this is bbc world news. hello. i'm geeta guru-murthy. our top stories today. world representatives remember and reflect 100 years after germany invaded belgium and britain in world war i. these are belgium cities. >> the first victims of people of belgium who's resistance was gallant as suffering was great. unilaterally pause in

operations across much of gaza. there are already reports of breaches. the truce comes a day after an israeli strike on a u.n. r refuge killed ten sparking condemnatio condemnation. hello and welcome. it is 100 years to the day since a small conflict in the baltic became a global war to last four years. germany invaded belgium and britain to mark the first world war. it left almost 17 million people dead. one of the main ceremonies at

the memorial in belgium has just drawn to a close. germany's president and chief of cambridge were amongst those that spoke. king felipe spoke about this day. he said it's important to remember the losses of world war i and also the games. >> translator: the banner of suffering. we may be commemorating that suffering today, but we are also remembering the distance that has been covered since then. this commemoration is vital importance the for building the future more effectively. >> translator: ladies and gentlemen, those were bitter and very horrible lessons that we had to learn as a result of the two world wars.

we should not only demonstrate with our words but also through our everyday activities and actions that we have learned our lessons. >> peace that we hear in joy together that allies and partners does not simply mean no more bloodshed. it means something deeper than that. the fact that presence of germany and austria are here today and other nations than enemies are here too, there's testimony to the power of reconciliation. not only is war between us unthinkable rgs but former adversaries have worked together three generations to spread democracy, prosperity and rule of law across europe and promote shared values around the world. we were enemies more than once in the last century. today we are friends and allies.

we salute those that died to give us freedom. we will remember them. >> our correspondent matthew price is there. how can you sum up what we've seen in the last few minutes? >> reporter: well, it's been a small ceremony, but with high profile dignitaries here. one in which through the words -- some of which you heard there -- various speakers summarized the aspects that are thought on a day like this. king of belgium spoke of sacrifice of an entire generation of people. you heard from the duke of cambridge that focused a lot of his speech on what he considers the sacrifice of an entire country, belgium and what the action of its soldiers here

played into the overall war efforts against the germans. then you heard the german president talking about completely unjustifiable invasion by his country of new federal be belgium. and then you heard the president of france. he spoke of the fact that in essence it's not good enough for europe today to simply come together and remember, proclaim itself the guardian of peace. he said europe needs to do more and in what felt like a political part of his speech, he talks about the situation in syria, in iraq. he mentioned lebanon. he also spoke of what is going on in gaza at the moment. he spoke of need in europe to not only remember war and talk

about peace but also to act. he said europe must do more and live up to national obligations. >> he said we must be guarded against antisemitism, racism. none of the speeches passed without some illusion to current conflicts. that to many makes europe very relative. >> well, certainly he went on and spoke about the risk of acce separatism, egoism. he spoke of the obviously reference to the fact that 100 years ago today, belgium integrity was destroyed by the germany invasion. they spoke also, several of the

people making speeches, about the fact the ukraine integrity has been broken in the last half year or so. very definitely taking today on what it means for an entire continent and indeed much of the world. using that by some of the people we heard from today to say we can't rest. we can't take anything for granted. a couple of those making speeches did say it's unconceivable our nations would once again be at war. i think most argue that a is correct. it was not inconceivable for many of their words, and they don't see peace as given. they see it as totally conceivable that other wars can explode not just around the world and in the middle east but

also on european soil. the malaysian airlines disaster a few weeks ago was mentioned here. the very fact there is a war on european soil which had a profound impact on the lives of many people across this continent and around the world. especially in the netherlands. so those real political messages also coming out at a moment of national and international commemoration for the events of 100 years ago a. >> i know you were saying so many people on social media have made that point. we see these commemorations, still so much conflict and so much for people to worry about in europe and other parts of the world. my colleague tim willcox is there. we see the royal family leaving the commemoration. there are going to be more ceremonies later tim.

>> exactly right. this is an hour and a half drive from here. in a few hours time, the belgium king and queen, katherine, prince william and prince harry will be here. this is what organizers are pushing in this small semitri. a combination of german and common wealth soldiers lying together in the same area. the first british casualty it is believed private john par is buried here. the last british casualty november 11, 1918, george ellisson. he's buried three meters away from the first british casualty. 9.5 million lives later.

a very special place for the families of the dead who come here today to attend this ceremony. 500 people, world leaders, royalty speaking later to michael higgins and belgium prime minister. all of them stressing how par europe has come in the last 100 years, how reconciliation is important. also the dangers of nationalism, dangers of conflict and terrible destruction conflict causes to millions of people if political control isn't kept. >> tim, i know you are at the place ceremonies are held. what is your thought of what's be going on by ordinary people. there's a light out plan for

tonight. everyone asked to turn lights out to give a pause on a personal basis. what's your sense? >> we arrived here yesterday. the belgiums have such a sense of collective memory about the first and second world wars. we were hearing the last post is played everyday in memory of the dead and what happened to the country. we were sitting in a class last night. there was a luminary of the so called angels. this is a myth british common wealth troops as they were retreating. they came across a much superior german force and had to march back to paris after the battle on the 23rd of august, 1914. all around us, belgians, british and other common wealth people that came here today to try to attend the ceremony, feeling

keenly the sacrifice that had been made by so many millions of people in the great war. other european flags flying around the cemetery on the outskirts. it is something the belgiums feel keenly everyday of their lives. it's actually ingrained in the collective memory of this country. >> many thanks for now tim. we'll be back there live of course later in the day. this is the scene live in liege as that ceremony draws to a close. speeches by the french, belgium and german leaders there. some political, some heads of state. all of those speeches really mentioning current fears of c conflict as they look back in thanks with a message of

reconciliation. we're going to leave those events for now. we'll speak to a historian for more on the ceremonies to remember the first world war. now we're going to move to current events in gaza because a seven hour pause in israel's military operation is underway but only parts of the territory. there's reports a child has died in an israeli air strike in gaza city. today minutes after the lull in hostile thetiities came in effe. it is not recognized by hamas that accuses of massacres. >> the explosion happened

minutes after the ceasefire went in effect. the bbc team went to the scene. a house has been destroyed. palestinians say it was carried out by an israeli air strike. we understand one person is killed and the others are injured. this happened in a part of the gaza strip where the ceasefire was supposed to be effective. we're yet to have words from the israeli military. this is here in the gaza strip which was supposed to be safe during the seven hour lull in the fighting, an indication of why palestinians say ceasefires come and go and they do not trust israel. they do not believe any place in gaza is safe. >> bethany bell in jerusalem. there are reports that israel is scaling back some of its military activity.

>> reporter: well, we have not heard from the israeli army that it's deploying some of its troops. we understand there's a pull back towards the gaza border area in certain part of the gaza strip. the operations army say are are continuing near rafah. there's some speculation here that israel may be considering some type of unilateral withdrawal from gaza without agreed negotiation ceasefire with hamas. i think there's little signs that people are expecting the fighting to end soon. the israeli army has said it will respond to rocket fire from gaza. there's been ten rockets fired today. there's also been more cross border tunnels the army hasn't identified yet. it said it destroyed most of

those. it's likely intelligence will be trying to scour the area after long the border to see if there are more of them. >> when israel says it's pausing if for humanitarian purposes and we see a strike like this after the strike over the weekend, obviously it's going to add to criticism. is this humanitarian pause or does it fit with israel's strategy on the ground? >> reporter: what we're seeing on the ground here is people are told they can go back to neighborhoods evacuated at start of the war. they were used by palestinian militants to fire off rockets. people are told they can go back to neighborhoods. people don't wanted to because they fear that they will phase israeli shelling. what we have to remember is the

reason israeli soldiers were in gaza was to destroy the tunnels that are dug by hamas to launch attacks inside israel. israeli media saying they should finish that. there's no reason to remain inside the territory. we are seeing signs on the ground here particularly in the north, particularly in central gaza that israeli troops have pushed out. it is clear they're still on the ground in southern rafah. that's where it's believed an israeli soldier was kidnapped. israel says they believe he died in the fighting. that's around that we saw the incident yesterday where an israeli air strike hit close to a u.n. school. there's activity down there. elsewhere across the israeli border, it does appear many israeli soldiers have left the territory. >> martin there in gaza, bethany bell in jerusalem both speaking

to me in the last hour or so. do stay with me on bbc. there's much more to come. president obama invites africa leaders to a three day trade summit in washington. china has a head start. can the u.s. president make up for loss of time? we build it in classrooms and exhibit halls, mentoring tomorrow's innovators. we build it raising roofs, preserving habitats and serving america's veterans. every day, thousands of boeing volunteers help make their communities the best they can be. building something better for all of us. ♪ building something better for all of us. wouldn't it be great if hiring plumbers, carpenters shopping online is as easy as it gets. and even piano tuners were just as simple? thanks to angie's list, now it is. we've made hiring anyone from a handyman to a dog walker as simple as a few clicks. buy their services directly at angieslist.com

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who are you? daddy, this is blair, he booked this room with priceline express deals and saved a ton. i got everything i wanted. i always do. he seemed nice. hello. this is bbc world news. i'm geeta guru-murthy with the late aest headlines. representatives from 50 countries have been attending commemorations in belgium 100 years after germany invaded the country and britain entered world war i. a unilateral pause in israel's military operations are underway across most of gaza. there are already reports of breaches. more now on those ceremonies commemorating the 100th anniversary of the world war.

now from the war graves commission. we saw one white wreath assembled by all leaders and put down at the memorial in leige. it was striking wasn't it? >> it was striking. usually at international or local events marking the war, everybody lay ace wreath. you end up with many, many wreaths against a strong or cross. it's striking at this event leading the commemoration of the outbreak of the war they chose to assemble one wreath to stand for everybody as a really wonderful symbol of how everybody is trying to commemorate this war together rather than as a sign of part son ship. >> it's important to remember this is not just a european commemoration. people around the world were drag into this conflict because of the british empire. >> that's very true. many speakers have talked about this as an opportunity to look

at reconciliation and see what we have in common. it strikes me we need to do that around the whole world. many people fought and decide in the war because of the colonial masters. that's than uncomfortable story. >> numbers are huge aren't they? >> numbers are large. fighters, those that did it for money, some did it for values and ideals, some because they had no choice. what binds them all together -- the country is involved. laborers from china, egypt, undivided india, many countries in africa that saw service in their countries and travelled to completely different parts of the world about which they knew nothing in order to fight. perhaps it was an idea or nationalism for themselves that may not have been realized in immediate aftermath of the world

war. these can be difficult stories. they need to be looked at. this is a good opportunity. in the spirit of coming together around them and seeing what we have in common rather at looking at ways to decide ourselves. >> thanks very much indeed. we'll speak to you throughout the day. thank you. to china now because rescue workers are struggling to reach the worst effected area of the earthquake. it has killed 400 people. emergency teams are searched through the collapsed areas dampened by heavy rain. >> a massive rescue operation is swin swinging into place but emergency crews are struggling to reach thousands that need help. landslides are blocking temperature only road. the rain is making the situation even worse. this region is used to regular

tremors. this area is different. brick homes that stood for deck raids were completely destroyed. rescuers and survivors must dig through rubble to find the missing and dead. the local hospitals are ov overwhe overwhelmed. >> all the houses had collapsed when we arrived. dead bodies were everywhere. there were a lot of injured people. >> medical teams are asking for emergency blood donations. the government calling for anyone to hand out supplies to help crews discover the final death toll. >> very much grim news i'm afraid. we'll try to cheer you up with aaron. can you? >> no. not that cheery at all. thanks. good see you. the bank of portugal has announced details of 4.9 euro

rescue. funding for the operation is to come until now a used portion of the euro bailout money. the bank will be split into two. healthy and bad bank. the good will be headed up by the president boss vito bento o. we'll have more on "gmt." this week you've heard about this, the greatest concentration of african leadership. president obama has invited heads of state and government to a three day meeting that started today. it focuses on trade and investment as the president tries to make up for lost time and opportunity. over the last decade, china made the running on investment in the region while u.s. is dealing with spread of terrorism.

u.s. is hoping deals between the nations will be formally announced. we'll have more throughout the day. i've got to wrap it up now. back to you. >> we leave you this hour with pictures from liege where we have been remembering the first world war. 100 years. stay with us. ♪ ♪ ♪ woooooah. ♪ [ male announcer ] you're not just looking for a house. you're looking for a place for your life to happen. zillow. with new jolly rancher filled gummy bites? not today.

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our top stories. world representatives remember and reflect 100 years after germany invaded belgium. britain entered world war i. these are the live pictures from a ceremony in the belgium city of liege. >> among the first victims were people of belgium who's resistance was as gallant as suffering was great. >> funerals take place in gaza

during the unilateral partial pause in israel's operations. there's already reports of breaches. the truce comes the day after the israeli strike refuge killed ten. why a mystical branch of islam under threat from extremist and how followers pledge to save it. hello. welcome. it is 100 years to the day since the conflict became the large war.

britain entered the first world war. commemorations are held to mark the war that left 17 million dead. one of the main ceremonies in belgium has just drawn to a close. germany's president and duke of cambridge were among those that spoke. king felipe recorded this day. he said it was important to remember the losses but also the gains. >> the war brought the people of different countries together into single banner. the banner of suffering. we may be commemorating that suffering today, but we are also remembering the distance hah has been covered since then. this commemoration is vital importance for building the future more effectively.

>> translator: ladies and gentlemen, those were bitter and very horrible lessons that we had to learn as a result of the two world wars. we should not only demonstrate with our words but also through our everyday activities and actions that we have learned our lessons. >> peace that we hear in joy together that allies and partners does not simply mean no more bloodshed. it means something deeper than that. the fact the presence of germany and austria is here today and other nations are here too, there's testimony to the power of reconciliation. not only is war between us unthinkable, but a former adversaries have worked together three generations to spread democracy, prosperity and rule of law across europe and promote

shared values around the world. we were enemies more than once in the last century. today we're friends and allies. we absolute those that died to give us our freedom. we will remember them. >> prince william speaking about an hour ago in liege. another ceremony takes place later today at in cemetery. tim willcox is there. what do we expect to see there today? >> reporter: the ceremony starts half past 8:00. prince william, harry, and the british prime minister attending this. 500 guests as well as the vips, family members of those that lost their lives in the battle of mons on 23rd of august 1914. it's a stunningly striking

beautiful cemetery. 518 fallen soldiers, combination of german and common wealth. the theme very much one of reconciliation, remembering the 9.5 million soldiers that lost their lives and 20 million people that were wounded badly. some of them in that great war. there will be readings, music, speeches. the theme very much reconciliation. beautiful cemetery out here about an hour and a half's drive from the edge. with me, the royal british region. the parkland and immaculate tombstones. >> we have our first casualties of the first world war. we have the word reconciliation friend and foe buried together.

this is a very important cemetery for which it started and where it finished. >> this is where one of the first battles of the great war was fought. the common wealth, british forces had to retreat to paris. it was only just before 1918 when they came back. as you say, another british casualty there. >> indeed. this is the battle site here to see exactly both sides of action and enormous cost to all nations particularly our own. >> we were talking earlier about the collective memory that exists in belgium about what happened. even though there are no veterans obviously left from the great war, do you get a sense there were new generations coming through remembering the great war and still a real interest in what happened? >> we have our school programs, many coming out. if you went this evening or any

night in the week, there's between 1,200 and 2,000 every evening. 15 years ago may have been nine or ten there. now every evening throughout the year, thousands of people come just to remember. >> and you are based over here aren't you? the actual maintaining of these war cemeteries, is that something which is guaranteed forever? is there a fund, finances there to keep it in commission? >> these are the works that few years budget goes 43 million pounds to look after the 1.7 dead many cemeteries throughout the globe. this is the debt of honor that we owe to our fallen. that's greatly done by the common wealth commission and each of our core countries that pays for war dead into that

funding. >> thank you very much indeed. we'll be broadcasting here throughout the afternoon and evening. special ceremony lasts over an hour beginning half past 8:00. we'll take the speeches. world leaders and vip leaves, they will light hurricane lamps in this cemetery as a sort of moving flame tribute to all those millions of soldiers who lost their lives. >> thanks very much indeed. back to you of course throughout the day. on the back of the common wealth games, it's important to remember people died for many, many nations and continents. >> indeed. it's fitting for the british our first ceremony takes place in britain. we need to look at service and

sacrifice of all in the common wealth. >> how many lost their lives from india? >> this is a very, very big war. hard to express in simple words and numbers. we've heard lots of numbers today. i say for british empire, looking about 9 million lost in the first world war. >> the range of countries involved? >> from every corner of the world, china, singapore, undivided india, all nations separate today, africa, nigeria, south africa. >> is there a sense when you speak to families involve had the soldiers had choice, understood what they were getting into? >> there's as many answers as people. they may not have had the literacy to their families.

many did it for idealistic reason, pragmatic and personal reasons. it's different from person to person. >> we see prince charles with that procession in the church. of course there's been a raging debate historically for a long time about that question of futility. was this a wasted war because so many died. when you look at divisions in the middle east and what followed the second world war. is that going to always be there do you think? >> i think that a you've made a good point by connecting it to the second world war. a futility is judgment of hindsight. it's quite unfair to use hindsight when you judge people in the past. they didn't know the outcome of the war. they knew they were going to try to make it. yes, the ways in which ideals

hoped for were not reeached. does that devalue the service and sacrifice of the people that we should be commemorating? >> we're seeing the king in liege standing in front of one great wreath. why one wreath? >> i think they've chosen symbolically to use one wreath as a sign of europe's togetherness at this point of commemoration instead of separateness which was the story before and during the war. >> now many thanks. you'll be with us throughout the day. we turn to gaza where of course it's been a very, very difficult few days and weeks. today there's a seven hour pause in israel's military operation. only in parts of the territory. there are reports that a child died in an israeli air strike in gaza city minutes after the lull in hostilities came in effect.

the pause doesn't apply to rafah where israeli troops are present nor recognized by hamas accusing israelis of massacres. bethany is in jerusalem. i began asking martin about the latest incident in gaza city. >> reporter: the explosion happened minutes after the ceasefire went in effect. the bbc team has been down to the scene. a house has been destroyed. palestinians say it was carried out by an israeli air strike. one person has been killed and we understand 12 others are injured. to be clear, this happened in a part of the gaza strip where the ceasefire was supposed to be effective. we've yet to have word from the israeli military. this is a theory of incident in gaza strip which was supposed to be safe during the lull in fighting. another indication of why

palestinians say truces and ceasefires come and go. they do not trust israel. they do not believe any place in gaza is safe. >> bethany bell, to you in jerusalem. there are reports though that israel is scaling back some of its military activity. >> well, we have heard israeli army is deploying some troops. there's a pull back in certain parts of the gaza strip, not down south around rafah. the operations the army say continue down there. there is some speculation here that israel may be considering some type of unilateral withdrawal from gaza without an agreed negotiated ceasefire with hamas. i think there's little sign people are expecting the

fighting to end soon. the israeli army has said it will respond to rocket fire are from gaza. there's been ten rockets fired today. then they've also been more cross border tunnels the army hasn't identified yet. it's destroyed most of those it identified. it's likely intelligence will be trying to scour the area along the borderer to see if there are more of them. >> martin in gaza. when israel says it is pausing for humanitarian purposes and then we see a strike like this after the strike over the weekend, obviously it's just going to add to the criticism of israel. is this humanitarian pause or fit any kcase of what israel's strategy on the ground is. >> reporter: we're hearing

people are told they can go back to evacuated neighborhoods. israel says they were used by palestinian militants to fire off rockets. people have been told they can go back to neighborhoods. people don't want to because they fear that they will face israeli shelling. i think what we have to remember is the reason israeli soldiers were in gaza was to destroy the tunnels which have been dumped by hamas to launch attacks inside israel. israeli media say the bombs are finished, so there's no reason for soldiers to remain in the territory. we're seeing signs on the ground many the north and central gaza that israeli troops have pushed out. it's clear they're still on the ground in southern rafah. that's where it was believed the israeli soldier was kidnapped. now they believe he was killed in the fighting. we saw the serious incident

yesterday when an israeli air strike hit close to a u.n. school. there's activity down there. elsewhere across to the israeli border, it does appear many israeli soldiers have now left the territory. martin there in gaza and bethany bell in jerusalem speaking to me earlier today. a rescue operation is underway in china after a strong earthquake struck an area in the southwest of the country killing at least 400 people. the president calls for all out efforts to find survivors as he dispatched thousands of troops to the disaster region. from belgium, our correspondent reports. >> a massive rescue operation is swinging into place. emergency crews are struggling to reach thousands that need help. landslides are blocking the only roads leading to the earthquake's center.

the rainmaking the situation worse. this earthquake was different locals say. brick homes that stood in place for decades were destroyed. rescuers dig through rub toll find the missing and dead. local hospitals are overwhelmed. >> all houses had collapsed when we arrived. dead bodies were everywhere. there were a lot of injured people. >> medical teams for blood donations. the government is asking for healthy volunteers, anyone to hand out supplies and help the crews discover a death toll. >> stay with us on bbc world news. much more to come. why a mystical branch of islam is under threat from

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this is bbc world news. i'm geeta guru-murthy with the latest headlines. representatives from 50 countries have been attending commemorations in belgium 100 years after britain entered world war i. the pause of the operations are underway in gaza but there are reports of breaches. now a british royal navy ship hoping to evacuate foreign tourists and four nationals caught up in the fighting arrived. most upon the enterprise are british citizens. others are from ireland and germany. 200 have died in violence between rival militia groups in are libya in the last two weeks. >> reporter: foreign nationals

are leaving in droves worried libya is going up in flames. in tripoli, smoke like this is a familiar part of the skyline. at least eight huge oil depos are set on fire by rebel forces battling to control the international airport nearby. at least 20 people died over the weekend bringing the total number killed here to well over 200. the escalating violence is too much for many. on saturday, a greek naval ship evacuated 180 people, most from greece and china. then the uk government said the hms enterprise to tripoli, taken 110 people, most of them british. this wasn't seen as a rescue mission. there are still some commercial flights available. now the operation is complete. the british embassy will close its doors. it's one of the last western embassies to leave. the british ambassador tweeted,

we plan to set up a temporary office in tunisia. we are will be back. despite everything, i have faith in libya and it's wonderful people. >> for some it must be hard to hang onto hope until the chaos can be stopped. libya is seeing the worst violence since 2011. it's pup to these men and women to do something about it. they make up the newly elected parliament which met for the first time saturday. it needs to do what the previous government could not, find a way to gain control a country overrun by heavily armed rival militias. with no effective army, that must be a daunting task. politicians, firefighters, police do what they can to tackle this country's problems. thousands head in the opposite direction getting as far as they can from libya's burning skies. the exits are gathering pace.

bbc news. couple of other stories for you this hour. fighters from the militant group isis have taken control of two iraqi towns. an oil field and the main dam near the city of mosul. the black flags of isis are seen flying over zuma and nearby areas where the u.n. tragedy is unfolding. thousands of people are fleeing the violence and crossing into the autonomous region. one person has been killed after a river burst banks. authorities evacuated hundreds of people following weeks of torrential rain. the government says the situation is critical with two dams overflowing. for century t indians subcontinent was a place the mystical concept thrived. the con she want still has millions of followers. with the spread of hard line

islam, it has been in retreat. our correspondent has traveled to a small town in the south of pakistan. >> they come at dusk beating their drums and praising their saint. swirling and chanting, they're hoping to achieve a trance to bring them closer. families have traveled hours if not days to pray at the shrine of the saint. men and women coming together to dance, play music and visit a place of worship. these are unthinkable in most of pakistan today accept in shrines like this one. hard liners like the taliban are furious about such practices. the shrines, devotion to saints

are heresy they say. >> this is the 12th descendent of the saint. his car was fired at recently. he escaped unhurt but security is here after the threats. >> i'm not hopeless. i believe that it has to stay forever. there's no way that terrorism could stand at the end of the day in front of of sufi. >> sufi believe their practices are purest form of communicating with god. sufism is also idea logical.

it's been taught at thousands of seminary across the countries. many are inspired. >> we also reject violence. we are the ones teaching islam. >> but sufi vulnerable. at shrines around the country, barriers have come up. she says this is also a cultural war. >> when you come from outside and come to a culture as accepting and welcoming as sufi culture is and you start telling them your way of life and way of worshipping god is not just wrong but sinful and that you should be punished in the next world and in this one by us for practicing culture and tradition, i see that as real psychological violence. >> at the shrine, the

celebrations continue. people keep coming up daunted for now. taliban may have guns, one of them to told me, but we have truth. >> kim reporting. that's it from us this day. back tomorrow. do hope you join us then. thanks for watching. [ male announcer ] it's one of the most amazing things we build

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hello. you're watching "gmt" on bbc world news. i'm lucy hockings. a seven hour lull across most of gaza is underway. minutes after it came in effect, israel is accused of an air strike killing an 8-year-old child and killing a dozen others. china rescuers try to find