crucell within a few days if not weeks so certainly there does appear to be movement on this so-called initiative drawn up goods believed by by the president's son in law and certainly there has been speculation that this initiative is going to come to bring to an end as president trump puts it the unresolved crisis that has been in that region for such a long period of time the problem is though is that the palestinian leadership will have nothing to do with this initiative they argue very strongly that the trumpet ministration has shown complete bias towards israel in all its dealings and that they cannot take part in any initiative in which that bias is inherent and in which the u.s. cannot be viewed as an honest interlocutor it resolving this ongoing crisis you know we have the palestinian all of the palestinian factions not open to the u.s.

being a broker in this conflict anymore and this is also coming at the same time this year when the u.s. has cut so much funding for different organizations that work words the people in gaza are providing a range of necessary services to them. well indeed yes there's been a cutoff of funding to enroll for example that's the organization the u.n. organization that provides humanitarian aid and tangible assistance to the people of gaza funding has been withdrawn from that body completely by the united states there's also been a withdrawal of funding from various other u.n. agencies all of which has had an impact on the region now the u.s. publicly agrees with israel that stability is essential that there has to be some kind of negotiated peace brought to the whole region and to gaza in particular the ongoing violence in gaza seen very much by the u.s.

it says as a hindrance to its attempt to revive the long dormant peace process that being said the u.s. has played no role in fact exactly the opposite in terms of restoring some kind of level of benign existence within gaza by withdrawing their funding to the un agencies and by actively opposing some of the un operations within gaza itself but this current round of violence in gaza and the circumstances surrounding it well obviously make it very difficult in coming days for the so-called peace initiative to be unveiled because without stability in the region prism trump is unlikely to try and get a new initiative going and i guess mike that we will be waiting for reaction from the u.s. from the state department about what impact if any this attack is going to have on how the u.s. deals with palestinian groups and with israel on this peace initiative.

well we've reached out to state department and the white house for reaction to what is just happened there no comment is forthcoming from either the state department or the white house obviously the situation is being monitored but clearly the state is unwilling to take any public position on what is going on at present so basically the information that we're going to be relying on is statements from what is happening on the ground in gaza and of course from the israeli government which as our correspondents have pointed out is being pretty tight lipped on exactly what the circumstances were surrounding this israeli incursion into the han eunice area of gaza mike thank you very much for that for now that's mike hanna live in washington d.c. let's get more on this now a joined by wayne rabbani senior fellow at the institute for palestine studies and he's joining us live from new york very good to have you with us on al-jazeera so

what do you make of this attack and the timing of it. well i think the timing is interesting because there has been a concerted effort led by egypt and the united states excuse me the united nations to achieve a cease fire and they are. long term solution for the blockade of gaza strip. and this is supposed to be an agreement between israel on the one hand and the hamas militant was a gaza strip on the other and the now we have this very serious attack and so the question arises why did israel do it and i think in the past one can think of several explanations why the gauge inspire the thing one would be to give hamas a bloody nose on the eve of such an agreement just to you know act. towards

the israeli government's own constituents so the palestinians that any such agreement will take place on israel's terms and so on the second explanation would be that israel is seeking to. improve the terms of any such agreement because it has not yet been concluded and a theory is that there are forces within the israeli government its fury establishment who are seeking to scuttle the process of sorts of agreements through a new large still large scale conflict i tend to believe i tend to lean more towards the first explanation which is that it is intended primarily to give hamas a bloody nose but of course the masses not just going to sit back and take this and is going to respond and in fact already has responded and there is reports that an israeli soldier was killed. and perhaps there were other israeli talents as well proven through this could lead over the coming days to

a very significant escalation so how do you expect not just hamas to respond but also the other the other factions and the gaza strip. well i think ultimately that any response is going to be led by hamas for two reasons if the risk is that hamas rules and governs it was. an effect of the controls and the second is that. this israeli infiltration into the gaza strip was directed at hamas and. the travel to use were a senior hamas military commander or another so i think on that score as well the other factions will defer to from us to take the lead and if it's false it would be different that israel targeted for example. or others options but in this case i think when asked to control any city in retaliation.

and however how hamas responds we're waiting of course for that response could what's happened under the recent developments that we've seen in gaza that have seen real improvements for the people there well i think any city group answer of course relative given has been under a. blockade now over a decade and subject to continuous or regular periodic large scale as you know your source and so on or think the key question is whether this is very rash deliberate israeli attack on the gaza strip or is or is not going to is the prospects for it even though it's been mediated by egypt in the united nations but how likely is that that work can be contained on that agreement while the israeli army sends and as so-called elite squad to attack senior hamas military commanders at

a time when they weren't supposed to be engaging in this kind of activity to give peace a chance. and and that's precisely the key question there are again i tend to i tend towards an explanation that israel's actions today is not meant to scuttle or seven hours such an agreement but rather a place israel in a superior position on the eve of such an equivalent having said that of course. israel's calculations about who to evolve and given that hamas. given the seniority of tragedies is almost zero to feel compelled to tell you of this is a start given that an israeli soldier appears. to force was also on to say that some leader was in israel may have sort of their escalate matters were possibility that this will lead to

a larger scale off that will entirely scuttle the process that's in your grievance should not be discounted and there are those and the israeli army wouldn't be displaced of this did lead to a wider conflict those that say that there's a need to you know and there was one of the north and gaza every few yards. well exactly and i think those forces or more likely to be found within the israeli civilians this is the government in the cabinet in the defense and three people like defense minister having her lieberman and so on and perhaps less in the security establishment although there are certainly some from the advocates of the position of either someone say that. there is low again you know it's heartening perhaps premature who brought the feeling of conclusion about why this attack was initiated by israel and with what objective in mind but you know your

question certainly. alludes to one possible explanation and then the question becomes well will will will or will not succeed to be bothered about again i tend towards the explanation there this was intended as a limited on that this was an attack with limited objectives. that in no way guarantees that the fallout from this. and the talks of course about how we can expect hamas to respond as powell and gaza what about the palestinian authority what can we expect from them following this attack. well as as you know the pasadena authority has been entirely marginalise from the gaza strip and any of the volunteers are in the gaza strip and as well taken policy the citizens on towards it wasif that i think most observers would have the struggles it's nothing short of

reprehensible and i do not think. and possibly in the thirty or in a position to exercise meaningful influence on developments. in the gaza strip or concerning the gossip except to play let's say the role of a spoiler and then the question becomes whether they will see the possibilities in the current situation to exercise us or by which i'm referring to this gyptian and the united nations mediated. drastic result that the parts in the orient the states of east continues to oppose because it does not provide for the immediate sole resumption of ph control of the gaza strip or. mr rabbani really thank you for your time on this it's been great to get your expertise on this that maureen rabbani joining us from new york thank you we are

going to continue with this we're joined by phyllis bennis fellow at the institute for policy studies and author of understanding of the palestinian israeli conflict and she's joining us live from washington d.c. misspend it's always a pleasure to have you with us on al-jazeera i want to ask firstly your reaction to this attack and again the timing of it do agree with our previous guest maureen rabbani who is saying that this might be israel trying to give hamas what he called a bloody nose before any real progress is made on the peace plan that's been worked on by the united nations by egypt to really deescalate those ongoing tensions in gaza. well i think that's certainly a possibility mooing right that that is often an israeli approach here i think what's perhaps more important than the specifics of the timing is the fact that

regardless of the timing israel knows it can count on united states support for these actions that they will not be held accountable that the u.s. will guarantee some level of impunity for these kinds of attacks even when it flies in the face of international law are flies in the face of these efforts that you're speaking of between egypt and the united nations to get some kind of cease fire talks underway so i think that broad assumption is far more important than the the tactical considerations certainly we know that there are plenty of people both in the cabinet and in parts of the security authorities who are eager to see any peace movement fail who are eager to make sure that there is nothing that starts to look like a cease fire that want to be able to maintain military control including these so-called the language they use this racist term about mo in the lawn the sense of

every several years the israelis believe they have the right to simply go in and kill large numbers of people in gaza. there's this broader question of understanding that the united states will always have their back and they will never be held accountable as long as that u.s. support continues so it's really that question what is the role of jared question or what is the role of the trying to ministration that's more important i think than the specifics of the timing and israel has of course always been able to count on the u.s. for support but do you think that that's really escalated sense the trump administration has been and power do you think that this administration and with the move. is that it's carried out moving the israeli embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem going against international law cutting so much funding to different agencies that look after palestinian refugees have has this administration do you

think embolden the israeli government to new heights to do whatever they want. i think there's very little doubt that that's the case the united states as you say has always supported israel in any sort of position vis a vis the palestinians and in the region as a whole but also as you note under the trumpet ministration that has escalated even further so these explicit examples moving the embassy to jerusalem recognizing jerusalem as the so-called capital of a of a so-called unified israeli state accepting as legitimate the new israeli nation state law that essentially makes apartheid official inside israel all of these are actions that the u.s. has either carried out or has embraced under the trumpet ministration beyond that you have the growing partnership between jared cushion or who is of course his son

in law but also his key middle east and visor and envoy along with jason green with . jericho playing the major role at the same time that he's building this very strong relationship with the crown prince of saudi arabia who is of course widely seen as being responsible for. for the assassination of jamal khashoggi in the saudi consulate in turkey in istanbul so in that context you see this sort of pattern of assassinations being carried out under the rubric of u.s. support for its allies whether it be the saudis whether it be the israelis and the notion of israeli continued occupation of gaza is likely to not even be mentioned in most of the coverage and certainly in the u.s. official responses that we will soon see from the state department from the white house we will see instead israel has the right to defend itself adds the kind of

knee and we will not hear the words israel continues to. the gaza strip it's a somewhat different form of occupation than before with it's not the same kind of occupation as in the west bank but what we see is that with the withdrawal of israeli settlers in two thousand and five and the redeployment of israeli troops from inside the gaza strip to surrounding the gaza strip with now more than a decade old full. surrounding and blockade of gaza which has led to a horrific humanitarian catastrophe inside you now have the situation where israeli control is complete including sending troops whenever they choose in this case it was special forces troops inside the gaza strip to carry out assassinations and so we can expect much from the united states then but what should happen now to ensure that this raid this israeli army raid and to harass is not going to need to

. to an escalation that that actually leads to the kind of you know wars that we saw in two thousand and fourteen and two thousand and twelve where hundreds if not thousands of thousand civilians were killed. well this is not something that is has any capacity for the palestinians to make that decision this is something that the israelis will do or not do and they do so they make their decisions knowing that they will have the full uncritical support of the trump administration that the challenge that we face there is no existing pressure. on the israeli military or on the israeli political echelon from their key international supporter which is washington that goes to the economic support the three point eight billion dollars a year of u.s. tax money that goes directly to the israeli military that goes to the promise to maintain protection of israel in the united nations it goes to the israeli decision

that you've already referenced of cutting all of its funding of honor of the most important u.n. organization that provides basic survival food and education and medical care for palestinian refugees eighty percent of the population of gaza are in fact refugees so given all of that this is going to be an israeli internal decision whether they decide to use this excuse or take no excuses are to escalate their assault as they have three times before beginning with operation cast lead in two thousand and eight and nine and again in two thousand and twelve and of course again in two thousand and fourteen where over two thousand gazan palestinians were killed whether they do that again is going unfortunately to be their decision knowing that they will have the support of the trump administration for whatever they may decide to do then is thank you as always for your time and your expertise on the subject of really appreciate it especially tonight that as well as the ballasts joining us

live from washington d.c. thank you. now our founding i will sell him as a journalist based in gaza and he's been following the story. this today that is being conducted by yemen's aide on the cover of your new. sitcom. the latest news says that they tried to kidnap one over the palestinian freedom fighters one of the hamas commanders but they could not they failed been exchanged fire they killed him that. exchange by other hamas. military. god military there exchanged fire with days a week with the israeli scud become a scud. during questioning fire only into strike instead of being to save the discard which infiltrated. the freakin wait that was inside gaza from basically in both the. weekend i can describe it that the

discovery has been trapped inside gaza and they could not leave now like we've been saying is very promising benjamin netanyahu has cut short his trip to france he was en paris with dozens of other world leaders to commemorate one hundred years since the end of world war one a conflict that killed twenty million people france's president a man you met kong led tributes to the millions of stones and who died in the complex he is the world not to forget the ideal the principles and the patriotism of those who fought and joining back home to commemorate the day with dozens of leaders including donald trump russian president is that i mean two thousand and german chancellor angela merkel the top to bottom of the polls. the gray skies over paris reflected the somber mood as more than seventy world leaders walked up the say to the arc de triomphe to commemorate the end of world war one the french

president and german chancellor was side by side the nation's once the bitterest of enemies now the closest of allies at eleven o'clock paris time in one thousand nine hundred eighteen the guns fell silent ending more than four years of conflict and bloodshed an estimated twenty million soldiers and civilians were killed a similar number were injured in france where much of the fighting took place few have forgotten. i had to come here today as my grandfather fought in that wall the fourth of four years so it was to remember him. dozens of students took part in the ceremony representing a new generation and hope that history's mistakes will not be repeated the armistice treaty marks a victory for allied powers and a defeat for german forces but the commemoration hasn't been about national triumph it's been about reconciliation. the french president lived the

flame of the tomb of the unknown soldier in his speech he spoke at the futility of war and promoted his multilateral vision of the world in the face of that of some leaders who increasingly look inwards but the u.t.s. . it looks like to go to dinner patriotism is the polar opposite of nationalism nationalism betrays patriotism when one says it's also first of all who cares about real there's a clear way what is most precious about a nation secure make it live what makes a great most importantly its model values the so many people together presidents and politicians who are often at odds with each other a moment for them to reflect on and remember a conflict that ravaged continents cut short lives and tore families apart. a call to never forget the tash butler al-jazeera. now after initially being criticized for skipping a ceremony at

a cemetery on saturday donald trump remembered u.s. soldiers who paid the ultimate sacrifice as he was among leaders from some of the world's most powerful countries and paris on knowing the war dead and with so many in one place it was difficult to avoid comparisons with the issues confronting the world today and diplomatic editor james bays has more. the commander in chief paying his respects to u.s. servicemen who died in a war that ended one hundred years ago the visit to the cemetery overlooking paris took place on a dying craft a noon twenty four hours earlier a visit to the graves of u.s. marines had been cancelled the white house said it was because of rain a move that back home in the states prompted widespread criticism exactly one hundred years ago today on november eleventh one thousand and eighteen world war one came to an end. thank god it was

a brutal war. he went to the cemetery instead of attending the paris peace forum an event deliberately designed to follow the commemoration while global leaders were all in paris the vision of president macro this was an effort to promote international cooperation to avoid further conflict and without mentioning president trump or his america first policy to push back against nationalism you sometimes you do. we are we can by the return of tragic passions nationalism racism anti-semitism and extremism that challenge the future that our people are expecting the german chancellor told before him finding peace in yemen was a pressing concern. won't even see or hear me since we are here to remember we must not forget that what is probably the worst humanitarian crisis in the world is happening in yemen and it is only because we're seeing very few pictures that we're

not appalled at the fact that there are no pictures cannot be a reason not to act together here in paris leaders around the world where you know exhibit their horror of the wars of the paws what is in our homes of their own countries it's clear there's no easy solutions to current conflicts and increasingly divergent views on the way they should work together in the future james zero peris let's get more on this now we're joined by richard ponzi a director of the just security twenty twenty program at the stimson center that's a policy research organization he's joining us live from paris very good to have you with us on al-jazeera as if we had the french president speaking of the dangers of nationalism while the u.s. president chooses not to actually attend this peace forum what is president trying to do here with the forum i mean i mean is he trying to save global cooperation multilateralism at a time of rising nationalism can he do that without america's. participation let

alone leadership. president barack crone in this new paris peace forum that you're not crazy today appears to be doing his utmost to modernize our institutions of global governance and heard of course around the united nations and to learn from a hundred years ago when the armistice led to the ill fated league of nations. it is a process of addressing today's multiple concurrent wars some of which were discussed in your previous segment and to avoid what happened hundred years ago when the united states decided not to join the league of nations this is one of the major contributing factors to its demise and what of course ushered in the period of the second world war so i imagine president and the other world leaders who gather would prefer to have the united nations back in and exerting the type of leadership that it showed in the period following the second world war and get to president

trump isn't attending the peace far as well been supporting i mean does it have reflect do you think america is that of a morning from the international institutions that it did so much to shape and the last one hundred ten. to president trump's credit he did attend ceremonies that showed the importance of u.s. leadership one hundred years ago really honoring the american soldiers who participated in many of course who lost their lives the sad reality though when you have germany russia nigeria other major countries staying on and showing the importance of addressing the very valid criticisms both from the left and the right that we need to improve our system of global governance today it's disappointing to say the least to have a president trying to decide to not dissipate in that conversation we've seen that trend pulling out of so many treaties and of course the human rights council in recent months and it's interesting because you're talking about the leaders trying

to discuss ways of improving global governance i mean that's something that president trump himself says all the time needs to have and yet he doesn't believe in the way that he does a doing it through multilateralism and in doing so as he enters the us losing an opportunity to actually shape tomorrow as the rules of engagement. it's absolutely was in that role throughout the history after the second world war on all sides of the political divide in the united states americans took great pride in having been there at the creation of the u.n. the other institutions the post world war two period of course nato was important in the late one nine hundred forty s. and it seems that that has really gone out the way site international treaties on climate on trade human rights as i just mentioned we no longer wish to exert that leadership role and of course major powers from china to russia are stepping in and filling the vacuum china today is actively and ball on the ground in un

multilateral peacekeeping operations china has started its own economic development institutions with global reach the asian infrastructure investment banking it is really stepping out at a time and showing that a new kind of globalization that it can orient towards its own interests its own values and one where the u.s. is relinquishing the traditional role the way it promoted a liberal international order was through the school was to to sions that it no longer desires to lead to ponzo it's great to get your thoughts on this we really appreciate your time that is read to ponzi live in paris thank you thank you now paris was just one of many locations around the world holding commemorations marking the end of the great war a news event thousands gathered in the capital one in ten ten percent of the country's one million population at the time served in the war eighteen thousand were killed. and british officials paid tribute to the seventy thousand and the

unskilled in the war with the service in new delhi india comprise one of the biggest contingent of men among commonwealth forces for the one in the hof many in fighting alongside the allied palace. let's move on to other news now the u.s. has renewed its call for the end of hostilities in yemen street battles have brought chaos to residential areas in the main port city of whole day there a pro-government alliance backed by the salvia marotta coalition is trying to seize control from the rebels at least sixty one fighters from both sides have been killed in the past twenty four hours thousands of civilians are trapped in the fighting mahama the door has more from neighboring djibouti. fighting is going on on our list three front lines in and around the city of in the eastern part of the city fighting is taking place on the streets of some of the residential neighborhoods hundreds of fighters pro-government

a been supported by. helicopters and so the strikes on positions of the who the fighters who save to be putting up stiff resistance the stakes are high here the whole the fighters know that losing they that is going to be a major blow to them and it's exactly what the pro-government militias and the sody in my article want to see done the recovering that it kept shutting off the data from the whole of the fighters they may be a concern is for the safety of the people who are still living in the day that people could not leave and flee when the fighting got close because of the roadblocks and the close rule to something done by the whole thing fighters there is also concern about what the fighting continues into the city will do to disrupt the vital services of the port of seventy percent of humans imports go through this is also where they are meant for the millions of starving yemenis goes

through. firefighters in california have only managed to contain ten percent of the fire burning in los angeles county at least twenty five people have died and thousands of homes are being destroyed as two large fires tear through the u.s. state hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes firefighters expect hot and windy weather over the next three days to fan the flames. this week california has experienced the most sky was a destructive fires that we've seen in its history over one hundred ninety six thousand acres burned. thousands of homes and thousands of lives lost. today as you see we're starting to see another series of santa ana winds that are going to start blowing here and working their way south toward san diego and this house is very concerned.