years that you couldn't grab the rights on and you wish you would have grab one? >> i can't always, and a lot of those songs wiendz up in the the poka medley. >> it's great to see you and continued success. this is a really, really fun album. >> thank you so much. good to see you, man. >> this just in, president obama will make a statement concerning russia and ukraine in just minutes. that's it for "the lead." here is wolf blitzer live from jerusalem. thanks very much. happening now, we are following breaking news. the the united nations proposes a limited cease-fire between israel and hamas. this is "the situation room" this is "the situation room" special report, brink of war. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com gaza grief, four children killed on the beach by israeli military fire as the palestinian

death toll climbs. even in the sky we get an up close look at the military's drone program and talk to the man making split-second life and death decisions. and president obama, he's about to make a major statement on the situation, the relationship with russia. we're standing by to bring you that live when it happens. it will happen in the next few minutes. we the to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer reporting tonight from jerusalem. you're in swoet the situation room." this is cnn breaking news. and the breaking news, very significant breaking news. the united nations proposing what's being described as a limited humanitarian truce between israel and hamas. this is the situation room special report. "the brink of war." gaza grief, four children killed on the beach as israeli military fires the palestinian death toll continues to mount. the goal of this temporary truce

would be to allow what they're calling a humanitarian pause to allow relief supplies to enter gaza safely. israeli officials tell cnn they're willing to sign on to the plan and tonight there's no official word yet from hamas, but in a few moments i'll ask the organization's spokesman if they will accept this united nations proposal. this will be the first official hamas reaction to this u.n. plan. without a cease-fire there's been no let up in the nine-day air war. we saw rockets from gaza intercepted today by israel's missiles. the death toll continues, continues to climb. palestinian health officials say 221 people in gaza have died and almost 1600 have been injured. one israeli also is dead. among today's fatalities, four boys killed on a gaza beach by israeli fire. we are breaking it down with the correspondents across the region

and representing both sides with the kind of analysis you won't find. correspondent ben wiedman is joining us from gaza city. israel says it's investigating the killing of these four boys on the gaza beach. hamas says it's a war crime. tell us what happened. >> reporter: what we understand is that this happened at about 4:00 in the afternoon, but before i get to that, wolf, we're hearing that more phone calls have been received by those areas that had received phone calls from the israeli military yesterday ordering them to leave those neighborhoods and go to gaza city because shelling was a growing possibility there, but as these four boys found out, even gaza city is not safe. they were killed on the beach wednesday afternoon when the

israeli military targeted gaza's harbor. the four boyses,is mail, zakaria, ahmed and mohammed were cousins from the extended family ranging in age from 9 to 11. they were rushed to gaza city's shiva hospital, but it was too late. a spokesman says theis dent is being carefully investigated and that preliminary results indicate, quote, the target of the strike was hamas terrorist operatives, end quote. in just over an hour after their death, hundreds turned out for their funeral. behind the angry chants, there is real grief. [ chanting ] >> 11-year-old mohammed's mother convulsed with shattered

disbelief. why did he go to the beach and play for them to take him away from me, she cries? his blind father is equally devastated. i felt as if the world had come to an end when i heard the news, he tells me. i wish i'd died before hearing he was dead. of the more than 200 people killed in the last ten days of israeli bombardment, over 70% have been civilians according to the united nations. around 40 of the dead are children. were those four small boys firing rockets, a relative asks? they went to the beach to play football. the boys died on the sands of

gas and in the sands of gaza they were buried. >> and that five-hour respite provided by the u.n. pause tomorrow is only five hours. the expectation is that after that comes to an end, wolf, there could be an israeli ground invasion. >> ben wiedman in gaza for us. we'll get back to you. let's get the official reaction to this united nations proposal. osama hamdan is joining us on the phone and he's a top spokesman for hamas. mr. hamdan, the israelis say they will accept this temporary truce that the united nations has put forward for humanitarian reasons. will hamas accept it, as well? >> i have to say that the united nations was initiated and we are

still waiting for some answers to give the final answer about that. we are welcoming all of the efforts to provide the humanitarian aid for the palestinians, but as you have said a few moments ago, we have to be sure that the israelis will not use that as a chance to prepare for the ground invasion which they are just trying to have happen as soon as they can. >> so, basically what you're saying is you're not yet ready to give an official response whether you accept it, you don't accept it, you want more information. specifically, mr. hamdan, what are you looking for? what questions do you need answered to agree starting 10:00 a.m. local time tomorrow morning to have this temporary humanitarian pause, stop the

fighting between both sides? >> that there will not be an israeli attack. we are at war with israeli against the palestinians. it is normal to ask some questions and to have some information about what may happen and what is going to happen. that doesn't mean the palestinian resistance will reject or not. it means that we are asking some questions to make the proper decision. we have to help the palestinians and to be for the benefit of the palestinians. this is the basic principle that we are working on. we want it to be helpful for the palestinians and give the palestinian people a good chance to be -- to have the benefits of such initiated. we did not answer yet. it doesn't mean that we don't

have the right to ask some questions before the initiative time. >> all right. so you want the questions answered. you're leaving open the possibility. you will accept it. i spoke earlier today to the palestinian authority adviser nabil shaf. he is a man you know and he was in ramallah and we had this exchange about your earlier rejection of the cease-fire proposal. listen to this exchange with nabil shah. >> did hamas make a major blunder in accepting the egypti egyptian-proposed cease-fire. >> we think hamas should have accepted. we are supporting the egyptian initiative and we want to get a stop to the spilling of blood and to the horrible, tragic war that is being waged on gaza. >> did you make a mistake in not

accepting that egyptian cease-fire proposal, mr. hamdan? >> well, it's very strange to me from shaath because today the declaration saying that even abu mazen has no information or clue even about the initiative and it was published today, as you know that this initiative was to be between -- [ indiscernible ] the arrangements were not enforced and they were not asked and not even the resistance and even abu mazen himself has no information about that so it is normal to say we did not receive it that and we didn't know about it and how do we accept an initiative by the media. i think saying something which

was not by any palestinian? >> because, as you know, abu mazen, the palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas also known as abu mazen, he's been in egypt all day today. he's been meeting with the new egyptian president al sissi and they seem to be pretty much on the same page if you listen to abu mazen's advisers including saeb erekat who i've been speaking with in the last few day, he wanted you to accept that cease-fire, as well. >> everyone wants the cease-fire. no one is talking against having a cease-fire, but we want to protect our own people for a long time, to protect them from the israeli military attacks, from the siege, from arrests, with hard conditions. we want the cease-fire which can give the the palestinian people a chance to live peacefully and with dignity.

>> mr. hamdan, we'll check back with you tomorrow. let's see what happens if your leadership decides to go ahead and accept this temporary, temporary humanitarian cease-fire that's supposed to go in effect thursday morning 10:00 a.m. local time here in the middle east. osama hamdan is the spokesman for hamas. coming up, our live coverage continues. we're here in jerusalem. i'll speak to the spokesman of benjamin netanyahu about the temporary cease-fire and more breaking news. president obama is about to announce new u.s. sanctions against russia. he's about to go into the white house briefing room with a major statement. we'll have live coverage coming up. stay with us. you're in "the situation room" live from jerusalem. she's still the one for you.

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comcast business. built for business. >> this is cnn breaking news. we're anything to you live tonight from jerusalem where we are following the breaking news. the united nations proposal for a temporary cease-fire to allow humanitarian aid to get into gaza. we are also awaiting right now a major statement from president obama. you're looking at live pictures from the white house briefing room. he's expected to go in there farely so fairly soon and announce new sanksa, genst russia if he takes questions from reporters. you will hear it as well so we've got a lot of news coming up and let's bring in mark

regev. thanks very much for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> you've accepted this temporary six-hour cease-fire, this humanitarian pause as it's being called put forward by the united nations and it's supposed to start at 10:00 a.m. thursday morning israel time. is that right? >> that's correct. the united nations approached us and we've agreed to their proposal ultimately and it must be clear the people of gaza are not our enemy. our problem is with the terrorists, with hamas and the others who shoot these rockets into israel trying to kill our people. the people of gaza are not our enemy and if we can help the united nations facilitate distribution and food staff, medicine and so forth, we are open to that. >> you just heard hamdan, they're still studying it and they have questions that need to be answered and one of the questions they have is they don't want to give you six hours from 10:00 a.m. until local time, the six-hour truce for you to regroup and get ready for a

ground invasion of gaza. your response? >> that's ridiculous. and i think it just shows what hamas is all about. here the united nations wants to help the the the palestinian population of gaza israel is willing to facilitate that and hamas which claims to have the palestinian's people interest at heart are saying no and raising questions if they're willing to cooperate with the united nations. just like yesterday that would have ended all of the conflict and would have ended all of the violence and would have allowed us to de-escalate and get together for some sort of talks with the egyptians. when hamas claims to speak for the palestinian people, people have to see it for what it is. hamas is a brute extremist organization that is on the altar of its radical agenda. >> we saw the horrible pictures and the horrible pictures on a beach in gaza city.

israeli fire came ask killed these four little boys. what happened? >> we don't know exactly and we're checking it out because we don't target civilians. we don't target children. there has obviously been a mistake and the army is investigating itself and its appointed a general to conduct the investigation and we want to find out what went wrong? >> is this gun fire from a ship offshore? is that what happened? >> it's not clear exactly, and our rules of engagement are very clear and i cannot believe if it was an israeli army personnel that they knew that they were targeting civilians. i cannot believe that it must have been some sort of mistake and that's the ultimate difference between us because hamas randomly shoots into israeli cities and trying to kill as many civilians and you see it with the leaflets to keep civilians out of combat zones to make sure you're not caught in

the cross fire. >> you see many civilians have been killed in these strikes. >> we don't want to see it and we make a maximum effort to avoid that and the truth is the primary effort on the palestinian toll is hamas that said no to the cease-fire. >> what do you say to the family of those four little boys who were killed today? >> we say we didn't want this conflict in the first place. i mean, we share with them their grief. we understand that because we've had grief on our side as well, but we didn't want this conflict. this conflict came because hamas kept shooting rockets and we are forced to defend our people from those rockets. if this six-hour temporary cease-fire holds, are you open to letting it breathe a little bit longer and start those negotiations, to keep a permanent cease-fire open up gas, for example, to greater access to israel, to egypt, ease their restrictions in the mediterranean and the blockade, if you will, speak about those prisoners who you retook who you

were freed in the shalit swap and the israeli soldier who was held by hamas for five years, are you open to engaging in these discussions with hamas? >> if tomorrow's humanitarian corridor is successful, and if hamas doesn't stifle it. >> the six hours. >> the six hours. if that works and the u.n. comes up with more proposals like that i'm sure we will consider them favorably because the people of gaza are not our enemies. as to moving forward, ultimately israel would like a very dint relationship with gaza. we pulled out of gaza a few years ago. you were here and we reported the story and we pulled back to the international frontier and signed an agreement with condoleezza rice to have trade and cooperation and friendship. hamas spoiled all of that. hamas came to power in gaza and instead of investing in schools and in the betterment in the life and people of gaza has

invested in rockets and missiles and hatred. if gaza was to change, if gaza was to want to on live with israel in peace and coexistence we would be very happy to have a good relationship with gaza. >> to be precise at 10:00 a.m. local time here in israel, 10:00 a.m. you stop firing. let's say they stop for the time being, but maybe there's an islamic jihad and how patient will you be before you resume your attacks? >> we've committed to this six-hour time out. obviously, we'll be watching the situation very closely. if hamas makes the time-out impossible through military actions, i mean, that's a bad thing. we don't want them to do it. >> what will will you do? without pre-judging the situation we can't allow hamas to exploit the time out, to attack us. >> they say that you're going to exploit that. >> that's just not true. that's ridiculous. we've committed to the u.n. and we want this humanitarian

mission to succeed. >> you are speaking to hamas and saying don't fire anything through the proposed cease-fires. >> we've said to the united nations this we will facilitate a successful six-hour period for humanitarian support and we hope hamas doesn't disrupt this. >> you hope it goes on locker if after the six hours no shelling into am that as and no israeli air strikes assuming it's quiet during the six hours does it start again? i think we'll have to wait and see, but hamas yesterday showed us who they are when they rejected a cease-fire and you couldn't get a straight answer. let's wait and see what hamas does before we start putting the cart before the horse. >> at least they didn't reject it completely as they did the initial cease-fire proposal. they called it a joke on our program. >> i remember. >> this time hamdan is saying they want to study it and they want more questions answered and

we'll find out in the coming hours. >> don't forget, wolf, they're under a lot of pressure because when they opposed the cease-fire. they just opposed, the united nations supported the proposal and the arab league, they're very isolated today and they've got a problem. >> mark regev, the spokesman for benjamin netanyahu. >>. >> my pleasure. >> president obama new u.s. sanctions being leveled against russia. he's getting ready to go into the white house briefing room. plus, we'll have a rare look inside israel a drone operations. i'll talk to the man making some split-second life and death decisions. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." we are live from jerusalem.

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>> we're coming to you live from jerusalem with break news. allowing humanitarian aid to get into gaza. we are standing by live for president obama, he's expected to announce major new u.s. sanctions against russia. when that happens we'll go live to the white house to hear from the president. stand by for that. in the meantime, here in jerusalem we saw more rocket fire today first hand as we were heading to the israeli city of ash callon less than ten miles from the gaza border. >> all right. we're going to get out. you can can hear the sirens. [ sirens ] >> you can hear those sirens

now. we are waiting for the all clear. >> after we went and we saw the site where the rocket landed and it was only about a hundred yards or so from where we were. luckily, those fragments from that rocket landed in an open filed, but it was very close to a major intersection leading into ashkelon. diana magnate is here with me. and you spent time in ashkelon, give me a sense of what the israelis really want the government to do? stop the fighting or simply send troops on the ground and launch a ground invasion? >> reporter: they definitely want this bombardment to stop.

so when benjamin netanyahu the prime ministers says we want a demille tarization of gaza, but when you say do you want ground troops to go in they always say we don't want our soldiers to die. so the air strikes work for them for now. they don't want soldiers to go in. they don't want a kidnap situation like shalit again where he could be used as a bargaining chip. >> the soldier who was held by hamas for five years. >> and his release was a very complicated negotiations and dealt with hamas on that front. people are very, very uncertain about a ground invasion because they know that effectively it will be a bloodbath. >> i've been here for almost a week and no matter where you go, when you least expect it you can hear that siren. you'll hear that boom. you will hear the israeli iron dome antimissile system. you've been here. walk us through what really goes on.

>> reporter: well, when you see all of those intercepts above you, you feel pretty glad that the iron dome is in place. the u.s. has pumped hundreds of millions and i think congress is about to give it a whole lot more, but the radars basically see where the missile is coming from and where the rocket is coming from and they manage to intercept it. the idea is it's 90% effective and we've seen that. the only casualty so far on the israeli side was a volunteer up at the top of the gaza strip was hit by a mortar shell. no one inside the big cities has been hurt by rockets, and i've been in those major cities and i've seen so many intercepts it does give you a sense that it's keeping you safe. >> there have been some injuries but no one except this one individual was killed. >> we went to ashkelon today and the girl said i went down to the safe room when i heard the siren and thank god i did because it hit my house. i think it's interesting when crowe see real discipline on the part of the israelis that they

do when they hear that siren, they do go to shelters. they do go to safe rooms and the siren is also very effective at keeping people safe as much as iron dome. >> diana magnay, you'll be back with us. diana has been doing an excellent job in israel. coming up, we're live from jerusalem, split-second life and death decisions. we are about to get a rier look at an israeli dren program that's used to try to prevent civilian casualties. we'ra also standing by to hear the president of the united states. he's about to walk into the white house briefing room and make a major announcement against sanctions when that happens. we'll see if the president takes questions as well. stay with us. we'll be right back. 't jump at d of the opening bell, because we're trying to make the school bell. corner booth beats corner office any day. we make the most of our time... and our money.

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>> breaking news live from jerusalem. a possible cease-fire only hour away. israel has accepted a pause to allow for relief supplies to get into gaza. hamas said it needs more information. we are also standing by to hear from the president of the united states. president obama, he's about to go into the white house briefing room. he's expected to make a major news statement on u.s. sanctions against russia. we'll see if he answers reporters' questions, and questions coming up about the

situation here and gaza. let's get more now on what's going on. joining us our cnn middle east analyst, former israeli ambassador to the united states and joining us from tel aviv and our chief national correspondent jim sciutto joining us from washington. those four young little boys killed playing soccer or football on the beach in gaza city. we heard mark regev, the supposeman for the prime minister citying the israelis have launched a major investigation and a general is leading that investigation. you served for many years in the israeli military, what do you suspect happened? >> what happened? that there was some miss take in coordinates or a hamas unit was fires in the vicinity. this happened during the previous rounds of fighting. israel is dealing with an enemy

who hides behind the civilian population and they want to create a situation where israel is firing and causes civilian casualties. hamas doesn't really have a military strategy as much as it has a media strategy, wolf. they know they can't destroy israel with their rockets, but they know they can destroy israel's legitimacy in the world where israel inflicts civilian casualties and that leads to delegitimization in the media and organizations. >> but as you know, you may not know this that we've interviewed several international journalists and eye witnesses who were staying in a hotel right there, right near the beach. they didn't see any shooting come from the hamas side and they didn't know of any hamas mortars or any launchers that were in the area. they say the kids were just playing on a beach in gaza city and they got themselves killed, these young little boys. hold on for a moment, mr. ambassador before i let you

respond to that. jim acosta is with us, jim, the president is about to walk into the briefing room and increasing sanctions against russia and give us a quick preview of what we're expecting? >> sure. earlier this afternoon senior administration o firms saying the they're imposing sanks not on whole sectors, and this will be targeted at key portions of the sectors of the russian economy, the banking and defense sectors of the economy and that the white house has been saying we expect the president to say that russia has missed these opportunities to take a better path forward, to de-escalate this crisis and because of that these sanctions are coming down the pike. the president has many other foreign policy crises, the violence in gaza and whether there will be a lasting cease-fire there and there's been this question about iran and its nuclear program, major world powers have been working with iran to form a c

comprehensive agreement within days from now. the white house says there are gaps with that agreement and there's the disagreement between the white house and germany over spying allegations and we may hear the president talk about that, as well. keep in mind, he's been meeting with house democrats all afternoon about the border crisis with respect to those kids coming across the border. a lot on his plate and we'll see what he talks about. >> jim schutto, two of the biggest banks, gazprom bank, that's the largest gas company in russia with the largest gas reserves in the world, they came just to give you a measure of that, the current prime minister of rush a dmet ri medvedev used to be chairman of the board of gazprom and these companies all blocked from the u.s. financial system. that has major economic costs for these companies. the one weakness here is that europe is not onboard for these sanctions. that's something that the white house wanted. >> so the president will make

the statement. there are questions to answer at this point and a lot of critics are saying. >> here he comes. here ate president. i want to discuss the important afrngzs taken today in support of ukraine. before i do, i want to take a few minutes to update on pressing challenges that i reviewed with secretary kerry this afternoon. >> first of all, i thanked secretary kerry and our outstanding civilian and military leaders in afghanistan for their success in helping to break the impasse over the presidential election there. thanks to their efforts and of course, thanks to the afghans and the courage of the two candidates, both of whom i spoke to last week, the candidates have agreed to abide by the results of a comprehensive and internationally supervised audit

that will review all of the ballots and to form a unity government. if they keep their commitments, afghanistan will witness the first democratic transfer of power in the history of that nation. progress will honor both candidates who have put the interests of a united afghanistan first. the millions of afghans who defied threats in order to vote and the service of our troops and civilians who sacrificed so much. this progress reminds us that even as our combat mission in afghanistan ends this year, america's commitment to a sovereign, united and democratic afghanistan will endure along with our determination that americans are never again threatened by terrorists inside of afghanistan. second, john updated me on the negotiations with iran over its nuclear program. over the last six months iran has met its commitments under the interim deal we reached last year, halting the progress of its nuclear program, allowing

more inspections and rolling back its most dangerous stockpile of nuclear material. meanwhile, we are working with our b5 plus one partners to reach a com pro hencive agreement that assures us that iran's program will, in fact, be peaceful and they won't obtain a nuclear weapon. based on consultations with secretary kerrie and my national security team it's clear that we've made real progress in several areases and that we have a credible way forward, but as we approach a deadline under the interim deal, there is still significant gaps between the international community and e ran and we have more work to do. so over the next few days we'll continue consulting with congress and our team will continue discussions with iran and our partners as we determine whether additional time is necessary to extend our negotiations. third, we continue to support diplomatic efforts to end the violence between israel and

hamas. as i've said repeatedly, israel has a right to defend itself from rocket attacks that terrorize the israeli people. there's no country on earth that can be expected to live under a daily barrage of rockets, and i'm proud that the iron dome system that americans helped israel developed and fund has saved many israeli lives, but over the past two weeks we've all been heart broken by the violence especially the death and injury of so many innocent civilians in gaza. men, women and children who are caught in the cross fire. that's why we have been working with our partners in the region to pursue a cease-fire to protect civilians on both sides. yesterday israel did agree to a cease-fire, unfortunately, hamas continued to fire rockets at civilians thereby prolonging the conflict, but the israel i people and the palestinian people don't want to live like

this. they deserve to live in peace and security free from fear. that's why we're going to continue to encourage diplomatic efforts to restore the cease-fire and we support egypt's continued efforts to bring this about. over the next 24 hours we'll continue to stay in close contact with our friends and parties in the region and we will use all of our diplomatic resources and relationships to support efforts of closing a deal on a cease-fire. in the meantime, we will continue to stress the need to protect civilians in gaza and in israel and to avoid further escalation. finally, given its continued provocations in ukraine, today i have approved a new set of sanctions on some of russia's largest companies and financial institutions. along with our allies with whom i've been coordinating closely in the last several days and weeks i've repeatedly made it clear that russia must halt the flow of weapons and fighters across the border into ukraine.

that russia must urge separatists to release hostages and support a cease-fire that russia needses to pursue internationally mediated talks and agree to meaningful monitors on the border. i've made this clear directly to mr. putin, many of our european partners have made this clear directly to mr. putin. we have emphasized our preference to resolve this issue diplomatically, but that we have to see concrete actions and not just words that russia, in fact, is committed to trying to end this conflict along the russia-ukraine border. so far, russia has failed to take any of the steps that i mentioned. in fact, russia's support for the separatists and violations of ukraine's sovereignty has continued. on top of the sanctions we've already imposed we are therefore, designating sectors of the russian economy for sanctions. y woo are freezing the sanctions

of several russian defense companies and we are blocking new financing of some of russia's most important banks and energy companies. these sanctions are significant and also targeting while limiting any spillover effects on american companies and those and what we are expecting is that the russian leadership will see once again that its actions in ukraine have consequences including a weakening russian economy and increasing diplomatic isolation. meanwhile we're going to continue to stand with the ukrainian people as they seek to determine their own future. even in the midst of this crisis, they have made remarkable progress. they have held democratic elections. they elected a new president. they are pursuing new reforms and signed a new agreement with the european union. the united states will continue to offer our strong support to ukraine to help stabilize its

economy and defend its territorial sbintegrity. because like anything else, ukraine deserves their own destiny. i'll point out the obvious. we live in a complex world and at a challenging time. none of these challenges lend themselves to quick or easy solutions, but all of them require american leadership and as commander-in-chief i'm confident if we stay patient and determined, that we will, in fact, meet these challenges. thanks very much. >> there's the president of of the united states with an important statement on four foreign policy, major foreign policy issues. the situation in afghanistan, iran, nuclear talks, israel and hamas and ukraine. jim sciutto, what did you think as far as the news value of what the president had to say?

>> the understatement of the year shs the president calling it a complex world with all these crises he's dealing with. one, on the iran talks underway with a looming deadline on saturday, july 20th, the president, in fact, telegraphing what they are talking about is not a long-term deal, but how long they extend the negotiations. he said whether additional time is necessary to talk. that's what we have been hearing as well. the president seeming to confirm that. on ukraine, we were looking back. it was on june 5th that the president said russia had weeks, not months, to change its behavior in ukraine. that's about six weeks ago. russia has fail ed in his words to take any of the steps to deescalate there. escalating in many ways and now the president following through with system of these sectorial sanctions. that's news worthy. the president underlying his support for a diplomatic

solution for what's happening in gaza. he's dispatched secretary of state john kerry really in frenetic activity. secretary kerry speaking with the foreign ministers of egypt, qatar, the israelis as well, working on what he says he wants to be a lasting cease fire. >> stand by for a moment, jim. jim acosta is our white house correspondent. take us behind the scenes now. the motivation, it's not every day that the president of the united states decides on these four major foreign policy issues to go in and make a major statement along these lines. take us behind the scenes. >> i can tell you that this is a president who i think wanted to take questions, but perhaps was thinking maybe he shouldn't take any questions because he's essentially watching several pots of boiling water all raging at the same time. the crises that jim mentioned with respect to what's happening

in gaza and the kpcomplicated issues of dealing with iran and russia. the president really ticking off those crises one by one in a way that you might expect him to take independently by taking questions from reporters. this is a president whose foreign policy is under siege. he's taking it on all fronts. you have heard the president say time and again that perhaps more cautious approach is the approach to take with respect to these crises. that's why you heard the president indicate there might be some kind of acceptance on his part to perhaps allow iran to have more time to work out a comprehensive nuclear agreement. i think you also heard at the end the president's remarks that this is a complicated world that he's dealing with and i think that was a response that the president was trying to give to an anticipated e question about all these crises blowing up basically at the same time on his watch, wolf. >> he mentioned four, but there

are a whole lot more. this whole middle east region basically is a flame right now. our foreign affairs reporter, can we anticipate the secretary of state john kerry heading towards where i am, the middle east, to get involved in stopping the fighting between israel and hamas? >> the secretary has been preparing a trip talking with the ministers in egypt and qatar, in particular, both of whom have the relationship with a mass. they want to give israel the assurances that if there is a cease fire that as the prime minister has said it will be lasting. it won't give hamas a time out to rearm and attack israel. this is what secretary kerry is going to be doing right now. it this isn't about dealing with israel. israel says it's e ready to stand down. >> thanks very much. let's take a quick break. we have much more of the breaking news right after this.

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into israel? israel's iron dome accepting more rockets. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer live from jerusal jerusal jerusalem. >> israel's guns may soon fall sile silent. israel has agreed to a temporary cease fire that could begin within a matter of hours. the united nations asked for a pause in activities to allow hiemtarian aid to gaza. hamas has not signed up for this agreement and says it needs more information about the proposal. only moments ago president obama spoke out promising the united states will continue to

encourage moves towards a full scale cease fire u. he also announced expanded sanctions against russia saying moscow has failed to deescalate the crisis in ukraine. our correspondents are standing by in israel and gaza with the latest on the middle east conflict. but first, a look at the other breaking development this is hour including the deaths of four palestinian children. medics race along a gaza beach with a child's body on a stretcher. four palestinian boys were culled by israeli military fire. they were between 9 and is 1 years old, all from the same family. the children who were taken to the hospital after being carried through the lobby of the hotel used by western journalists. they were buried hours later.

military officials say they are investiga investigating. they are doing everything they can to avoid civilian casualties. they have been dropping leaflets urging families to evacuate and they say those boys would be alive if hamas had accepted the cease fire that israel did. the palestinian death toll keeps rising. local officials say it's now over 200. there are funerals in gaza every day. the first israeli to die in the conflict also was buried today. a man who was killed by mortar fire while distribute iing food israeli soldiers. this is the danger israelis are living with. we had to take cover twice today while reporting near the gaza border at a shopping center. >> you heard the sirens go off. we're sort of protected a little bit here, but there were several rockets that came in. you saw the israeli missile

system working. >> while we were driving -- >> we're going to get out. you can hear the sirens. . >> we could see the smokey remains of a rocket just off the road. the israeli military says 1, 200 rockets have been fired in the past nine days by hamas and islamic jihad. they have ramped up targets in gaza after hamas rejected the cease fire and kept firing rockets at israel. let's go to gaza now. more on the children killed on that beach today. our senior international correspondent ben wedeman is joining us. you were there. you saw the funeral for those boys. i'm trying to get a little sense the palestinians there, i assume they are very angry at israel, but are they also angry at hamas for rejecting that cease fire yesterday because the israelis make the point that those boys

would be alive if hamas had accepted the cease fire. >> reporter: most people at this point don't really blame hamas because people realize that after more than 200 dead here, after hundreds of homes destroyed, after this huge disruption of the last ten days that they want not just a cease fire that will return to the status quo before of this began. they want to see a fundamental solution to the situation in gaza. they would like to see, for instance, the return of the ability of palestinian workers to go to israel. you recall in 2000 that tens of thousands of palestinians made a living in israel every day. since then they have seen sort of their world shrink and shrink. before you could take a taxi from gaza city to damascus. you can't do that anymore. and they would like to be able to travel to egypt more easily.

one of the demands of hamas is to extend the area of the sea where fishermen can operate to allow palestinian farmers to farm closer to the barrier between gaza and israel. so people you talk to say, look, we live in a prison and we want the doors of this prison to be open. so, yes, there is frustration with hamas because of this, but people see beyond that and understand that if there is some change to the situation here that maybe it will all be worth it. hamas is insisting that they are not going to sign up simply for a cease fire. they want a solution to gaza's problem. most people would actually agree with the need to change the fundamental situation here. now as far as tomorrow's pause, we just heard from one of the spokesman for hamas saying they

are currently considering this proposal, it's only going to be five or six hours, but it would give an opportunity to people certainly to just breathe a little more easily here in gaza. wolf? >> in the the last hour, i spoke with the other hamas spokesman and he said they have questions they want to be answered. they haven't rejected the temporary pause, they haven't accept accepted it. they'll get back to us. let's bring in colonel peter lerner, spokesman for the defense forces. thank you for joining us. what happened on that beach? >> we have opened our investigation in order to understand exactly the circumstances. clearly it's a tragedy and we have to get to the bottom of the occurrences. >> do you know if there was a legitimate hamas target that the israelis were going for? have they just made a mistake? was it a patrol boat, ship, air?

>> from the preliminary information that i have to date, there was a hamas target that we were following. but the outcome is clearly a tragedy. we have to see what exactly were the circumstances that led to this. >> the spokesman for the prime minister says an israeli general has been ordered to investigate this tragedy. >> we have a policy to investigate all civilian deaths. civilian deaths in this conflict are a tragedy. israel has voiced that over the last ten days. it's not something that we want. it does not serve our military objectives. hamas celebrate israeli deaths. >> the hamas spokesman in beirut that we spoke to in the last hour says they are considering the temporary u.n. cease fire for six hours from 10:00 a.m. local to 4:00 p.m. local time tomorrow, but they want questions answered. specifically, they don't want to give israel to give the

opportunity to regroup to make it easier for them to launch a full scale ground invasion of gaza. that's what he told us. >> in the last ten days, tomorrow will be the third time we are holding fire. yesterday we held fire for six hours and received a huge barrage of rockets. i hope tomorrow will be a cease fire not only on behalf of the idf because we have orders, we're an organized military. i hope hamas will reciprocate with that and respond accordingly. honestly, i'm not holding my breath. >> if there's no rocket fire coming into israel during those six hours, will you just allow it to continue? >> perhaps. we have to see where it leads. hamas has not proven themselves worthy on this over the last ten days. every time we have reached some sort of cross roads of an opportunity to calm things down, they have done the exact opposite. >> if there's one or two

incide incidents during the temporary pause, let's say a rocket comes in one or two, but may come from islamic jihad, are you willing to be patient to see what happens over the next several hours starting at 10:00 a.m. local time? >> we have voiced our concern if they do not abide by the cease fire -- >> does hamas control islamic jihad? >> when they have wanted to, they can control it. >> does the idf see a difference between the military wing of hamas as opposed to the political wing? >> there's no difference. they are deeply intertwine d. the orders that one side gives and the other side give, they are one voice with one agenda. >> if it's not honored that temporary cease fire tomorrow, will israel move ground troops into gaza? >> that's an option thags on the table. we are preparing that and we will be prepared if the orders are given. >> how many reservists have you

mobilized? >> about 40,000 at this time. we have an approval for another 8,000. we have a substantial force. >> they have already left their jobs and families, they are in the military? >> that's right. >> peter lerner, thanks very much for joining us. >> let's hope the cease fire lasts. coming up, more on the breaking news. israel has accepted a temporary cease fire for humanitarian reasons. i will ask about that refusal so far to accept the plan. they are leaving it open. they want questions answered. also this. [ sirens ] >> the relentless hamas rocket attacks. we'll see how children are coping with the constant danger and fears. stay with us, you're in "the situation room" live from jerusalem. ey dad, who was that ? dad: he's our broker. he helps looks after all our money.

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from jerusalem. israel has agreed to a six-hour cease fire, but hamas militants aren't on board, at least not yet. israelis endured another barrage of rocket attacks today. scary for adults. even scarier for so many of the childr children. >> reporter: israeli town, iron dome, the defense shield is getting plenty of work as roc t rockets destroy midair. but iron dome isn't full proof. when gaza fires multiple rockets, some make it through. >> a few seconds after the alarm started, i hear a huge explosion

and the door of the shelter is getting open and i hear a sound of broken glass. i go out of the shelter and see that almost everything is ruined and i get that it's here in my house. >> reporter: so far in this latest round of conflict, israel suffered just one fatality thanks to iron dome, the siren alerts and the shelters. summer camp have decamp ed to bomb shelters now where soldiers from defense forces oversee the kids. this family spends their days here. there's no safe room back home and they are scared. >> to the hospital because grant fell down in the house and the windows broken.

it's going to -- they are frightened to go out. >> reporter: she says she would take her family out if she could, but the missiles are reaching further and further. for now, she doesn't have the money to move. but most of the kids seem oblivious to the world outside. happy in a bomb shelter as they are aboveground. this 13-year-old is philosophical about the fighting. >> translator: rockets come from gaza and lebanon, but we're also bombing them so it works out even. >> reporter: but war is never even. these children thankfully have no idea the suffering on the other side. cnn, israel. >> join iing us now the top palestinian peace negotiator, on

the phone from cairo, thank you for joining us. you're there with the palestinian president. any significant progress you're seeing now in establishing a cease fire? let's start with this temporary u.n. proposal, six-hour humanitarian pause. they accepted. hamas is not ready. they need more questions answered. what are you hearing? >> well the president had a meeting today with the head of hamas. then he met with the foreign minister and the secretary general. tomorrow he will be meeting before he departs to turkey. all efforts are being executed. let's have the egyptian

initiative in place. let's see if it's implemented. i don't think anybody is against the initiative in terms of reaching a cease fire agreement, but now we're talking about the cease fire and after the cease fire. the egyptian initiative spoke about dealing with the issues after the cease fire. they spoke to us about the needs for those deal and they were resistance. they had already guaranteed. and the second thing is they want to make sure that for another attack like 2008, 2009. i hope that we can find the balance with trying very hard and i'm not saying that things

aren't. they are difficult. but we are determined to achieve what we came here to achieve. as i told you yesterday, failure is not an option, wolf. >> i hope failure is not an option. in the short-term, the next few hours, this u.n. broker, this u.n.-sponsored temporary pause is supposed to go into effect at 10:00 a.m. local time here in the middle east. did the president of the palestinian authority, did he get an assurance from the hamas leader with whom he met today that they would at least accept this six-hour pause? >> actually it was not on the agenda for discussion, but we spoke about it later. this is a humanitarian six hours and i'm sure that everyone will go forward including from gaza.

that's what from talking to them. >> all right. so that's that. thanks, we'll check back with you tomorrow. let's hope that it cease fire does, in fact, hold. does, in fact, succeed. one thing, if that six-hour cease fire holds tomorrow, can it still continue to maybe expand and go on and on? >> that's the whole idea. see what kind of balance we can create in order to have a sustainable cease fire. >> before i let you go, i want to play for you a man who you know, the former president of the united states bill clinton. you dealt with him, you negotiated with him. you got close to an agreement in 2000. not close enough. here's what he said today about what's going on between israel and hamas. listen to this. >> hamas was perfectly well

aware what would happen if they started raining rockets into israel. they fired a thousand of them. and they have a strategy designed to force israel to kill their own civilians. so that the rest of the world would condemn them. >> so what do you think of that analysis by bill clinton? >> well, i disagree. i think the whole key -- i wish that it had succeeded in finding a solution. this cycle is not a solution. this cycle is proof that the way to security and stability is going to be a two-step solution. i think president clinton was first in that. i really believe that the absence of the solution, the absence of peace will always

push us towards this vicious cycle of chaos, violence and that's the truth. >> do you think the president of the united states currently, president obama, we just heard from him in the white house, is on the right course right now? do you think he's going to be successful in at least getting a start of these peace process negotiations off the ground once again? >> i can assure you, wolf, that president obama's commitment and secretary kerry's commitment two to a solution on the line is really can vouch that it's the most i have seen from any in the united states. president obama and secretary kerry are determined and they both know that the key to stability and hope in this

region begins with a two-step solution. their commitment is really unwavering and their commitment to the two-step solution we respect and admire very much. >> let's hope you succeed and that this cease fire that the u.n. is proposing tomorrow morning here in the middle east that succeeds as well. we'll check back with you. just ahead, we're live from jerusalem. a life and death decision. we get a rare look at the drone program israel is using to try to prevent civilian casualties. and one of the other big stories, a house republican says he has what he believes is a smoking gun showing illegal activity by a top obama administration official. stay with us, you're in "the situation room," live from jerusalem. collection is here.er ♪

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breaking news live from jerusalem, a possible cease fire. israel has accepted a call for a humanitarian cause to allow relief supplies into gaza. hamas needs more information before giving an official response. the air war continues and