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tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". ♪ sumi: this is bbc world news america. israel and gaza continue to exchange airstrikes with no end in sight to the violence in the region. the death toll continues to rise with harrowing details coming from israeli soldiers recovering bodies in a community attacked by hamas. the u.n. issues warnings to israel and hamas while president biden strongly stands by israel. pres. biden: we must be crystal clear, we stand with israel. ♪

sumi: welcome to world news america. israel says it has secured its boundary with the gaza strip as the war between israel and gaza rages in its fourth day. israeli soldiers began removing the bodies of those killed after hamas launched a surprise attack that left more than 1000 dead, including entire families. more than 100 are still being held hostage. u.s. president biden strongly condemned the attack on israel as a quote of "sheer evil." he warned other countries not to take advantage of the crisis. the israeli military reported soldiers are responding to alleged fire originating from syria. thick smoke hung in the air in gaza as entire neighborhoods were flattened after another day of retaliatory airstrikes from israel. more than 900 of died in gaza.

hamas responded with rockets into southern israel on tuesday. the u.n. is warning that the laws of war must be upheld, calling for hamas to release hostages and condemning israel's siege of gaza, warning it could worsen a dire situation. the world health organization is asking for a humanitarian corridor. there have been moments of light. israeli forces say they successfully rescued 30 trapped people. they received a distress call monday to find them. many residents fled after hamas launched its attacks. many remain missing, not just israelis. citizens from around the world, including at least 20 americans, are still unaccounted for. further north, our international editor jeremy bowden went to kfar aza, where bodies were recovered.

you may find some of these images distressing. jeremy: the first few days of war in this israeli community called kfar aza are a microcosm of israel's trauma and a glimpse of what might come next. israeli troops only seized back full control of the caboose this morning. -- kibbutz this morning. it is one of a small series of israeli villages along the gaza wire. when we arrived they were still firing on houses on the gaza side. israeli combat soldiers only started their fight back here at around 6:00 saturday evening, around 12 hours after hamas attacked. these men are experienced soldiers, combat reservists. they said fighting their way back in against the determined enemy was hard going. how difficult was the fighting? >> can't imagine.

jeremy: have you ever had to do anything like this before as a soldier? >> not likeness. -- not like this. jeremy: what do you do next? what does israel do next? >> i don't know. i do what they tell me to do. i will do. i hope we will go inside. jeremy: into gaza? that will be tough fighting. >> yeah, we are ready for it. jeremy: kfar aza was taken by surprise like everywhere else hamas attacked. the kibbutz guard, armed civilian volunteers, fighting back. hamas stormed in, burning homes and killing families, according to the soldiers. as it took so long to secure the kibbutz, the army could not recover all the civilian dead until this morning. these were the bodies of israelis. decomposing hamas gunmen are

still lying where they were killed. the murder of israeli civilians was without doubt a war crime, but what about the palestinian civilians israeli is killing and attacks on hamas -- in attacks on hamas? all armies have obligations under the laws of war to protect civilian life even in war zones. are you doing this with this level of airstrikes going on at the moment? >> i am sure that we fight for our value and our culture all our life. and you fought with value and you keep your value at the same time, and i know we will be very aggressive and very strong, but we keep our moral and our value. we are israeli, we are jewish. words are very difficult, a lot of problems. people that stay in the battlefield suffer a lot. you can see what is happening here.

but we come to kill the enemy, not civilians. jeremy: but it only a few days, israel has inflicted immense damage in gaza. they have cut off supplies of food, water and power and killed hundreds of civilians. palestinian suffering, israel says, is the responsibility of hamas. israel has already been accused of breaking the laws of war, and that will get louder as more palestinian civilians are wounded and killed. at kfar aza, israeli troops were thinking about what is next. perhaps a grounded invasion of gaza. it was tough enough for the israelis to come in to recapture these small border communities. it is a different order of military challenge to cross the wire, to get into gaza potentially to fight house to house at a time when hamas will have made its plans and will be meeting -- will be waiting.

some of these men are moving north in case war starts with hezbollah, the powerful lebanese militia backed by iran. what happened here is why israel is shaken to its core, why it insists it must break hamas, and it points to the danger and uncertainty ahead. jeremy bowen, bbc news, kfar aza. sumi: with israel's orders of complete siege of gaza there are little resources for the 2.3 million residents, including our correspondent. he has lived there his entire life and has reported on the conflict for decades. he gave us this update from the strip. correspondent: very quickly if we can see the scale of disruption in this neighborhood, it is the economic hub for gaza that has been completely targeted yesterday. many buildings were destroyed. behind me is an 11 story building that was not down.

the destruction in this area has been targeted. israel says it carried out 200 airstrikes targeting the hamas infrastructure. they hit many government buildings related to the hamas authority, but look to the scale of destruction and how the civilians were completely affected. some of them were completely destroyed. >> i lost everything. my house. my shop has been destroyed completely. where do we go? we have become homeless. correspondent: this gentleman just told us we have to leave the area because it seems the israelis are warning the residents of that area that they have to leave, they are targeting another building in the area.

look to the scale of destruction. this is happening with israelis targeting houses, shops, ministries, mosques, everything. the whole neighborhood was leveled to zero. this is one of the most important economic hub for gaza, where as you can see most of the shops were damaged, houses were damaged, the infrastructure -- t his is related to the southern part of the city. it is completely blocked. sumi: the number of those killed and missing continue to impact not only israelis and palestinians but also citizens around the world. as of tuesday, the white house confirmed at least 14 american citizens are dead and an unknown number are being held hostage by hamas. potentially including a mother whose fate is currently unknown. they describe the moment they heard militants enter their shelter.

>> we were on the call with her as the terrorists barged into her home. and we heard a bit of screaming. that was our last contact with her. >> my mother is an exceptional human being. she spent most of her adult life as a nurse in the committee, then as a midwife -- in the community, then as a midwife in the hospital. when she walked in the delivery room, she saw the human being in front of her. not a religion, not a race, not a hijab, not an orthodox jew, always a human being. when hamas walked into my mother's room, they saw her alone, they did not see a human being. sumi: the first reports of saturday's attack came from a

music festival in the south of israel near the border with gaza. hamas gunmen killed at least 260 partygoers there. the attackers then continued their rampage into the surrounding villages. our middle east correspondent lucy williamson retraced the route of the attack and sent this report. lucy: the road that led to an open-air party now an open-air crime scene. the path of hamas gunmen mapped by their weapons and their bodies. their target, a festival site where hundreds died. the ground zero of this multi-prompt attack. -- multi-pronged attack. among the dead, the passengers of this car, going down as they fled. bodies and debris still line the route into this festival site. police have told us this vehicle was used by hamas militants. you can still see the ground is

covered with the remains of weapons, the uniforms they used. days on from this attack, families across this area are still trying to trace exactly what happened to their loved ones. a 12-year-old and a 16-year-old were taken by gunman from a house nearby. they phoned their mother as it was happening. >> then they said they hear someone breaking into the door and walking in the house. minutes later i heard people speaking in arabic outside the door. the door opened and i could hear my youngest saying don't take me, i'm too young. those barbarians took kids out of their houses and out of their beds and just kidnapped them, keeping them hostage. lucy: their father and his girlfriend are also missing. this video appears to show them in the hands of militants. >> but the waiting is killing

us. i can see my mom broken. that is the hardest part for me. i can be strong. i can lift up all my family, but it's hard to see my mom breaking. lucy: as israel continues to pound targets in gaza, hamas has threatened to begin executing hostages in response. with every strike, some see the face of israel's military might. one sees the faces of her children. bbc news, southern israel. sumi: u.s. president biden spoke to prime minister benjamin netanyahu tuesday. in a tweet, the president said they discussed supporting israel and protecting innocent people. president biden also confirmed he was citizens are among hamas hostages and discussed how his administration is working to secure the safety. pres. biden: we now know that

american citizens are among those being held by hamas. i have directed my team to share intelligence to deploy additional experts from across the u.s. government to consult with and advise israeli counterparts on hostage recovery efforts. because as president, i have no higher priority than the safety of americans being held hostage around the world. sumi: earlier i spoke to the former ambassador of israel to the u.s. about president biden's remarks. guest: as an historian who researched the u.s. israel relationship, i have never heard a speech like president biden just gave it the white house in the presence of vice president harris and secretary of state blinken. i have never heard anything like it. going back to president nixon in the early 1970's, even president johnson in the 1960's, it is

unequivocal support for the state of israel. categorical condemnation of hamas terror, basically giving israel a green light to proceed with its operation, which is very likely to involved a -- involve a ground operation into gaza. sumi: u.s. secretary of state antony blinken will travel to israel in the coming days. it is considered to be another sign of unequivocal u.s. support for israel. he will also travel to jordan. this as a carrier strike group has arrived in the eastern editor rainy and in support of israel. israeli military says the first plane carrying american ammunition arrived in the country. with the biden administration standing firmly behind israel i spoke to john kirby at the white house. he says security assistance is already on its way from the u.s. to israel. admiral, thanks so much for joining us.

i want to start with president biden's phone call with the israeli prime minister. we heard from the president that the u.s. is surging additional assistance with ammunition and interceptors. can you tell us what the u.s. is hoping that support will do? john: first and foremost we want to make sure that support will help them better defend themselves and to go after these hamas terrorists where they are, into -- and to affect their ability to conduct terrorist attacks. that is the main purposes, giving israel the capabilities they need to defend their citizens. sumi: can you tell us more about what the israeli prime minister has asked the u.s. president for? john: i don't want to get into the specifics of the conversation president biden and prime minister netanyahu had specifically. i think it should be obvious based on the president's remarks that we made it clear to prime minister netanyahu that we would

continue to provide them the necessary military support as they prosecute this fight against hamas. the first tranche of military aid is on its way to israel. i fully expect there will be more. it was important for president biden to make it clear to prime minister men yahoo! that we stand with them and -- minister netanyahu that we stand with them. sumi: president biden confirmed u.s. citizens are among those held hostage. what is the u.s. doing to secure their release? john: the first thing we have done is offer support to israel with respect to the expertise we have in the law enforcement community and military community in the united states. even in the intelligence community. we have hostage recovery experts and have offered their expertise to israeli officials as they think through how they might want to go about recovering hostages. it is a recent development,

literally within the last hour or so, we have been able to confirm that at least some number of those hostages are americans. we want to do whatever we can to help israel in these efforts. sumi: i want to ask about those sites being targeted because there are a lot of concerns about the more than 2 million civilians the been in the gaza strip. the israeli defense minister called for a full siege, no food, no power, no gas. the u.n. secretary general said he was distressed by this announcement. the eu's foreign policy chief says israel has the right to defend itself, but that has to be done according to international law. he was saying some things are not according to international law, like cutting electricity and food. is the u.s. concerned about this? john: no one wants to see more innocent civilian life lost. certainly hamas is responsible for the civilian life lost here, the slaughter, the butchering of

innocent israeli civilians. nobody wants to see civilian life thrown away that way. one of the great things, and the president talked about this in his speech, the relationship between us and israel is we are two vibrant democracies and we respect human life and the rule of law. we respect to observe the law of war specifically. the president talked about that. we don't want to see anymore innocent life taken, but we also recognize that what has been visited upon the israeli people is horrific. the numbers are now approaching 1000 dead, let alone the thousands more that have been wounded by this butchering. we know they will be prosecuting this aggressively. we understand their desire to do that. we don't want to see anymore innocent life taken. sumi: i want to follow up on that board about respect for democracy -- point about respect for democracy. we spoke to a fellow at the

brookings institution and he told us this. "a lot of people like to say israel takes great caution to prevent civilian casualties, but that simply has not been borne out by the facts of this conflict and not in previous ones." what would your response to that be? john: again, i believe it to what i said before. nobody wants to see more innocent life taken here. one of the great things about our relationship with israel is that as two to marcy's we respect the rule of law -- two democracies we respect the rule of law. sumi: we heard from president biden a warning to other countries in the region to not get involved in this conflict. is that something the u.s. is acutely concerned about right now? john: absolutely we are, no question. a big driving force for why we moved that carrier strike group into the eastern mediterranean, is to send a strong signal, any actor who might want to take

advantage of this situation in israel, to escalate this conflict, to make it more than just the israeli defense forces against hamas, needs to think again. the u.s. will take seriously any challenge to our national security interests in the region. we have a wide set of interests in the region. we are concerned and we don't want to see any new fronts opened up or any other actors take advantage of the situation. sumi: you said despite what we are seeing that the biden administration remains committed to a two state solution. do you still see that as possible? john: the president still believes in the promise of a two state solution. it requires leadership on all sides, we understand that. so far it has been elusive, but that does not mean it is not worth pursuing. we will continue to pursue a two state solution. now, though, as you and i are talking today, there is a stronger focus on making sure israel can defend itself against these terrorist attacks. hamas is a terrorist

organization. this kind of gets to your question, they don't speak for the vast majority of the palestinian people. and in their terrorist attacks, not only are they butchering innocent israeli life, but they are making life harder on the palestinians in gaza, using them as human shields, and not representing fairly their aspirations for an independent state and peace and security for them and their children. sumi: thank you so much for joining us. john: good to be with you, sumi. sumi: we can get another update on the situation with the bbc's international editor jeremy bowen in southern israel. very good to see you. tell us what you have been witnessing there. jeremy: i worked with the israeli army to a small place today, a kibbutz on the gaza border wire called kfar aza.

there, they only captured the place finally this morning. there was still fighting going on when we arrived. as they were going through the place, trying to recover bodies, they found a lot of dead civilians and said a massacre took place there, that some people had their throats cut, that they were decapitated. one of the officers pointed to a body and a blanket and said that woman's head was cut off. the evidence is really piling up very convincingly of serious war crimes. sumi: what have you been witnessing from the israeli military operation? does it appear they are preparing for a ground offensive? jeremy: i think they are still trying to secure their rear at the moment. the fact is they are still concerned about people from, roaming around with weapons. in this city there was a major

security alert and i think somebody was shot and they were hunting for other people, shot dead because they believe those people were about to try to kill israelis. we are 10 miles or more from the nearest part of gaza. i think they need to secure their rear beforethey think about moving in, but judging by the objectives stated by prime minister netanyahu, moving in is what they want to do. sumi: we have about 30 seconds. what do you think we will see in the coming days? jeremy: i think a lot of trouble ahead for the people of gaza. those people who don't support hamas who are living now through a hellish situation with massive damage and losing vital things like food, water, and electricity that come from israel. on this side of the border in

israel, more pressure, more pushing towards a full-scale operation -- land operation. sumi: jeremy bowen with us in southern israel. thank you so much for that update. that is our show at this hour on bbc news. thank you for watching world news america. ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. the xfinity 10g network. made for streaming. >> good evening, i'm geoff bennett. on the newshour tonight, israeli airstrikes bombard hamas strongholds in gaza as president biden pledges unwavering support for israel in the wake of the deadly terror attacks. >> we will maker the jewish and democratic state of israel can defend itself today, tomorrow as we always have. as simple as that. >>