israel lays murder charges in connection with an arson attack that killed three members of a palestinian family in the occupied west bank. hello. this is al jazeera live from doha. also ahead syria's starving city. we take a look inside the city in an attempt to uniting the country's opposition. floods recede in some parts of the u.s. and more is expected as the mississippi runs downstream. plus running out of room in sri lanka. the forest is disappearing.

israeli prosecutors have charged a justish man with the murder of a palestinian family in an arson attack. a miner has been charged as being an accessory to the murders last july. three family members, including an 18 month old boy were killed in the occupied west bank the. the only survivor was a four-year-old boy boy. charles stratford joins us. bring us up to spee with everything that has happened so far, charlie. >> reporter: this is being reported by israeli radio. they're saying that, as you say, a court has charged a jewish man with murder. it's also reporting that another man has been indicted as an

accessory to murder. it is important to recognise here that there has been a complete media ban in relation to reporting this case, or reporting this investigation since it started. that attack in late july molotov cocktails thrown into a house in the occupied west bank. an 18 month old boy died in that attack. his parents later died of their injuries in hospital. as i say, the government has been very, very careful in how it wants this reported. they have come out - the government themselves have come out and described the act as an act of jewish terrorism. it has been a highly sensitive case. we're, obviously, hearing this in the context of what has been a very violent few months in israel, and certainly the palestinians have been looking at this case and seeing it as

contributing to that violence. more than 140 palestinians killed in recent months and, obviously, a lot of israelis as well. so this announcement comes at a very important and sensitive time here, but as i say, it is vital to recognise that it is now being reported by the israeli radio only. apparently, a representative for that court was reached out to and said that this information has not yet been made public thanks so much. joining me now on the line is a lawyer and former palestinian peace negotiator. is justice being done, are you confident? >> absolutely not. i think it's important to keep in mind that this case took place over six months ago and during that time unlike what the israelis do when palestinians are aaccused of violence, i didn't see that they could closed down the entire

settlement. i didn't see that they went on a house by house search, impose curfew, took d.n.a. samples, i didn't see that they labelled the entire jewish people as terrorists as they do when it comes to palestinians, and we didn't see that people were held without charge, without trial. in 93% of cases in which settlors are involved, 92% of them don't go to any form of a trial. even fewer make it to any conviction, lets than 2%. this is ai case in which justice is being done, they're simply showing that they're serious, but i will not be surprised to see an insanity plea or other defense. it simply is not being addressed on that point of settlor violence, regardless of what you see as israel's motive for it,

could it be a turning point, perhaps, the start of the end of impunity of settlor rights for which has been talked about over the years? >> no. not at all. the main problem is that the israeli government not only supports these settlements but funds them as well. it allows the impunity to take place. the very fact of the matter that israeli settlors are allowed to steal somebody else's land and build houses on it and get legally retrow active justification for it, it shows the lawlessness of it and they're not serious about addressing impunity. in fact, they want to encourage it. the attacks that settlors carry out against palestinians is an extension of the policy of israel's encouragement of lawlessness. this is not the beginning of the end. this is simply one case in which one or two people may be seeing

some criminal time, but i don't see that this is part of a larger picture. in fact, one of the mayors of an existing settlement right now is somebody who has the blood of at least three individuals on his hands. rather than going to prison he is now mayor of one of these settlements thank you for your thoughts. people in the besieged city in yemen are calling for help from the united nations. protesters in thies formed a human chain to highlight their suffering. people are asking the u.n. to help lift the houthi rebel siege which is blocking vital supplies. pro-government forces backed by saudi arabia have set up their own blockade of the rebel-held capital. a ceasefire in yemen which began last month is now officially over. the saudi-led coalition fighting against anti-government forces made the announcement. the truce had been repeated lip

violated by both sides. i'm underby the saudi-led general. why was the truce called to an end? >> i will tell you will and your audien audience, since two weeks the president asked the coalition to have chance to negotiation and to be flexible. we respect this request and we - unfortunately, the militia starts by keeping attack the border of saudi arabia and they escalate in firing targets towards the area. we were in control of all of this, but we expected the see

fire. we asked for the ceasefire to extend. unfortunately, we had more than one thousand (audio indistinct) the blockade in the city (audio indistinct) we evaluate this ceasefire what will follow next, then, if your evaluation is the ceasefire is not useful, will there be war or will there be restraints for the peace talks

in switzerland? >> those militias didn't have any political agenda. they didn't know what they want asked . - they asked how to implement from your perspective is it back to war and you've given up hope on peace talks; is that what you're saying? >> no. what i'm saying that the coalition is aware that at the end of the day it will be a political solution. we get there to this situation, but we ask to have a real political agenda to their being willing. now if you heard what the ex-president and (audio indistinct) i think saudi arabia doesn't have anything with this

situation. it did yemen discussion in the situation. they asked the militias to go to the table of negotiation and respect the international community. i don't think they have any aim. the only aim that they have is to (audio indistinct) i think this is wrong way to finish the situation it is clear, then, that it seems the political solution may be fire off and the fighting is going to continue for some time to come. do you think it's time for the coalition to change its strategy in how it pursues this war in light of what the u.n. high commissioner for human rights told the u.n. security council on december 22 that he had observed with extreme concern heavy shelling from ground and air in civilian areas of yemen,

including the destruction of hospitals and schools, he goes on to blame all parties in the conflict but he did say that a disproportionate amount appeared to be the result of air strikes carried out by coalition forces. if the u.n. high commissioner is saying coalition forces are causing a disproportionate amount of civilian suffering, isn't it time for you to change your tactics? >> if you give me the time i will answer that back to you. unfortunately, this report is deceiving for the international community. we didn't hear any comment. what happened there last week is a shame for the international community. relating to their duty towards the yemen population, i think we, the united nations, we will give them the opportunity to get

to the airport, but they did not do their job. they are not doing anything. they keep talking. why they didn't go under the flag of the united nations to distribute the material aid. last week they gave a report. they talk about accumulation of goods and medicine just to clarify, he doesn't have his facts right that he didn't go to the ground and his facts are incorrect. is that what you're saying? >> what i'm saying - i'm not talking about person. i'm talking about the organization. the humanitarian organization belong to the united nation. they signed the agreement. they give the money. they send the shipment to the post and the airport, but that does not getting to the ground of the dispute. so with this food and medicine give to the houthi and the

militias, to use it to humiliate the people and you and your reports shows people going through the mountain carrying their food because the houthis prevent them to get to the city. so where the united nations, why did they not come down, preventing the people to get medicine. let me talk about the strategy if i could ask you about what human rights watch said in their report of november 26 cricks you're correct, that there have-- which you're correct. they have talked about violations of coalition as well as the houthis. on november 26 they said they studied 10 coalition air strikes between april and august 2015 and found that either there was no evident military target or the target, the attack failed to

distinguish civilians from military objectives. have you launched investigations? >> at that time i commented that and i show you it was a report. it is not an allegation. we asked them to join the coalition and the yemeni government. we investigate any allegation, but unfortunately those people are not on the ground. they are in cairo and buy beirut. they get the information from the houthis did you welcome them to come to you? >> let me finish. they did not contact us any time about this allegation. they just give their information from the tv. this is not good for the yemen government or population. what we do and what we say

today, that who wants to help the population and to get them out of suffer, that the militias to respect of the international will, but on the ground now we are helping the yemenis, yemen resistance to finish the job on the ground. now they are controlling 70% of the yemeni territory and they are getting closely to finish the job because we cannot respect what they are doing today by giving stuff out to these people everywhere we will have to leave it there. i'm sure we could talk about this. thank you very much for your time though ban ki-moon says he is deeply dismayed by the execution of 47 men convicted on terrorism charges in saudi arabia. among them was a leading shia muslim cleric nimr al-nimr and a

prominent al-qaeda preacher faris al-zahrani. iran supreme leader has joined the condemnation by warning of difficult vine vengeance foresaw depoliticians. >> reporter: re-examine reaction reaction was swift. nimr al-nimr was a prominent shia cleric and a central figure during protests in saudi arabia which intensified in early 2011. nimr al-nimr was one of 47 men executed in saudi arabia. they had been convicted of plotting and carrying out terrorist attacks targeting civilians and security forces. also among them was a leading al-qaeda preacher faris al-zahrani. human rights watch has criticized the executions but saudi arabia say the men received a fair trial. >> translation: the judiciary is objective and we deal

objectively with the cases on merit. there is nothing different between what a person does in relation to his affiliation or belief. we prosecute on intent. >> reporter: nimr al-nimr didn't deny the charges against him, but said he never carried weapons or called for violence. saudi arabia vowed to stamp out terrorism after 15 people behr killed anyway suicide bombing in altogether. many others said faris al-zahrani had been linked to terrorist attacks said to have been carried out by al-qaeda. >> it has made sure that there is no difference between any form of terror as long as it's threatening people or its economy, it will deal with it swiftly. it doesn't matter whether it is

a shia source of terror or sunni source of shore. >> reporter: dire cons were warned if nimr al-nimr was killed. that warning was repeated when news of his death was released. government leaders will say the saudis will pay a high price. >> iran will try to neutralize this by igniting soft spots in the region, particularly beirut, tehran. >> reporter: following these latest executions more may be on the way. at least 2200 similar case s are still to be heard in saudi arabian courts syria's opposition is trying to agree on who should be part of upcoming direct talks with the as add government in two weeks time. the u.n. special envoy for syria is expected to bring together opposition leaders together in riyadh. the team will include

representatives from major armed factions. the opposition wants an clove democratic syria which will keep state institutions intact. bashar al-assad will be allowed to participate in negotiations, but he must leave power after a six week negotiation period. preconditions must be met. to stop government attacks, allow aid in areas and facilitate the return of millions of refugees. government troops are battling rebels near the border with jordan. they're under heavy bombardment from russian fighter jets. regime forces are hoping to retake territory in the south which has been out of government control for more than three years. in syria small towns close to the lebanese border are running out of food and medicine. a recent prisoner swap was meant to end the siege. the aid the towns were expecting hasn't arrived. >> reporter: the people of this area were promised help.

it hasn't come. shops are empty or closed. on the streets dejection and despair. >> translation: we've only got water. how come there isn't any food? in the end we were eating starch. everything has gone. >> reporter: humanitarian aid was part of a prisoner swap deal in december. dozens of sunni rebel fighters and their families were transported out of local towns to lebanon headed for turkey. in ex-campaigning hezbollah and other shia fighters were given safe passage out of small towns in northern syria. north-west of damascus and close to the lebanese border has been the focus of intense fighting, but the rebels lost control of the town to the syrian army which had besieged it for months. many residents believe pro-government forces are still blocking supplies. the sound on the streets come from the children or those trying to salvage items.

medical staff struggling to help the sick as the number of people ill from hunger rises. >> translation: we have dealt with 150 case of unconsciousness and two deaths. people were unconscious because of malnutrition. they hadn't been getting enough food for a number of days. >> reporter: residents had hoped the prisoner swap deal would get them the help they desperately need. many are now wondering if it would ever arrive the iraqi army says it has surrounded i.s.i.l. fighters in ramadi. it claimed control of central parts on monday, but fighting continued. i.s.i.l. took the city in may but it has been forced back in the past few months. the government says only 250 i.s.i.l. fighters remain in the western city. >> translation: there have been surrounded. the iraqi forces have set up blockades and i.s.i.l. will not able to break them. nor will they be able to get

reinforcements from outside because we have already cut all their supply lines before we launched the operation more now on the executions in saudi arabia. there have been protests in the eastern province with people taking to the streets of the town. it is the home town of the executed cleric nimr al-nimr where he led anti-government demonstrations in 2011. he never admitted to any violent acts and his supporters say his execution was purely political. in neighbouring bahrain, dozens of people marched in the capital to protest against the executions. in london demonstrators gathered outside the embassy. other nations have expressed concern about the executions in saudi arabia. the u.s. warns the actions risk exacerbating sectarian tensions and it says it has brought concerns about human rights in the kingdom.

yemen's houthi leaders have condemned the execution of the shia cleric. there have been protests in pakistan and kashmir as well. iraq's prime minister warns the execution of nimr al-nimr will have repercussions on regional security. a group of british soldiers who served in iraq could be prosecuted for war crimes. the detective in charge of the iraq historic allegations team or ihat, says serious allegations are under investigation. the ministry of defense set up the unit five years ago to examine allegations of abuse, torture and murder. from london paul brennan reports. >> reporter: the british soldier filmed here abusing prisoners was subsequently jailed. nephril seven years after the end of u.k. combat operations in iraq, many other allegations of abuse and even murder by british soldiers remain unresolved and unpunished. as to the severity of the allegations, ihat chief told the independent newspaper:

he went on: it now has a case load of more than 1500 alleged victims, including 280 said to have been unlawfully killed. the former commander of british forces in afghanistan believes ihat needs more support. >> there does need to be investigation where wrongdoing takes place but there needs to be a far more effective means of screening out the spurious cases from the serious ones >> reporter: human rights lawyers are critical that potential war crimes are taking so long to investigate. >> they are only actually investigating 45 of those cases. so statistically it doesn't look like they're actually being very effective and we do have lots of

concerns about how effective they can be in the circumstances. >> reporter: although the death of detaineeee in 2003 revealed systematic abuse of soldiers, only one soldier was jailed in relation to ill treatment. the public inquiry into 2004 allegations, concluded the claims were wholly without foundation. regarding the latest reports, the defense issued only a statement saying the vast majority of u.k. service personnel deployed on military operations conduct themselves professionally and in accordance with the law. further: yet the number of legal cases continues to grow. ihat's ability to deal with them is starting to look questionable. one clear inference from reading his interview is that the complexity and sheer number of cases he is looking at risks

overwhelming his team. that's bad news for the ministry of defense here in london because the m od set up ihat in part to prevent the international criminal court from looking at the abuse allegations. if ihat fails, the icc is on stand by and we could see british soldiers facing trial from the hague > more than 50 people have been killed in suspected gang violence in recent days. it are no official homicide statistics. the local media estimates six thousand people died in violence last year. the former prime minister has taken a narrow lead in the presidential election in car. he was one of 30 candidates who contested the poll in december. there is a heavy security presence near the india-pakistan border. they fought gunmen for 15 hours on saturday after they were attacked. seven soldiers and outline five

gunmen were killed. this week we've been looking at the new set of u.n. sustainable development goals that came into effect on january 1. leaders met in new york last september to approve new targets to tackle poverty, hunger, climate change and other global problems. the goals replace the development goals which expired in 2015. governments will use the objectives to frame their agendas and policies over the next 15 years. one of the goals is to end deforestation by 2020. in sri lanka the president has stopped housing projects around the country's oldest nature reserve. the environmentalists want more commitment to stop forests being destroyed. a report from our correspondent in sri lanka's north-west. >> reporter: nature is all its beauty. a century ago 80% of sri lanka was covered by forests. today it is less than 30%. even the country's oldest and

largest nature reserve has suffered from enchrismment as the country's population expands. over 1000 hectares of forest adjoining the reserve have been cleared for housing in recent years, provoking a huge outcry from environmentalists. these pictures filmed by them show the extent of the deforestation. >> translation: they don't understand that these must be protected. it is the main reason these areas come under threat. >> reporter: the outcry prompted the president's office to hold any further land being cleaved for housing in the area. as the population grows and progress esses, forests like in and the animals in them face increasing threats. they say they must be protected to ensure their long-term survival. environmentalists say land that has been deforested should be used for development rather than clearing remaining forests.

failure to change course, they say, would be disastrous not the least for wildlife. >>. the thee cease are in the endangered list. >> reporter: these are among the animals under threat. environmentalists say the new government in colomb appears to be responding to their concerns. a presidential task force is coordinating a three year environment protection plan which cams to reverse some of the damage and actually expand the country's forest cover. >> we are working together to ensure at least by end of three years we will have the addition of another three to five,000 hectares of reforestation. >> reporter: the challenge is to strike the right balance between on the one hand the need to free-up land for development and on the other the need to protect

the environment, especially for wildlife species already on the verge of extinction if you want to keep up-to-date with all those stories, you know where to go. al jazeera.com