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narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor 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". >> hello, i'm christ. this is the contt. >> you have to choose between -- >> they were trapped from every which way, north, south, east west, like sheep in a cage. looking for any type of escape. >> hamas continues to use

civilians as human shields to try and protect them selves or protect their infrastructure, or protect their weapons. >> no electrical switch will be turned on, no water pump open, no fuel tank will enter until hostages are returned home. the israeli government saying gaza will remain under siege, becomes for the palestinians. the strip under constant bombardment. a force of 300,000 israeli troops in position for the ground offensive. we will hear from an israeli government spokesperson on when the order might come. our representative is in southern israel to see the people today, where at least 100 were killed. hostage negotiators.

we will keep our eyes on the important vote in the u.s. congress, where american publicans are trying to elect a speaker. it should come as no surprise after all the destruction inflicted by hamas that the hearts of israelis are hardened to the fate of gaza and its people. the prime minister's office released pictures of children butchered and burned. there was no mercy, it seems there will be none in return. the blockade will be enforced, the blockade to continue. the fighting will not stop until hamas is finished as a military force. the blockade means gaza is short to food and clean water. fuel is low. the international red cross today without generators, they will be returned into morgues. no dialysis, oxygen, incubators for children at risk.

the bombardment killed nearly 1400 palestinians. nearly one third are children. the u.s. secretary of state in israel toear what the battle plan is likely to be. he assured the prime minister of washington's unwavering support while warning iran and its proxies not to take advantage of the situation. he also stressed precaution must be taken to avoid harming civilians of any nationality. in the last few minutes, the secretary of defense will be traveling to israel tomorrow. the u.k. government announced it will send surveillance aircraft to the eastern mediterranean to support israel. they will begin patrols tomorrow. in southern israel, the stories which continue to emerge are truly appalling. our international editor sent this report. a warning, you will find it distressing.

more of gaza has bn flattened by israel he bombing. israel insists it's targets are all based on intelligence t kill the man who massacred israelis and continue the job of breaking hamas. the hundreds of civilians of all ages have also been killed. israel has been accused of answering the war crimes of hamas wi one's of its own. antony blinken flew in, he offered solidarity, more military aid, and assurances for benjamin netanyahu that america has israel's back. he compared hamas to the killers of islamic state and said the way israel fights them matters. >> the value we place on human life and human dignity, that makes us who we are. and we count them among our greatest threats. that is why it is so important

to take every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. >> at this police station, israelis report relatives who have been missing since hamas attacked. his mother disappeared on the gaza border. his family believe if peace diplomacy worked the americans last tried 10 years ago, israelis and palestinians might have been spared. he's hoping his mother is alive as a hostage. vivian silva, his mother, is one of israel's best-known campaigners for the palestinians. she was holding meetings only a few days before the hamas attacks. what do you think your mother would be saying about everything happening right now? >> that this is the outcome of

war, of not striving for peace. israelis have that saying, and this is what happens. it is very overwhelming. but not completely surprising. it is not sustainable to live in this world for so long. and now it bursts. >> vivian was making light of it until she could not. >> we may be witnessing a massacre.

i'm just telling everyon telling you i love you. i right back i love you, mom. she's writing they are in the house now and i said i have no words, i'm with you. she said i feel you. and that was it. that is the last message. >> it was one of the first targets as it stopped on the border. shot dead the people in this car, stormed in, and set about killing israelis. i the time the my fought its way back into the area, you can see the ferocity of the fight. it was too late to stop the massacre. the body bags of residents are still being brought out of the ruins. volunteers from an organization

that recovers jewish dead for a religious burial took us to the house where vivian silva lived, horrified by everything they have seen. >> people making something, -- it doesn't go with people. >> there is not a studio in hollywood that can make a movie as bad as what we are seeing here. >> taking kids -- >> they did not just kill them, they mutilated, burned, they severed. >> the army did not allow us much time in the street where vivian silva lived and brought up her family. sheoved here long before hamas emerged for space and country air. we hope to find out more about

what happened to her. but if there were clues, they were consumed by fire. her house and her neighbor house were gutted. we don't know if she's alive or dead. her family like so many other are waiting for news, good or bad. the remains of the house and destruction are evidence for most israelis that it is dangerously wrong for peace activists to argue a century of attempted military solutions to the conflict have failed. the survivors have left -- now it is a staging area and they wait to enter gaza. as the soldiers prepare, israel's government vows that this time it's forces will destroy hamas. >> in gaza and in the middle of

the night, people are receiving text messages telling them to leave before their building is demolished. these pictures sent from our reporter in gaza showing the scale of the destruction. you can imagine how quickly people have to escape. but where to go when the bombs are falling. the latest estimate at more than 330,000 displaced. they need water, food, a place to rest, many descending on the hospitals, which are already overwhelmed the red cross said it is likely they might run out of fuel. no x-rays, no oxygen's, no hope. >> across gaza, whole neighborhoods are being flattened. israel says these are precision

strikes against hamas. for palestinians, it does not feel that way. they are defiant. >> i will never leave here. here i am, pulled from under the rubble. outside the main hospital in gaza city, the bodies are lined up. the health system is overwhelmed. short on medicine and running out of fuel to provide power. hospitals are also one of the few relatively safe places. in the ground outside, the displaced are setting up makeshift camps. >> we are sleeping with the bombing above us. i hope the world will have mercy. >> some of those here have lived half a dozen wars. >> they have slaughtered our children and destroyed our houses over our heads. here we are in the streets.

>> dead bodies are stacked over each other, children and toddlers, he goes on. communists in the south of gaza are burying the dead where they can. these funerals will not be the last. many more will grieve before the war is over. john donnison, the be news -- bbc news. >> he says we are going to see a lot more of this. with me to discuss is the director of the middle east institute. we watched his report together. i'm struck by how many they comes in these reports are pacifists who have worked with palestinians, picked them up from the areas crossing. they are the people in the south

most at risk from gaza. in a way, they are closer to the palestinians. >> we have to remember in this conflict, not everyone is an extremist, not everyone believes in violence. there are pacifists on both sides. when you are talking about pacifists for israeli who live near gaza, these people are also observing the suffering of the palestinians in gaza. perhaps it makes them more likely to want to help because of observing the suffering of fellow human beings. >> rather than those in tel aviv or jerusalem who are more detached from it? >> yes, it is a generalization. but general, communities that are isolated from others don't really know what it is like to be on the others. when you have communities that are completely detached from what life is like for these

palestinians, perhaps they don't even imagine the scale of the suffering. >> i don't know how the parents deal with what they are hearing and what they are seeing. it must have been a deliberate strategy. if come off -- hamas has shot the soldiers, that would be one thing. but children, burning children, slitting the throats of children, that is a deliberate strategy. why have they gone that far? >> the attack by hamas is unprecedented in terms of scope, scale, ambition. they want this to be a message to israel that it is the next essential battle. and for that reason, they are attacking everybody. they regard everybody as a legitimate target. to instill fear in the israeli population. they know the israeli ste

exists to protect the jewish people and israeli citizens. in attacking the civilians, hamas is basically trying to say this idea of israeli state is not viable. so they are sending a psychological message to the rest of the israeli population, which is another tool of warfare. this is psychological warfare as well as military attack causing physical casualties. >> what about the message to their own people? >> hamas wants to be seen as heroic. it is no accident -- a lot of palestinians will not see this as heroic. >> of course not. but we have seen people being very desperate in the reports. we have to look at the circumstances of people in gaza. they are so desperate that for a lot of them, they feel they have no other alternative. they think either way we are dead, so we might as well get

behind this lost battle. it is really unfortunate. not everyone necessarily believes hamas' methods or is a political entity or military entity, but a lot are so desperate, they are getting behind hamas for lack of other option. >> on the wider region, this is putting enormous pressure, and will when the pictures come out, it is putting enormous pressure on our governments. >> absolutely. saudi arabia, which had until saturday thought that its plan to go ahead with a deal with israel, the u.s., was making progress. of course it was talking to the palestinian authority about the deal to find some sort of solution to the conflict. now that is stalled. same for egypt.

facing an election soon. and now has a very complicated problem on his hands. >> good to see you, thank you for coming in. a lot to discuss. we will get more through the course of the program. around the world and across the u.k., you are watching bbc news. a quick look at the other stories making news. the waiting list for planned treatment has been risen to a new record high. more than 7.7 million peoe waiting to start routine treatment at the end of august. routine treatment rangesrom hip placements to surgery to remove cancerous tumors. the former formula one boss bernie ecclestone has been given a suspended prison sentence for fraud. he pleaded guilty and admitted failing to declare over 400 million pounds held in a trust in singapore to the u.k. government in july 2015. he received a sentence of 17

months suspended for two years. you ke connie -- the u.k. economy grew. the national statistics say there is strong growth in service has, which was partially offset by falls in manufacturing and construction. in contrast, some sectors fared poorly, says just arts, entertain -- such as arts, entertainment. you're alive with bbc news. there are around 150 people thought to have been taken hostage by hamas. we received more information from the israeli defense force on where they are being held. they believe they have been dispersed among tunnels under gaza in locations not known to be used by hamas prior to the conflict. it is not just an israeli hostage crisis. there were 23 national -- nationalities among those killed. 27 americans were killed, 14 still unaccounted for. it is believed some will be among the hostages.

18 french citizens are missing, including several children. the french prime minister said they are sure some of those abducted by hamas. 17 british nationals killed or abducted. we don't have a breakdown on the numbers that have been taken. how do you get them out alive? that is the task of the negotiating teams. with me is a hostage new go sheeter having resolved within 300 cases in his career. what is the ark of the hostage crisis like this? >> in the early hours and days, uncertainty and confusion. one of the early stages is tryon build information, intelligence picture, find out what is going on, who has the hostages, and engaging in dialogue. >> it is different dealing with an organization rather than a state or government and the demands are so much different to

what other groups would be looking for. >> this is the challenge in this case. negotiations are occurring in a war zone. there is an extra dimension to it. so many of them spread out across gaza in tunnels and basements and what have you. >> it seems to me the strategy has to be keeping in the mind of the hostage takers the value of the people they are holding. how do you do that? >> humanizing them, and reiterating at the beginning when we talk about negotiation. we are not talking about agreeing or condoning or acquiescing to the hostage takers, it is just opening up the kind of dialogue to enable the safe and timely release. >> in the case of hamas, we could talk about prisoners. but you have to give us some proof of life, proof they are being well cared for. >> proof of life is one of the

fundamental aspects of all hostage negotiation. >> what about the complexity of this? we have pulled out four, the french, the brits, americans, the israelis. who takes the lead? what you don't want to do is overcomplicate a situation like this. >> my understanding is there's a situation room that will bring together the americans, the fbi, the nationalities you have to coordinate the response to identify and locate where the hostages are being held and what the options are. including options for hostage rescue as part of the incursion. it increases the risk to the hostages. >> we will have to brace ourselves for the inevitable film that will come t.

we hope it is not somebody paraded who is already dead. as a negotiator, does it affect the give-and-take that develops in a situation like this? >> it is important to remain optimistic. it is about trying to humanize the lives of the people, the hostages to minimize chances as much as possible of them coming to harm. if they want some kind of prisoner exchange, it is their responsibility for the welfare of the hostages while in captivity. >> are you hopeful? >> absolutely. normally there is a high chance of success and hostage negotiations generally. i think if it is handled well, hopeful for them to come back. >> thank you for coming in. let's talk about the enormity of

the emotions, the loss and suffering being felt at the moment. it is immeasurable, no one needs reminding of the history of the people who were killed because they were jewish. it is hard for those whose loved ones are hostages and whose fate is yet unknown. a question they all have is how the state missed it, how hamas, a prescribed terrorist group by many, find it so easy to penetrate the defenses in southern israel, and why did it take the army so long to respond? our security correspondent has been taking a look. >> it began saturday morning with a volley of 2000 rockets launched out of gaza, sending israelis racing to their shelters. that was just to provide cover for what else hamas was doing. commercial drones carrying explosives were flown towards the security fence. they are using these pictures to show how they carried out the

attacks. bbc verify has confirmed them north of gaza. one drone took out an unmanned gun emplacement. crucially, they also knocked out communications towers and cameras, leaving israel blind. with rockets flying overhead, fighters flew out on motorized hang gliders. you can see them circled in red. this is also north of gaza. at the same time, explosives were used to blow holes in the fence of some locations. at others, they were cut. bulldozers widened some of the gaps. dozens of breaches along the perimeter. 11 -- it allowed motorbikes and vehicles to flood out. at least 1000 gunmen were inside israel. they overwhelmed border checkpoints like this one, adding to the chaos for israeli forces struggling to communicate and understand the scale of events. this attack would have taken months, perhaps years of

preparation. hamas has cut out this propaganda video claiming to show training, but we cannot verify where it was filmed. the fact they managed to plant all of this without being spotted marks a significant intelligence failure. the even deceived israel into thinking they were not interested in another, the right now. israeli troops arguably over on technology that was now disabled were thinly spread. we see a tank taken out. defenses failing to stop direct hit. some gunmen heading to military bases. it was saturday morning in a religious holiday. israeli forces were taken by surprise, some soldiers killed in their barracks. this meant the gunmen were able to head to other settlements nearby and carry out the killings at places meeting little resistance four hours until a full picture of what was happening became clearer and more forces could be deployed. it would take days to regain full control of the gaza border.

>> a lot of frustration and anger in israel. some targeted at the israeli government and the mistakes will be putting some of that in the course of the next few minutes to the former israeli ambassador to the u.k. who was a senior spokesman for prime minister netanyahu. where does it leave him politically and the government trying to bring back control? we will 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. ♪ ♪

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