you're watching cnn's continuing special coverage. >> the top stories we're following for you. a temporary israeli ceasefire has just begun in parts of gaza about 30 minutes ago. israeli forces say they plan to observe their unilateral humanitarian truce for seven hours today, to allow displaced palestinians to go home, and aid to get through. but hamas has not agreed to today's ceasefire. >> in fact, hours before this

unilateral truce took effect, a u.n.-run school was shelled in gaza. palestinians say nine people were killed at what they say was being used as a shelter. the u.s. calls it a disgraceful attack. israel said it was targeting militants seen in the area on a motorcycle. now to china where damaged roads are hampering rescue efforts, leaving some villages cut off. a powerful earthquake hit the area sunday afternoon. in normal times, a very picturesque area. state-run media say 381 people are confirmed dead. 1,800 others, injured. now back to our top story, the political leader of hamas says israel thwarted the last plans for a temporary truce by staying in gaza and destroying tunnels there.

>> khaled meshaal spoke to our correspondent in qatar. here now is cnn's exclusive interview with the hamas leader. >> translator: hamas is a movement of institutions. it has respected leadership. all the members of hamas in will political and armed wing, are disciplined. the israelis and americans know this. otherwise john kerry would not have intervened this time. >> president obama said it's irresponsible of hamas to fire their rockets from civilian neighborhoods. that's what you're doing. why do you do it when you know civilians are going to die? >> look at the results. how many israeli civilians were killed? israel know the number. while how many palestinians israel has killed? up to this minute, 1,700 martyrs. we killed 63 soldiers. we kill soldiers while they kill

palestinian civilians. >> because you're firing your rockets from civilian neighborhoods, that's where you're firing from, israel said they're fired to tel aviv, jerusalem. president obama says you're firing rockets from civilian neighborhoods and you know what that means, you will have high civilian casualties. critics are saying the only reason you're doing this is so you get the international outpouring of sympathy because of high civilian casualties. >> translator: it is unfortunate that the u.s. administration and president obama have adopted the israeli narrative. hamas sacrifices itself for its people and does not use its people as human shields to protect its soldiers. these are lies, and hamas does not seek international sympathy through its own victims. >> what are you prepared to do to get a ceasefire? are you prepared to destroy your

tunnels? are you prepared to stop firing rockets at israel? are you prepared to accept the right of israel as a state to exist? >> translator: we are ready for a ceasefire. we don't want war. we want the war to end today. we did not attack anyone. it was netanyahu who transferred the crisis that took place in the west bank on june 12th, to gaza. he is responsible for this. we are ready to stop this war, and we want a ceasefire. >> are you ready to stop building rockets? are you ready to stop firing rockets? >> translator: i will answer you. i will answer you, why are there demands only on the palestinian people to get rid of their modest and simple weapons, but no similar demands on israel, the occupying state? we are ready to discuss the removal of weapons -- >> but the israelis say you're firing them indiscriminately at

israeli civilians. that's what you're using those weapons for. when they're not firing at you, you're firing at them. >> translator: israel is the one who started this aggression and it is israel who is killing civilians. i explained to you in detail what israel is doing in gaza in killing civilians. >> there was a stability there. there was a peace. there was a period recently when there were no rockets. >> translator: unfortunately the united states and the west and the western media has adopted the israeli narrative. >> are you winning this war? >> translator: our steadfastness is a victory. for us to kill their soldiers while they sill our civilians is also a victory for the palestinian cause and for hamas. >> how are you having victory when so many palestinians are dying? your rockets aren't striking the israeli citizens. you've killed a handful of israeli soldiers. how are you winning? how is this a strategic victory?

>> translator: our people are convinced today that the only way to get rid of the occupation is to -- just like what the american people did when they got rid of the british occupation, and as the french did when they got rid of the nazi occupation. >> president obama asked you to be more responsible, to not fire rockets from civilian neighborhoods. what concessions are you willing to make to get this blockade lifted? >> translator: we are ready to take all the positive steps, and we have done it before. let me say it. let the aggression end. >> get rid of the tunnels? stop firing rockets? >> translator: i'll tell you, hamas and the resistance will not fire rockets on anybody. we are defending ourselves here, end of the line. >> you will stop the rockets? >> translator: when the israeli aggression ends, we will stop responding to that.

>> what is it that has to end, let's be precise and clear. >> translator: israel has to stop missiles, fighter jets, attacks by air, land, and sea, they must open the border crossing, and lift the siege. beyond that, the main issue is to end the occupation and end the building of settlements because that's the true root causes of this conflict. >> that was our nick robertson speaking with the leader of hamas, khaled meshaal. >> we want to bring in israeli government spokesperson for israel's point of view for all of this. he joins us now live from jerusalem. welcome. i just want to talk to you about this top news item. we have yet another u.n. shelter hit by idf forces. u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon is calling it a moral outrage. the us state department is denouncing the attack. how was this allowed to happen again? >> we're investigating, trying

to ascertain what happened. our preliminary reports say there was no shelling of the u.n. facility. that there was a combat operation outside the u.n. facility, and we'll find out whether or not it was our fault that bystanders were hit. apparently we were going for a specific and legitimate terrorist target, three leading activists from the islamic jihad movement. but we'll look into it. we don't want to see a single civilian killed in this conflict. that's not our goal. in this particular case, it must be said that when you talk about u.n. facilities, that hamas has had a deliberate policy of abusing u.n. neutrality, aabusing u.n. humanitarian work. there have been three documented cases by the u.n. itself of hamas storing rockets in u.n. facilities. and as the director of the agency that deals with these

matters, has said hamas routinely shoots at israel in immediate proximity to u.n. facility. so it's hamas that's turns these areas into combat zones, hamas must be held accountable. >> we've heard you say that during previous attacks. it seems the us state department isn't buying it. the suspicion that militants are nearby doesn't justify strikes that put at risk the lives of so many civilians. the israeli government said it was targets on a motorcycle who were attacked. the u.n. says they gave the location to you 33 times. why not wait until the militants are far away from civilian areas or not attack in the first place? >> we're actually investigating exactly what happened. but i want to be 100% clear. we do not target u.n. institutions. we support the humanitarian work of the united nations in gaza.

we understand it's important work. today we're cooperating with the united nations in facilitating max mim input of humanitarian support. yesterday more than 200 trucks with humanitarian aid entered the gaza strip. we're willing to do the same. we've said there are no holds barred. we're willing for unprecedented humanitarian support for the people of gaza, who are not our enemy. they're suppressed by this regime. >> we're just into this limited ceasefire. as far as you know, is this still holding, and what do you hope to accomplish? >> well, the goal is, of course, to assist with the humanitarian relief of the people of gaza. it starts at 10:00 local time, half an hour ago, and it goes for seven hours. the idea is to allow humanitarian relief to the people of gaza. i understand that hamas has publicly rejected the ceasefire,

and that would be the eighth -- the eighth ceasefire that hamas has rejected. and so for all meshaal's crocodile tears about the people of gaza, it's his organization that has rejected both permanent and humanitarian ceasefires. this conflict could have ended three weeks ago, but hamas has rejected ceasefire after ceasefire and the conflict persists because of hamas's extremism. >> the idf has lost 64 soldiers, correct me if you have a new number. but you've lost more soldiers than in previous clashes. you may never know if you've dismantled every tunnel, and with every civilian death, it makes israel unsafe in the long-term. what point do you claim victory and stop the shelling? >> well, for us, victory is a protected israeli population.

victory is no more rockets on israeli civilians. no more death squads coming out of tunnels in israeli territory. our operation is ultimately defensive. our goal is just to secure and protect our people. if there wasn't rocket fire from gaza, if there weren't these death squads trying to come across the border, we wouldn't have had to act in the first place. >> thank you very much for your time this morning. the ceasefire, as far as we know, still holding at this moment, but that could change any minute. still to come, a young surrogate mother was left to care for this beautiful baby boy, after his biological parents allegedly just left him. >> now the young mother and child are getting a lot of help. we'll have their inspiring story right after this. e get this str. [ female voice ] yes? lactaid® is 100% real milk? right. real milk. but it won't cause me discomfort. exactly, because it's milk without the lactose. and it tastes? it's real milk!

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new information on the surrogate controversy. an australian couple accused of abandoning a baby boy carried by a surrogate in thailand. they have said they didn't know about him. baby gamy was one of a set of twins born last december. his sister was healthy and the australian family has her now. but gamy was diagnosed with down's syndrome during the pregnancy. >> only the local agency, doctors, and his parents knew that he had down's syndrome from the fourth month.

during the seventh month of pregnancy, the agency told me and told me that the parents wanted me to terminate the child because he had down's syndrome. i told them it's seven months, i'm not going to, i can't do it. >> wow, that was the surrogate mother there. she's now caring for the baby boy and said that the twins' biological parents took the girl home, but left gamy behind. according to abc australia, the biological father said the clinic's doctor told him only about the girl. he also said they had a lot of trouble with the surrogacy agency. >> baby gamy has attracted an outpouring of support. that picture is one of the reasons. more than $200,000 has been raised to help with his medical bills. and the surrogate mom is pleased with that. she's said that she has forgiven the australian couple and she just looks forward to taking care of her son now. well, authorities in southern

california have made contact with a group of about 500 children that are trapped by heavy rain and mud flow. everyone is safe. and rescue workers are bulldozing a path to the camp ground where these children are staying. over the weekend, massive flooding washed through san bernardino county. many roads were completely inaccessible, as you can see, and people were advised to stay indoors. one person has been confirmed dead in the flooding. several others are missing. this in a state that has been racked by drought. let's get more on this wild weather in southern california. >> pedram javaheri is back with more. what's the picture in california now? >> as you touched on, the drought has been very significant in recent weeks, from bad to worse. over the past three weeks, 40% of the state of california was in exceptional drought, from san

francisco to los angeles. you fast forward, that number has doubled now to nearly 60% of the state of california in that exceptional drought zone. any sort of water is good news, but unfortunately, the greater los angeles area still not getting much in the way of moisture. all of this heavy rainfall came from i-15 corridor, across some of the high country deserts before you work your way into nevada. still strong thunderstorms this morning rolling across portions just north of las vegas, where we had flash flood watches and warnings in place as well. near mesk eat, nevada, this area needs the moisture, areas to the south and west need it too, but it looks like the monsoonal moisture will be confined in the deserts right now. take you out towards the pacific ocean, the island of hawaii right there, there's hilo. here's hurricane izel at about 1200 miles east of hawaii. currently hitting a category

three equivalent. the tracks do suggest it will get close to the hawaiian islands in the coming days. heavy rainfall going to be the main concern. but as you can see, a direct impact going to be a probability as it approaches, potentially a weak hurricane when it approaches that region. >> on the other side of the united states, we're talking about tropical storm bertha. 60 miles per hour winds. has the potential to be a hurricane, but all the models steer it away from the united states. at this point it looks like not a major player for severe weather in the thunderstorms in the united states. good news there. >> would you say last hour, natalie, bye-bye bertha? >> bye-bye bertha. we'll wait for the letter c storm to see what happens next. >> thanks, pedram. still to come, commemorating a milestone.

britain declaring war on germany, what would become world war i. we'll tell you how it's being remembered next. you'll love nature valley sweet and salty bars. but do you really? [ female announcer ] neutrogena® makeup remover erases 99% of your most stubborn makeup with one towelette. can your makeup remover do that? [ female announcer ] neutrogena® makeup remover. lactaid® is 100% real milk? right. real milk. but it won't cause me discomfort. exactly, no discomfort, because it's milk without the lactose.

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today marks the 100th anniversary of germany's invasion of belgium, and britain's entry into world war i. there will be commemorative events across the uk and in belgium as well. the french president also held a

commemoration ceremony. the leaders said the world must learn from the mistakes of the first world war in order to prevent similar atrocities from happening again. if only that could be the case. let's get more on the world war i services scheduled for today. our royal correspondent is following the events from cnn london. max, it's interesting to see the commemoration of one war, while so many other wars are raging. what are the points that -- what do they want people to take away from today? >> well, really world war i was meant to be the war that ended all wars. and it was the most destructive war that we've ever had, the world has ever seen, as 17 million people died. there was never meant to be another war, because it was so damaging to so many different countries here in europe. yet we had the second world war. at the moment, we have events in

the middle east. we have events around ukraine and eastern europe, with many echoes of many similar problems that went before the first world war. so it's a reminder, really of how extreme war can be. and today is really the day that many people around europe have chosen to commemorate the start of this war. there's a lot of debate about how it started. but there's no debate about how destructive it was. today you will have heads of state in belgium today. this would be the day that the war escalated. germany invaded belgium, and then other countries like the uk got involved because it was important to protect belgium's neutrality. from that point on, it escalated into the horror that it actually became. >> and certainly will be an important history lesson for many people in the world as well. and we know that the royal family is participating.

what will the role of the duke and duchess of cambridge be? >> the kuk and duchess of cambridge will be there for a ceremony. also the president of france and germany and the king of belgium as well, really there representing the fact that the uk got involved in the war at this point, and it escalated, as i say. but also we've had the commonwealth games and prince charles will be at a special ceremony in scotland, who also had a major contribution into this event. so a truly global event led by the british royal family in many ways. >> max foster, live for us in london, thank you. >> you have been watching cnn live coverage. thank you for joining us. i'm natalie allen. >> and i'm errol barnett. the news never ends here on cnn.

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happening now, israel implementing a cease-fire unless hamas fires first. is there an end in site? live team coverage from the ground in gaza and jerusalem, ahead. ebola outbroke out of control in africa. this deadly virus could soon go global as one american recovered in a georgia hospital. a second soon to join him. we are live with the latest