tensions ahead of friday prayers at al-aa mosque in jerusalem after weeks of violence, we are there live. ♪ ♪ you are watching al jazeera live from our head quarters in doha. also ahead. the syrian army backed by russian airstrikes launches a major offensive in homs and aleppo. the u.s. extends its military mission in afghanistan as taliban attacks intensify. plus. >> i have never seen so much blood it was like a fountain. i knew i was going to die.

>> irish are women demands justice over a painful childhood procedure. ♪ ♪ hello the united nations security council will be holding an emergency meeting follow weeks of violence in occupied east jerusalem. since the ones 1st of october 35 palestinians and seven israelis have been killed. israel continues its restrictions on men under the age o of 40 from taking part. we'll go live to the occupied west bank and to mike hannah who is in occupied east gentleman russ leam in just a moment. but first this report from mike on the security situation. >> reporter: intense security at entrances to the old city. police ordering pal tin stun pao lift their shirts, some instruct today remove their shoes this,

group waving israeli flags passes through unchecked. the clamp down is related to the degree of anxiety among jewish israelis. false alarms about ill pending attacks have sparked panic in a number of locations in israel. and there have been several reports of israelis with dark complexes being attacked by fellow juice. after they were mistaken for palestinian. >> our security forces work together with the members of the public who have a wide and large understanding of the security issues involved and also are also aware of the issues they are not panicked. >> reporter: but even the policeman is wearing a stab vest. >> i walk around with a religious man and have to be careful walking around jewish, religious and a police officer i can be targeted. >> reporter: in occupied east jerusalem a number of neighborhoods have been sealed off and all residents having to pass through police checkpoints.

this barrier adds at least an hour of commuting time for those needing to go to work or university. only a handful of individual have his been involved in the attacks. and the dominant emotion among residents here is anger. that so many are being made to pay for the actions of so few. a prominent community leader here and he voices the frustration of his fellow residents. >> translator: netanyahu is putting pressure on the palestinian people and the people of jerusalem. this pressure will create a bigger explosion. it won't calm things down. to calm things down you need a political decision. not a security one. >> reporter: the warning that this punishment of the people, the structured humiliation, may threaten the very security israel contends it's designed to enforce. >> so mike, you are in occupied east jerusalem with friday prayers starting in just about

an hour's time. what is the situation there now? >> reporter: well, what you see here behind me is a checkpoints everybody going in to damascus gates which is the point paint of access to the al-aqsa mosque compound their identities of checked making sure that they are within the age program peris which are enforced on this particular day, no man under the an of 14 may entered the mosque compound precinct. all women are being allowed at this take particula particular . this checkpoints is at the end of a long road for those wish to go come and pray on this friday. there are a series of checkpoints radiating out. many arriving here have already been checked four to five times at various checkpoints in occupied east jerusalem. then in the neighborhoods itself stringent controls imposed concrete blocks laid out in the streets as you have seen, funneling traffic and pedestrians once again through police checkpoints where their identities will be checked.

so to actually get to pray on this particular day, means a long walk out of neighborhoods in many cases going through a large number of police checkpoints for many and they are ending up here yet another checkpoints before you walk through damascus gate and end up in the al-aqsa mosque compound. >> thank you, mike for that update. we'll take you live to another checkpoints in the occupied west bank where khodr hamid is joining us, what kind of effect the secure p security measures g on those wants to go pray this friday. >> reporter: people here have actually taken their own precautions and their own decisions we are at the pedestrian terminal and i am told that usually on a friday this place would be completely hacked. no one is inside there.

from here you cross ease well and continue to jerusalem of i was talking to some buzz drivers, they say usually on a friday many people would try to go there. but now people are worried. for a variety of factors, one is all the roadblocks and the checkpoints along the way all the security checks there and also they say they don't feel comfortable going there. the situation is dangerous. they feel that, you know, anything could happen in a volatile east jerusalem they feel like they could be targeted. you get a feeling really that people decide on themselves we are knowledge going there this friday. we have seen some people walk in. the terminal is not shutdown. a bit further down there is also the car crossing. it's not shutdown either. but the traffic is much less than it would be normally. now, they will be some protests later on in the day after the friday prayer, palestinian factions have called for

protests all over the occupied west bank. leaving it up to every city to decide for its own whether it will go down to the streets or not. now, we'll have to say -- see how that will materialize. in the past when the factions called for protests, you have less be a turn out than when the students do. and tomorrow, saturday, the students of the universities are calling for a protest. so we'll see what happens later on in the day. >> okay, hoda we'll speak to you as the day goes by reporting, thank you. syrian troops backed by russian jets have attacked rebels in the south of alecko on thursday, at least 75 people were killed in another offensive by the government in homs, that fight focused on two areas they were on a highway linking the provinces of homs and ham actual the government needs this route to bring surprise to the north especially in idlib and aleppo. it also wants to secure a corridor between its strong

holds on the coast to damascus. zeina khodr reports. >> reporter: the battle has begun. rebel held to understand are coming you were fire. this is a coordinate assault between the syrian army on the ground and the russian air force. it is the second offensive of its kind since the military intervention of russia. its air force is providing support to its allies on the ground as they try to advance in to opposition territory. but civilians are caught in the middle. >> translator: this is a civilian area, isil is not here you russian dogs. the whole world should see this. >> reporter: activists are reporting fighters as well as civilians are being killed and injured. 10s of thousands of people live there. many of them displaced from fighting elsewhere in the country. and this corner of syria has been surrounded by the army for years. the only roads out lead to government-controlled territory.

>> translator: people are afraid, people have start today leave the areas that are being hit but can't leave the country side because all the roads are blocked there is only one route out it's under government world are control and being are afraid they wil arrest first degree tho there. >> reporter: the aim is to end the presence of terrorist terrod restore security and that bill. recapturing the homs country side would help the government secure territory linking its seat of power in damascus to its popular base the coastal alawite heart lane. >> translator: homs is the area they always want to control. it's in the center of syria and there are roads that lead across the country. it's important for the regime and the opposition because it's the capita. revolution and we will fight until the end. the opposition is also under attack on other front. the northern hama countryside in southern areas in the nearby province of idlib of battle

ground. and there are reports of a major ground operation being planned around the northern city of aleppo. the homs offensive is linked to a broader navel i campaign that began two weeks ago when russia started airstrikes targeting opposition-controlled areas in the west of the country. the syrian government and its allies are on the offensive and for now have stopped rebel advances in the area. this is one of the biggest military operations against the opposition in years. the immediate aim is to recapture territory and weaken the opposition. it's also about using force to bring about political concessions. zeina khodr, al jazeera, beirut. a retired lebanese jennings without russia bashar al-assad's forces would still be losing territory. >> the russian airstrikes to the armed position seem to be effective. because they hit the vital

targets such as field headquarters and weaponry arsenals and gatherings of the armed people in idlib and and others, but the advance on the ground of the army units is still slow until now. i think now the russians will accelerate the pedal and their airstrikes in order to push the syrian land forces forward to gain -- to regain moreland. so far the russians declared that they do not aim to take part in any ground operation. it seems no russian boots on the ground. even the force that the russian air force, the task force is not an air base or a navel base it's a task force for a certain task

in fighting the terrorist organizations that means it's easy to withdraw it within a couple of weeks. the u.s. is shifting it's policy in afghanistan, president barack obama says the war won't end before he leaves office and american soldiers were stale on until 20 sieve type. there are 9,800 american troops on the ground training and advising the afghan military obama had hoped to withdraw almost all the troops leaving about a thousand by the end of 2016. but now he says more than 5,000 soldiers will stay on in afghanistan. the president says the extension is necessary because of the fragile security situation as patty culhane reports from washington, d.c. >> reporter: it was the central foreign policy issue that helped then senator barack obama stand out from a crowd of candidates, he was opposed to the iraq war from the beginning he vowed in he was elected president he would end the wars in iraq and

afghanistan. in 2008. >> we will end this war in a rook, we will bring our troops home. we will finish the job against al qaeda in at began stan. >> reporter: during his reelection campaign in 2012. >> we are bringing our troops home from afghanistan and i set a timetable we will have them all out of there by 2014. >> reporter: and then this in 2014. >> by the end of 2016 our military will draw down to a normal embassy presence in kabul. with a security assistance component just as we have done in iraq. >> reporter: now he says that isn't going to happen after all. but the president is trying to down play the significance. >> this decision is not disappointing, continually my goal has been to make sure that we give every opportunity for afghanistan to suck side while we are still making sure that we are meeting our core mentioned. >> reporter: the white house says keeping the status quo is

proof the strategy is working. but many analysts just don't believe that. >> i don't think that you can easily call this the result of a success. i think, again, the fact of the timing comes now after the fall of kunduz makes it look like even more it was a reaction to the fall of kunduz as oppose first degree this same decision had been made in march when all the same elements that president obama listed, a cooperative government, an arm that i will fight and so forth were all in place in march. >> reporter: it's now clear. the next president will decide how long u.s. troops stay in afghanistan. and it will now become a campaign issue. with the majority of republican candidate expressing a willingness to stay. >> i think it's pretty clear that when we precipitously withdraw as we have done in iraq, a dangerous situation becomes more dangerous. >> reporter: president obama has had some for earn policy successes but when he leaves office critics will undoubtedly point to two promises not kept. the prison the guantanmo bay

will still be open likely and the war in afghanistan will still be going on the longest war in u.s. history will be left for his successor to deal with. patty culhane, al jazeera, wash? here is what's coming up in the program. >> reporter: shaping kenya's economy. how it will. pack it's informal sector. plus the e.u. offers turkey more than $3 billion to help deal with the flow of refugees in to europe.

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the top stories on al jazeera the muslim friday prayer will begin at al-aqsa mosque compound in the next hour, restrictions do remain on the men under the aim of 40 from taking part. later the security council will be holding an emergency meeting on the violence. syrian troops backed by russian jets have attacked the area south of aleppo the area they targeted is heading to duh damascus. 75 people were killed by another offense wife the government on homs. u.s. president barack obama says 5 1/2 thousand troops will stay in afghanistan after 2015. it's a make shift in american policy it. had plan today withdraw almost all troops by the end of next year. two suicide bombers have killed at least 30 people in northern nigeria. the attackers tagger territory a mosque near the capital of borno state. no one has claimed

responsibilities for the attack, but it's suspected boko haram may be behind it. on wednesday three suicide bombers killed seven people nearby. ahmed idris sends this update. >> reporter: the multinational joint task force actually at the moment is still awaiting the u.n. mandate to launch. and so far the nigh year vinnie military has kicked out boko haram in most of the areas they occupied it has bombed the enclaves, chased them in to the forest and some of them are even rumored to be sight a long the shores. but cameroon is also stepping up its operations, niger similarly and chat is also stepping up operations but over the past few weeks what we have been seeing is that boko haram is stepping up its operations as the military ramp up its attacks against boko haram. in this particular instance they are using bombs like this, suicide bombs and roadside bombs placed at strategic locations

where people are, a lot of people gather. so as to cause maximum damage and we have seen these in a number of ways. what people are hoping now is that with the presence of the american troops and the drones there, probably they will be better intelligence, better surveillance and better. [ inaudible ] and they hope it will be shared with troops of the region in their fight against boko haram. kenya aims to become an industrialized middle income country by 2013 but some informing workers say it won't happen without government support. black smiths fear they are already losing out to product from china. catherine soi reports. the. >> reporter: this is not a job for everyone. you can't help but feel clouded by the clanging of hammers on metal here. roughly 5,000 men and women spends their days toiling in this black smith market near a nairobi is bush. they have created a one-stop

shop for affordable household and commercial appliances. joseph sells his metal boxes and wheelbarrows. it takes about five hours to make each and they sell at after average of 20 and $50. >> the government is helping us to acquire loans to acquire new merchandise so that we may make better polled. >> reporter: kenya's informal center employs roughly 11.8 million people and contributes 20 per to the economy in. some of the black smiths here have been doing this for decades and now the government wants to make them part of a plan to confirm kenya for an industrialized country. [ inaudible ] but this men who work under strenuous conditions say that they are now facing competition from cheap imports from countries like china. some economists say if will be hard to grow small business fist they continue facing unfair

competition. >> there is the possibility that the countries that then export those goods that end up on our retail shelves, might dangle a the bit of their billions for african government to his look the other way. and go about to the same challenge of ignoring their own citizens in terms of how to grow their capabilities. >> reporter: on a large scale there are plans to create industrial parks along this railway line that is meant to connect kenya to other east african countries. the government is promising incentives for investors and industrial assists that set up shops in the had you beens. >> the cultural setup of the country is not supporting capability to industrialize because we are looking at a cultural setup where the kind of education system we inherited was such that we were supposed to produce employees. >> reporter: back at the market the black smiths keep doing what

they have done for years, they are a big part of the 2030 plan but they want the government to help them upgrade their operation to his make it easier and faster for them to do their job. cath rip soi, al jazeera, nairobi, kenya. the european union and turkey have agreed to a joint plan to address the refugees crisis. e.u. leaders say it will insure turkey isn't used as a transit point for refugees heading to europe. the issue topped the agenda at a summit in brussels as neave barker reports. >> reporter: european leaders arrived in brussels facing multiple challenges. the war in syria, conflict in ukraine and the aftershocks of the greek bailout saga have put the 28 nation block under mounding strain, but it's the unrelenting refugees cries that is continues to dominate european politics. more than half a million people, many of them refugees from syria, have arrived in the e.u. this year. a large number have traveled through turkey to europe's

shores. but now a preliminary agreement with turkey to help reduce the number of pima tempting to make it to europe. >> translator: we received a report very early this morning that there had been an outcome of the negotiations and we were then able to reach an agreement this evening with regards to the exact shape of the joint action plan. >> reporter: under the draft plan turkey would receive $3.4 billion in aid in return for clamping down on the numbers of people crossing its territory heading towards the european union. the money would be used on tightening security. but it would also be used on creating greater incentives for people to stay in turkey. greater levels of integration, and better living conditions also. but as well as the money, there is also a talk of liberalizing visa restrictions on turkish nationals entering the european union, conditions not everyone in the e.u. is prepared to accept. including the french president

francois hollande. >> translator: we cannot have a situation where in exchange for turkey helping us to hold back refugees in its territory we liberalize the visa system with no conditions attached. allowing visas for individuals whose identities we don't know and can't check. so there will be a process with lots of conditions attached. it's normal to discuss with the turks but france and other countries will pay attention to make sure that conditions are not only set but also respected. >> reporter: but with europe under pressure to come up with a lasting solution to the refugees crisis, the e.u. may have little choice but to concede to turkey's demands. >> a willingness to contemplate this lib saying reflex the cesc operation on desperation on a ne member union because turk is a their best option. >> reporter: in turn for turkish help european union has also

promise today start new talks with turkey about eventually joining the e.u. but in the short-term, there is the question of where billions of dollars in aid to turk bill come from. the e.u. is still suffering from the effects of the eurozone crisis, europe may have to big deep if it wants greater control over its borders. neave barker, al jazeera, brussels. politicians in ireland have called for the scrapping of a compensation scheme to women who underwent a controversial childbirth procedure. it involved the sawing open of the pelvis while giving berth. laurence lee reports on one survivor who says hospital doctors deliberately experimented on her just a warning the story contains graphic description that his some people may find business tubbing. >> reporter: at 63 nora clark might still be work. actually she might have done many things with her life but they were all taken away from her when she was only 18. that's when she went in to hospital for huh she assumed was

a routine delivery of her first child. but it seems the doctors and nurses, the nuns and priests in attendance had other ideas. she says a nurse deliberately tried to put her feet us in the wrong position to allow the surgeon to operate on her. >> she came back and pressed it really hard again and maybe the baby go right nooned a circle. and go the wrong way. >> reporter: this was in 1971 at our lady of lords hospital north of duck lynn, it isn't anymore, but then it was the leader center and a teaching hospital for missionaries who would take their beliefs and medical skills to africa. nora's recollection of what happened next is as clear as day. she thought she was the subject of an experiment faced by a surgeon with a hack saw. >> he started sawing me and to hold me down and told me to push the baby out. while he sawed on me. so i pushed the baby out. and she came out head first, normal.

and then right way he was sawing on me, the bloodshot up on the dealing and all over him and all over the nurses and students who were there watching what was going on and all that carrying on. >> reporter: sounds like a horror film. >> it is. i never seen so much blood it was lake a fountain. i knew i was going to die. >> reporter: the hack saw she described was the implement of choice used in maternity hospitals against hundreds and hundreds of women in ireland. and only in ireland. throughout the 20th century. doctors new all about is very vinnie section but the church evidently felt that would limit the number of babies a woman could have in a society in which medical practice seems to have been driven by church law. sawing open a woman' pelvis would allow her to have more and more children regardless of the impact on her body and mind. >> it ruined my life. it ruined me mentally. and physically. >> reporter: there are hundreds of women who are survivors of

this. the irish state decided to offer a one off scheme which limited the maximum pay off for $180,000 demanded the women gave up legal action against doctors, church or state. the assessor refuse today hear victim's testimonies so nora's allegations are subject to no investigation. sympathetic pat tingeses are now did he mondaying a vote of no con defense in the entire scheme. >> if we don't halt this scheme then what we are saying is these women don't deserve justice. that their life's horror didn't count for anything, that we didn't believe it. that it was some trivial irrelevancy so in order, yes, the financial compensation, to be human right compliance we have to do this scheme. >> reporter: nora send her small compensation pay out while regarding it as a inning suggest the letter came without apology but an observation that these were unhappy experiences in the past and perhaps nora could spoil herself. nora, however, thinks the

doctors were happy for her to didie. her pay is no way in the past it's with her every single day examine will be every day of her life. al jazeera. just all remind are that you can keep up to to bait date with you would at news on our website. al jazeera.com. jazeera - the president of liberia ellen johnson sirleaf. >> my life story of fighting and getting up and being beaten and rising again and fighting for the things i believe in. >> the first woman elected to lead an african country has spent almost a decade rebuilding post-conflict liberia. >> people were tired of war. war was seen as something that had been initiated and carried on largely by men.