as more funerals are held, we ask the u.n. secretary general what can be done to end the violence in israel and the occupied territories. ♪ hello, i'm lauren taylor this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up, syria's president bashar al-assad makes a flying trip to russia, thanking vladimir putin for his military intervention. south african students are sent running by tear gas after taking their protests to parliament. i'm florence looi on patrol with the thai navy. they are anticipating an influx

of migrants from myanmar and bangladesh. hello. calls for an end to violence appear to be making little difference on the streets of israel and the occupied territories. two palestinians were killed on wednesday. one was shot and killed after alleged i will attacking a soldier with a knife. the other died from suffocation from tear gas. ban ki-moon has met with president abbas in an effort to calm the situation. and benjamin netenyahu is expected to meet u.s. secretary of state john kerry on thursday. he is in germany for talks with the german chancellor. 52 palestinians and 8 israelis have been killed so far this month. stephanie decker is live for us

in the occupied west bank. tell us more detail about the latest incident. >> reporter: well, what we have confirmed from the palestinian health ministry is that a 54-year-old man has died due to tear gas inhalation in hebron. since last night specifically an incident there with two different narratives. two teenage boys shot dead by the israeli army. the army say they tried to stab soldiers. people in hebron say they were not armed. and this brings the death of palestinians to 52. 8 israelis also died since october 1st. it shows you how tense and difficult it is. we had the u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon here in the

occupied west bank visiting the palestinian president following his meeting with the israeli prime minister on tuesday. significant, because it shows that there is a concern. it was a very last-minute announcement that he was coming. what can with done on the ground will be difficult to see how you can instill trust here. but we'll just play you the report. we were at the press conference. we managed to speak to the president and the secretary general and this is what they had to say. shuttled diplomacy from jerusalem to the occupied west bank. the u.n. secretary general reiterates his call for calm during what he calls a dangerous escalation. the palestinian president makes it clear that the palestinians have a right to protect themselves, but he wants to return to negotiations with the israelis, a message he will be brings to u.s. secretary of state john kerry when he meets him in jordan on friday. secretary kerry knows what we want. settlement expansion is illegal,

we all know it. let's put that on table. then we will return to negotiations. >> reporter: abbas says they had no choice but to ask for international protection. there is a fear that israel wants to change the status quo as the al aqsa mosque compound, known to jews as the temple mount. i asked the u.n. secretary general what the united nations is doing to calm an extremely volatile situation and what exactly international protection means. >> in the hands of the [ inaudible ] what kind of international protection forces or international presence. the president is asking, we need an international presence --

>> at the al aqsa mosque compound. >> yes. [ inaudible ] >> thank you so much for your time. >> reporter: but diplomacy seems a world away from the reality on the ground. there have been a steady stream of protests and confrontations with the israeli army, and a recent surge in incidents of alleged stabbings of israelis by palestinians. on wednesday an israeli soldier was severely injured. one palestinian was shot dead and another arrested. and this is the funeral for two palestinian teenagers shot dead in hebron on tuesday night. the army says the teens tried to stab a group of soldiers, but local sources say they were unarmed. two different narratives and two peoples becoming more suspicious of each other. serious diplomatic decisions with real impact on the ground may be the only way to calm what has become a tense and violent situation. >> as stephanie was suggesting

there, there hasn't been an easing in the tension. can diplomacy really calm the situation on the streets? >> reporter: well, i think the u.n. secretary general actually touched on that today when he said to the israeli prime minister that there needs to be an impact on the ground for the perception to change. so very difficult to see how they will do that. we have had escalations of violence here in this region, this particular conflict for decades. and it's never really been resolved. it ebbs and flows. so many people will tell you the only solution is an end to the occupation, certainly from the palestinian perspective. which means getting the israelis to agree that palestinian will have a capitol in jerusalem. and very, very difficult issues to tackle. the last round of talks we had

in 2014, brokered by the u.s. secretary of state john kerry, these were talks about talks about talks, it took weeks, and they never even got to address those key issues. so just to give you an example of how difficult it is. but i think serious steps need to be taken specifically when it comes to the al aqsa mosque compound, calming the situation. it's too early to say if this ebb of violence will continue or fizzle out. it has been calmer here in jerusalem, in the west bank, it is still very tense. benjamin netenyahu has been criticized that for suggesting that world war iii --

>> other attacks on the jewish community in 1920, 1921, 1929 were instigated by a call for the mufti of jerusalem who was later sought for war crimes in the trials because he had a central role in fomenting the final solution. he flew to berlin. hitler didn't want to exterminate the jews. he wanted to expel the jews. and he said if you expel them, they'll all come here. so what should i do with them, he asked? he said burn them. >> since then he has moved to clarify what he meant. >> translator: i had no intention to absolve hitler for his responsibility. he was responsible for the final

solution to exterminate 6 million jews. it's equally absurd to ignore the role of the mufti, a war criminal. >> so this has caused quite a storm, hasn't it. >> reporter: it has and it's ironic that of all places benjamin netenyahu should be coming here to germany. the response from the german authorities have said we the germans bare full responsibility for the holocaust, and that is why we teach our children. and it's important to realize this is a central moral foundation of germany's post-war identify over the last 70 years. so at least implicitly the germans are saying to mr. netenyahu, no, we disagree with your interpretation of what happened in the early 1940s in

europe. >> tell us more about the reason of his vision -- visit and what he is likely to achieve there? >> reporter: he was meant to come to germany some ten days ago and canceled his visit because of the worsening situation at home. but it is part of, we hope some sort of diplomatic initiative. we'll be meeting with angela merkel this evening. we'll be meeting with the foreign minister tomorrow. he'll be meeting the head of the e.u. foreign policy tomorrow, and we'll be meeting john kerry the american secretary of state. and the idea is after that meeting, mr. kerry will fly on to the middle east and meet mahmoud abbas. what we are hearing from the germans is that there must be a deescalation of tension, that yes, israel has the right to protect its own citizens, but such a response has to be

proportionate. and for the americans. more diplomacy by john kerry. >> barnaby phillips live in berlin, thank you. syria's president, bashar al-assad has made a surprise visit to moscow to meet vladimir putin. it is believed to be his first trip abroad since syria's war broke out in 2011. rory challands reports from moscow. it was one of the political surprises the russian president so loves to pull, bashar al-assad who hasn't left syria since his country's uprising began four years ago, visiting moscow unannounced. >> translator: the terrorism that is spreading today would without your decisions and actions have spread to even more territories and states, not just in our region, but to other regions too. >> reporter: russia's air strikes in syria have allowed

participate assad's army to go on the offensive, after months of sethbacks. they have also according to the syrian observatory for human rights killed 370 people, 127 civilians, and 243 fighters. >> translator: we assume that the long-term solution may be reached on the basis of the latest military developments and political process with participation from all political, ethnic, and religious groups. >> reporter: the west insists that assad should step down soon, but putin still shows no sign of abandoning his long-time ally. but how do the russian people feel? a clear majority of them support the air campaign. state tv has pushed the message

into millions of homes that russia's primary objective is defeating international terrorism. and an online audience is being targeted too. this video is going after the computer-gaming generation, drone footage from the ruins of damascus has been matched to a dance music sound track. but most people here say they still have no desire to see russian troops in syria. they have always been told that long messy wars in the middle east is what the united states does, not russia. still ahead on the program, how a fire has destroyed part of a refugee camp in slovenia. plus -- ♪ >> a winning performance this 21 year old from south korea wins one of the world's most prestigious music competitions. ♪

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what. you don't have a desk bed? don't be left in the dark. get proactive alerts 24/7. comcast business. built for business. this is al jazeera america live in new york city. i'm del walters. we want to show you now a live image from the rose garden at the white house. why? that is where vice president oh joe biden is set to speak in just a few minutes. there has been a lot of speculation about whether or not he is going to run for president. we don't know right now what biden is going to say, but we are told that the president will be by his side. mike viqueira is in washington. and mike what are you hearing? >> reporter: well this was very sudden, del, there's no question about it. the press was notified about 15

minutes ago, that the vice president would be making a statement in the rose garden in ten minute's time. this is urgency that has really heightened speculation, really compacted and compressed it in the course of the last several minutes. the fact that the president is appearing by his side, and del, with we don't want to get too far down the road of speculation, but the fact that president obama is appearing by his side, the fact this is happening in the white house grounds can lead to a lot of speculation, most of which, if you are on twitter, or watching this sort of thing for a while, that the vice president may not be running, or we could be in for an even bigger surprise. >> one of the reasons for that speculation has to do with the fact that they would be making a political announcement on public ground which is something under the [ inaudible ] that they are not allowed to do. so since the president is there

with the vice president would indicate it is not a political statement in the sense that the vice president would be saying i am indeed running for president of the united states. >> reporter: that's right. but let's not count her chickens yet. you make a good point in terms of the existing law campaigning on public grounds -- >> mike, i'm going to cut you off. >> reporter: here comes the president. >> this is the president of the united states. >> good morning, folks. please, please sit down. mr. president, thank you for lending me the rose garden for a minute. >> it's a pretty nice place. [ laughter ] >> as my family and i have worked through the grieving process, i have said all along, what i have said time and again to others; that it may very well be that that process by the time we get through it, closes the window on mounting a realistic

campaign for president; that it might close. i have concluded it has closed. i know from previous experience that there is no timetable for this process. the process doesn't respect or much care about things like filing deadlines or debates and primaries and caucuses, but i also know that i could do this if -- i couldn't do this if the family wasn't ready. the good news is, the family has reached that point, but as i have said many times, my family have suffered a loss, and -- and i -- i hope there would come a time, and i have said this to many other families, that sooner rather than later when -- when you think of your loved one, it brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eyes. well, that's why the bidens are

today, thank god. bo, bo is our inspiration. unfortunately, i believe we're out of time, the time necessary to mount a winning campaign for the nomination. but while i will not be a candidate, i will not be silent. i intend to speak out clearly and forcefully to influence as much as i can where we stand as a party, and where we need to go as a nation. and this is what i believe. i believe that president obama has lead this nation from crisis to recovery, and we're now on the cusp of resurgence. i'm proud to have played a part in that. this party, our nation, will be making a tragic mistake if we walk away or attempt to undo the

obama legacy. the american people have worked too hard, and we have come too far for that. democrats should not only defend this record, and protect this record, they should run on the record. we have got a lot of work to get done over the next 15 months, and there's a lot that the president will -- will have to get done, but let me be clear, that we'll be building on a really solid foundation. but it all starts with giving the middle class a fighting chance. i know you in the press love to call me middle class joe, and i know in washington that is not a compliment, but it is about the middle class. it isn't just a matter of fairness or economic growth. it's a matter of social stability for this nation. we cannot sustain the current

levels of inequality that exist in this country. i believe the huge sums of unlimited and often secret money pouring into our politics is a fundamental threat to our democracy, and i really mean that. i think it's a fundamental threat. because the middle class will never have a fighting chance in this country, as long as just several hundred families, the wealthiest families control the process. it's just that simple. and i believe we have to level the playing field for the american people, and that's going to take access to education and opportunity to work. we need to commit we're fighting for 14 years. we need to commit to 16 years of free public education for all of our children. we all know that 12 years of public education is not enough. as a nation, let's make the same commitment to a college education today that we did to a

high school education a hundred years ago. children and child care is the one biggest barrier for working families. we need as the president proposed to triple the child care tax credit. that alone will lead to dramatic increase in the number of women able to be in the work force, and will raise our economic standards. there are many equitable ways to pay for this. i often hear, how do you pay for this? we can pay for all of this one simple step, by limiting the deductions in the tax code to 28% of element. wealthy folks will end up paying a little bit more, but it's my guess they will be happy to help build a stronger economy and a better-educated america. i believe we need to lead more by the power of our example as the president has, than merely by the example of our power.

we have learned some very hard lessons for more than a decade of large-scale open-ended military invasions. we have to accept the fact that we can't solve all of the world's problems. we can't solve many of them alone. the argument that we just have to do something, when bad people do bad things, isn't good enough. it's not a good enough reason for american intervention. and to put our sons and daughters lives on the line, put them at risk. i believe we have to end the divisive partisan politics that is ripping this country apart. and i think we can. it's mean spirited, petty, and it has gone on for much too long. i don't believe, like some do, that it's naive to talk to republicans. i don't think he should look at republicans as our enemies. they are our opposition, not our enemies.

and for the sake of the country, we have to work together. compromise is not a dirty word as the president has said many times. but how does this country function without consensus? how can we move forward without being able to arrive at consensus. four more years of this kind of pitch battle may be more than this country can take. we have to change it. it's personal, but i know we can do this. the president and i have already been working hard on increasing funding for research and development because there are so many breakthroughs just on the horizon in science and medicine. the things that are just about to happen. and we can -- we can make them real with an absolute national commitment to end cancer as we know it today. and i'm going to spending the

next 15 months in this office pushing as hard as i can to accomplish this , because i know there are democrats and republicans on the hill who share our passion, our passion, to silence this deadly disease. if i could be anything, i would have wanted to be the president that ended cancer, because it is possible. i also believe we need to keep moving forward in the arc of this nation towards justice, and the rights of the lgbt community, immigration reform, equal pay for women and protecting their safety from violence, routing out institutional racism. at their core every one of these things, every one of these things is about the same thing. it's about equality. it's about fairness. it's about respect. as my dad used to say, it's about affording every single person dignity.

it's not complicated. every single one of these issues is about dignity. and the ugly forces of hate and division, they won't let up. but they do not represent the american people. they do not represent the heart of this country. they represent a small fraction of the political elite, and the next president is going to have to take it on. most of all, i believe there's unlimited possibilities for this country. i don't know how many of the white house staff and personnel have heard me say repeatedly, that we are so much better positioned than any country in the world. we are so -- i have been doing this for a long time. when i got elected a 29 year old kid, i was called the optimist. i am more optimistic about the possibilities, the incredible possibilities to leap forward

than i have been in any time in my career, and i believe to my core that there is no country on the face of the earth better positioned to lead the world in the 21st century than the united states of america. washington, though, just has to begin to function again. instead of being the problem, it has to become part of the solution, again. we have to be one america again. and at our core, i have always believed that what sets america apart from every other nation is that we ordinary americans, believe in possibilities, unlimited possibilities. possibilities for a kid growing up in a poor inner city neighborhood, or a spanish-speaking home, or a kid from mayfield in delaware, or willow grove in pennsylvania like jill and i. to be able to be anything we

wanted to be, to do anything, anything, that we want. that's what we were both taught. that's what the president was taught. it was real. that's what i grew up believing. and, you know, it's always been true in this country. and if we ever lose that. we have lost something very special. we'll have lost the very soul of this country. when i was growing up, my parents in tough times looked at me and would say to me and my brothers and sister, honey, it's going to be okay. and they meant it. they meant it. it was going to be okay. some of you cover me, i say go back to your old neighborhoods. talk to your contemporaries who aren't as successful as you have been. there are too many people in america, too many parents who

don't believe they can look their kid in the eye and say with certitude, honey, it's going to be okay. that's who we need to change. it's not complicated. that will be the true measure of our success. it will not have meant it until every parent out there can look at their kid in tough times and say honey, it's going to be okay, and mean it. that's our responsibility, and i believe it's totally within our power. the nation has done it before in difficult times. i have had the very great, good fortune and privilege of being in public service most of my adult life, since i have been 25 years old. and through personal triumphs and tragedies, my entire family, my son bo, my son hunter, my daughter ashley, jill, whole

family, and this sounds corny, but we found purpose in public life. we found purpose in public life. so we intent, the whole family, not just me, we intend to spend the next 15 months fighting for what we have always cared about, what my family has always cared about, with every ounce of our being, and working alongside the president and members of congress and our future nominee, i am absolutely certain we are fully capable of accomplishing extraordinary things. we can do this. and when we do, america won't just win the future. we will own the finish line. thank you all for being so gracious to jill and me for the last six and eight months and our whole career for that matter. but i'm telling you, we can do so much more. i'm looking forward to