barbra, however the leader of the list had made some statements in the last few minutes where he said, we're going to be patient, and we're going to see what's going to happen in the next few days, and we will decide if they recommend herzog as a candidate. refusing to talk to all of the heads of the parties to see and find out who is the best candidate. and who is able to form the next coalition government. so it's clear that they're not going to make any decisions

right now as to who they would recommend to form the coalition government. whether today actually be part of the next coalition government. but they do know that as the third largest party they are in a strong position. so if herzog is in the position for the new government, he would approach the list, and members might actually request and demand the position from herzog to support him as a candidate for the prime minister's position, and they're not making any of the positions clear. but however they said they're going to block a right wing government this time because they have considerable sway as the third largest political party. and they plan to put an end to policies that they describe as

racist and discriminatory, that have been specifically carried out by a right wing government in recent years. so they're calling it a major achievement, an unprecedented achievement in israeli history. and they're even saying that voter timeout in israeli has been highest in this election since 1999. there has been a lot of talk about whether this link would remain united, or after the election what are the ideological differences between the members who come from different political parties some communists, and some nationalists, and some who describe themselves as islamic would be the key to the party. the leader said we will not disappoint you and will continue to be united because this is a golden opportunity to make a change in israel.

and we saw the general sense of hopefulness among arabs at the holding station in israel today, who say that for the first time in their lives they feel recognized as a minority in israel and are acknowledged as a minority and they will no longer continue to be indifferent about the political process. here, they can be influential and possibly in a coalition government and continue to fight what they describe as racist policy. there's also another option, another group another path that they might take. and it might not recommend a path for the prime minister, and herzog was their choice, and maybe a coalition government to serve -- connect the committees, or remain at the largest opposition block. possibly blocking policies.

>> now the joint list exporter in nazareth. thank you. and now we can go live to the labor party headquarters in tel aviv and it's good to see you again. i'm guessing that a lot of people are on the phone though the president hasn't decided the formation of the new government immediately, but i'm guessing that there are calls between the leaders to the various party leaders and who are you guessing that they're thinking about calling in forming a new coalition? >> . >> well, if it was up to the president on a personal level he would go with herzog, and he may have to tap president fet net. and there's a reasonable chance that he may surpass the zionist union by securing the 28 seats

over 27! in saying that, it doesn't necessarily mean that he won't turn to mr. herzog. we have seen in the past, that the parties securing the most votes have been trying to form a coalition government. all eyes are on president rubin to see what he will do. he has a tense relationship with mr. netanyahu. and we don't know about his relationship with mr. herzog, but it's not acrimonious. again, all eyes on him. but there's a lot of confidence here at the headquarters of the zionist union. they are saying that they will form another government but when you look at the math, it looks like this election has tilted toward mr. netanyahu. and that's his coalition partners that he has in previous governments, and they

will likely stick with him. he may be able to surpass that crucial number of 61 seats. >> we're talking about weeks ago, and herzog didn't believer the way that many people are thinking that he might have. but what kind of soul searching it do you think is going on between the political leaders at the head quarters where you are? >> reporter: when it comes to benjamin netanyahu you see his personality about him, he has a deep voice and he's a big man stature wise. mr. herzog is the polar opposite. a very soft-spoken person, and whether it comes to israeli politicians, many tend to the somebody, who have, for lack of

a better word, a bombastic personality. that's not something that mr. herzog does. look at the key issues that the israelis are weighing. issues like the economy and housing, and mr. herzog is much more strong when it comes to those issues, but mr. netanyahu, who has spoken quite at length about security, and that what the nuclear deal with iran could pose to israel, they still consider security as a key issue. when many were looking at this issue as a referendum on mr. netanyahu, they are seeing if it's a true ship in israeli politics where to them, a security. and they're looking at more domestic issues like the economy, like the cost of living housing healthcare, and it's looking at this that

they stick with the status quo. >> . >> at herzog's party headquarters in tel aviv. thank you. and now joining us live, analysts and journalists are going to over the next hours and days, number crunching but we don't know how the dust is going to settle yet. but when it comes to israel's position in the region with crucial relations with the minutes, do you foresee any big changes coming out of this election? >> that's a fundamental question, barbara. and today, i have written on our website that israel and the rest of the world are probably going to sober up come tomorrow morning when they realize that

the forms of government and how they're formed under this coalition. because at the end of the day let me remind our viewers around the world since the peace process started back in 1991 1992, israel has had about ten governments. they started with shammeer, going to rabin and netanyahu and omar 2 and... netanyahu 3 and now netanyahu 4. all of that is something like 22 years. so imagine every two years or so, israel has changed the government. but what has really changed in the last 20 years with the piece process with the palestinians and the occupation, and the settlement, if any some of the changes are politics and business, but at the end of the day israel has

been in crisis. and regardless of the people and the leaders have a vision for israel, at the end of the day, it's more of the same. tomorrow regardless of what happens, there is a new vision, and we have to go back to the status quo. >> i guess what's interesting you said that the changes have been dramatic, but we have seen a problem with the personal relationship between barack obama and benjamin netanyahu and do you think that his relation, not necessarily with just the u.s. but in general will be dented in any way because of that election? it seemed that he's not going to do as well as he usually does. >> i think what really hurts over the last several weeks and months is the personal

relationship between prime minister netanyahu and president obama. and the way this whole thing began is when the united states sobered up from its blunders in the middle east and elected barack obama to wipe out that heritage of george w. bush. it was the united states that started to distance itself from israel and israel's vision of the region. and it's that with the bad relations between prime minister netanyahu and president obama. the united states went from israel's mindset and that has upset israelis and led president netanyahu to lash out. so at the end of the day it might be bad for the netanyahu government. but had the relationships between israel and united

states been damaged they might have been dented but the bilateral relationship is strong, and the end of the day the politics in israel and the way they run their elections are not going to change a heck of a lot in the u.s.-israeli relations. >> thank you. mentioning the relationship between the u.s. and israel. and let's go to washington, and we will talk live to our correspondent there rosslyn jordan and rosslyn the white house press conference today they said that basically the u.s. and israel relationship is so strong that it would overcome whatever. but what do you think the reaction is with another couple of years with benjamin netanyahu at the helm?

>> well, certainly want officials at the state department and the white house would have to take a close look at what's achievable. remember the two state solution to the palestinians and the israelis. and they're backed by the u.n.. so trying to chief a very attainable goal. and it has been pursued since the early 1990s. and this is also a situation where you might see the obama administration, in pure speculation at this point to try to take the relationship so much out of the personality. there has been a lot of strain between barack obama and benjamin netanyahu for pretty much more than six years and in order to deal with the larger security issue in the region, as well as the larger political issues in the region, it's a question of how washington is going to be able

to manage that relationship. >> and roz what about the other group and they didn't do as well as suspected. >> well, certainly the officials at the white house is here at the state department, i'm not sure how well they know isaac herzog, but they know his family since his father himself was once a prime minister. but the question is if indeed there was speculation that perhaps there could be a coalition formed between the zionist union, and if there's an opportunity to work with the junior partners if that's idea the case. certainly one thing that the obama administration has tried to do, not just to work with

them. but to work with the rest of the israeli political society. the question is, who is going to be in the new government. and will that end up putting any limits on how creative the obama administration could be? >> rosilan jordan from washington d.c. and thank you. the israeli-palestinian conflict crunching numbers for the past hour or so since we got the results. so if we look at the potential coalition, with the two parties are neck-and-neck who -- >> in terms of the coalition netanyahu's party has the strongest chance just because they would be -- the party that he would form a coalition with

would be far easier bed fellows. they would form a coalition if it included the parties. and that happened in the past. but it happened a long time ago, and israel has drifted so far to the right that it would seem quite inincludeddable now so from that perspective the most likely alliance for the party, it looms like likud would be the strongest contender. now, rumblings, some party members asking netanyahu to consider a joint unit government that has happened in the past. so it's possible that the zionist party would join force given how much these politicians kind of move in and out of each party. he was once part of the same

formulation, and again, -- >> and they have weeks now to figure out how the coalition works, but what we do know, he didn't do as well as many people were expecting. they're neck-and-neck or they have one fewer seat. and what do you think happened? >> it's interesting because up until really the last week, it looked like the zionist union was doing really really well, and as you said, there is not really anything between the parties when it comes to the minutes and the occupations and nobody has mentioned the war other gaza that happened just last year, but it's more

economic and the israeli cost of living has deteriorated. and the gaps between the rich and poor have dramatically increased in the last decade or so. in other comparable countries that the salary is $10,000 less. so problems in israel, trying to capitalize on that, but with netanyahu, they have realized that the kind of things that don't play very well outside of israel, him warning today about the -- going to vote, the fact that the lefty support, and all of the things that were red

flags for him, he has been thinking about in the last few days, with support from the other parties which he has taken support from. and that's how he has done. >> we'll be talking about it in more detail later in the news hour, and we have lots more coming up. we'll have more reaction from israel and coming up, devastating and long lasting ebola's impact on its youngest victims. and lance armstrong his new tour de france plan.

>> on aljazeera israel's prime minister is claiming a great victory in the election, despite exit polls suggesting that the race is too close to call. benjamin netanyahu, 28 seats in parliament. and his closest rival herzog,

27. he's more likely to build a coalition. exit polls are also showing that the joint bloch making an historic shift in the makeup of the israeli scene. the foreign relations thank you so much for joining us here. your reaction to the results. the preliminary results, and they do give some idea, certainly that benjamin netanyahu's career isn't over just yet. >> hello barbara the results just confirmed our suspicions all long. the israeli borders at large are -- voters at large are

favoring the occupation, and [ unintelligible ] the politics of fear and the politics of racism that we have seen. and no dramatic change in the political landscape of israeli society. and second, the unity with the citizens represented 1/5 of the society so this is really good news, because they could really block this huge wave against them to undermine their very rights and very existence. and the important thing among the west bank, the main thing we're not waiting and we're going ahead with our strategy, and it's to continue to wage the cost of this occupation, to

any israeli government. with the occupation. but i suppose, you have the wouldpotential leaders saying that there wouldn't be a palestinian state if he had another term as prime minister and then the zionist union who says at least on paper, that it would reopen the negotiation was palestinians. so i understand your skepticism, but certainly, i'm guessing for the palestinian side of the zionist union a government might be preferable to one led by --. >> if such a camp was based on

the anti-seen, anti-subigation of an nation, there was no debate. and it did not present an alternative. just the fact with netanyahu growing in numbers, but i think that it must extend to the so-called zionist union to present a real alternative which we are yet to hear. and what we have, we will see and disgust later. and the call for negotiations, 21 years of wasting our time in negotiations, and not only wasting our time, but our land and people and resources, they have not very seriously considered. so what we need is a form of negotiations based on the principle of ending this occupation. the principle of recognizing us

as a state like we did 21 years ago for israel. we fear that the person like herzog would end up just being a sugar coating for the very same policies that the right to government would do. [ unintelligible ] and the fourth would reduce the costs of the polls by israel. we have yet to see a major israel political block for the future and alternative -- to the minutes, and that's why we're not raising our votes whatsoever. because they would dangerously threaten their lives and very existence, and they now can protect themselves, and they can play a major bridge for the

palestinian community. >> i was going to ask you about the bridge, if we trust the exit polls that we have to be the third biggest block. but they are a very different group. a lot of divideiologies in it, and when do you think it's greatest power should be in the next years? what role do you think they should have? >> for all of these years to make them second and third class citizens, and to 13 to protect their rights. and now in the exit polls and now to present a united front. this is a transformation of the scene there and this is historic and unprecedented.

and we think that at least as they advance the goals of peace in the historic land of palestinian, they will undermine their very existence. but with other palestinian communities, the idea of standing together up against the zionist project and apparatus. the races inside of israel, with the occupation back in gaza [ audio difficulties ]

>> in other news now starting with syria with the syrian government, may amount to war crimes. and elsewhere,. >> suffering the effects of chlorine gas doused in water. this is in the southern province, in hospital, survivors are given oxygen. chlorine gas attacks the respiratory system, causing suffocation. >> we're here to receive it. including women and children. and we expect more to come. >> they said at least six

people, including women and children, were killed in this apartment. opposition activists say that it was the second attack of its kind in just two days. like this one they say they remember the victims. right now the world is being ucked to turns it attention here to northeast syria. last year, forces attacked the city in an attempt to drive out isis fighters, and they were violated. >> with the syrian government forces to visit war crimes. and the research shows that over 100 civilians were killed. and the bases targeted were not islamic bases at all. but busy markets and mosques and other residential areas. >> diverted to the airstrikes

elsewhere, the forces killed civilians relentlessly. at least 60 people were killed in one day alone. the doctors say they know the world is following watching and condemning these crimes, but they say it's action that's needed to stop the bloodshed. >> reports are emerging that one of isil's top field commanders has been killed in fighting. dozens of families have been fleeing the city, and the isil battlers are loyal to the government. the city is running short of fuel and food. to reach some of the remote islands for the first time since they were devastated by a tropical cyclone friday night. the u.n. said at least 11 people were kid revising down

an earlier figure of 24. 3,000 people are homeless, and it will take about a week to further assess the damage because communication with the outlying islands is difficult. thomas is on vanuatu i island and give us an idea of the devastation. >> apologies, we seem to have lost the sound from thomas from vanuatu. but it's very difficult right now, because of the situation in vanuatu. and we'll try to speak to him a little later. now, going to nigeria where the national security spokesman said that boko haram are now running with their "tails between their legs."

the military retook two key towns. boko haram's last stronghold, and bama was retaken on monday. nigeria has been supported by troops from cameroon and chad niger, and at the start of the year, it controlled around 20 towns. now, we can take you back to vanuatu. and thomas is speaking to us from the island that has been devastated by the cyclones that hit over the weekend. we hope that you can hear us, and give us a picture of the sort of devastation that you can see there. >> you said the aid wo the outlying

islands, and indeed they haven't. they have a few initial accessers, and they are trying to get a picture of what sort of devastation there is here. driving around the island, we have seen the devastation. forests just stripped. and no foliage, no leaves, no nothing. the houses have been damaged in the short ride from the airport to the town, and houses that were still standing. it accounts for 15, 20, that didn't have significant demolition worthy destruction on them. this is a honeymoon island normally and it depends on tourism. the resorts have been all but wiped out. and the immediate concerns, lack of food, lack of water and the people think that they have a few days. but they are really worried about how the economy is going

to survive. because they depend on tourism. and there will be no tourism for many months, if not years. so they're planning on flying a c-130 military big plane in, and they have a runway, and that should arrive in a few hours time. that will be the first flight to arrive here with some of the desperately needed supplies. they might be able to bring a helicopter onboard the plane and get that out. because while i'm in the town, there are roads blocked in all directions and it's unknown how much damage there is, or how many injuries there are elsewhere on the island. thankfully, injuries and deaths seem to be low despite the ferocity of the storm. >> andrew thomas in vanuatu

thank you. unicef says that 9 million children are affected by ebola. 5,000 have been infect, which are 20% of all case. at least 16,000 children have lost one or both of their parents, or caregivers to ebola. unicef spokesman talks about the affect that ebola has had on children. >> you have 5 million children that absolutely could not go to school anymore so no education. some of them have limited access, or no access to healthcare. and in general, for the 9 million children in this

area they heard terrible stories, and saw terrible things so it was terrifying for them. you imagine a child taking care of his father or his mother, who is infect, and the child contracts the disease and gets infect himself as well. and that's why we have worked a lot with communities to make sure that they send out strongly the message that children should not take care of their infected parents. they should call the clinic, or call someone who can deal with that. >> high-level talks in switzerland aimed at stopping iran from being able to make a nuclear bomb are said to be 90% of the way towards the deal. u.s. secretary of state, john kerry, and sharif have just one

key issue to settle. but the white house said that it's 50/50 as to if the final issue can be overcome. a deal for iran to scale down activities in exchange for relief. still to come from aljazeera, we'll have more including why after 55 years formula one's most famous racers will not be running this time.

>> new evidence suggests that the largest glacier in eastern

antarctica is melting faster than ever. scientists observed that the rapidly thinning ice in the top of the glacier which is 120 kilometers long and more than 30 kilometers wide, now according to new research, warmer ocean waters have penetrated the glaciers with two large channels. scary looking stuff. and now sports here. >> monaco in the channels, and the last training one from the first leg in london to make championship history. they took the lead through french international, 7 minutes before halftime. and the second, 11 minutes from time. and they couldn't score the second goal they needed.

and madrid, with the first goal, gave madrid a one-0 win over germany. and leveled it at 1-0. taking charge of the english league for the first time on saturday. and they have a new manager. less than 24 hours after the sacking of gus -- one place above the relegation zone the 67-year-old has twice managed the netherlands national team. and the netherlands russia and scotland, and has never before worked in england. he could soon be returning to the tour de france. former champion is causing controversy with riding the 2015 route for charity the day before the actual race.

armstrong was stripped of seven titles, and banned from competitive cycling for drug offenses. his announcement is being criticized by the head of the world cycling governing body. >> to be identity honest, i think it's disrespectful to the current riders and disrespectful to the tour de france. there are other ways to raise funds for cancer charities. and there's no problem with him doing that, but in close association withent tour de france, it's a bad idea. >> it was a final day of the 2015 known as the race of the two seeds. he won the 7th and final stage at the trial. an average speed of more than 50 kilometers per hour. but the overall victory quintana last year's runner

up the columbian's lead was cut to 18 seconds on the final day, but he held on for victory. there will be no formula one for the german grand prix this year for the first time enough history. after germany's other called out, at the made big losses on the race last season, and due to host again next year. the formula one has been reduced to nine ratessers. a top player is retiring from the sport early not because of injury, but due to concerns over concussion. chris is quitting at the age of 24 after long concerns over head injuries. a lot of former nfl stars have been diagnosed with neurological disease after

their deaths. the world cub is about to get underway in new zealand and australia. sri lanka getting ready to take on south africa at the cricket ground. [ unintelligible ]. >> across australia, across the world, down to sydney, support for us, and play in sydney, and also, it's going to be a tough game for both teams and as we all know, in the tournament, and whoever makes the less mistakes will obviously go on to win. >> south africa, going into the match as slight favorites though they have never won at the world cup.

>> it's pretty even, lots won by the team, and it's pretty even. i'm not too worried about this. >> and finally the shot of the day at indian wells in california. world's to stars are all there. surely, none of them could top this winner from monaco. despite that skill monaco still lost the match. back to you. >> thank you very much for that. and that is it for this in news hour. you can get a lot more on the news story the results of the israeli election, the preliminary polls on the website, aljazeera.com. stay with us and we're going to have more for you in a few minutes. bye-bye.

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>> sunday. >> you have to look at the suffering of these children. >> director of unicef, anthony lake. >> every one of those numbers is an individual child. >> helping the innocent victims of war. >> what can unicef do? >> there's a very short answer... our best. >> every sunday night. >> i lived that character. >> go one on one with america's movers and shakers. >> we will be able to see change. >> gripping. inspiring. entertaining. talk to al jazeera. sunday, 6:30 eastern.

only on al jazeera america. >> exhibit polls show a dead heat between israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and center left rival after the israel election. >> also coming up on the program, israel's election. in other news activists accuse the syrian air force of carrying out a chlorine gas attack killing six people.