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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". sumi: i am sumi soman washington, and this is "bbc world news america." it will not end until their holsters are released as power and clean water run out and deadly airstrikes continue. the u.s. secretary of state stands by israel saying hamas is intentionally putting civilians

in harm's way. >> hamas continues to use civilians as human shields to try to protect themselves or protect their infrastructure, or protect their weapons. sumi: israeli opposition leaders criticize prime minister netanyahu over "unpardonable security failures leading to the deadly hamas attacks." ♪ welcome to "world news america." the u.s. secretary of state in tel aviv has assured israel of washington's unwavering support in its war with hamas. antony blinken stressed precautions must be taken to avoid harmening -- to avoid harming civilians. stricken from the air and cutting of food, water, and fuel supplies until palestinian militants release the hostages taken during saturday's attack. the death toll from israeli airstrikes in gaza is at least

1500. in israel, more than 1300 people have been confirmed dead from hamas' over the weekend and it's ongoing rocket barrage on israeli territory. we are in a six of this war. as the cilian toll rises, concerns are growing about a further escalation. have reports from across the region, from inside gaza, to southern israel. to begin with our correspondent -- we begin with our correspondent. our international editor jeremy bowen sent this report and a warning, it contains distressing information. reporter: more of gaza has been flattened by israeli bombing. israel insists its targets are all based on intelligence. to kill the men who massacred israelis, and to continue the job of breaking hamas. hundreds of civilians of all ages have also been killed. israel has been accused of answering the war crimes of hamas with one's of its own.

antony blinken, u.s. secretary of state, flew in. he offered solidarity, more military aid, and assurances for benjamin nanyahu, israel's prime minister. that america has israel's back. >> we are here. we are not going anywhere. reporter: he compared hamas to the killers of islamic state, and said the way israel fights that matters. >> the value we place on human life and human dignity, that is what makes us who we are. and we count them among our greatest friends. that is why it is so important to take every possible precaution to avoiharming civilians. reporter: at this police station in tel aviv, israeli's report relatives who have been ssing since hamas attacked. his mother disappeared from the gaza borr. his family believed if peace diplomacy worked the americans tried 10 years ago, israelis and

palestinians may have been spared this agony. he turns here to give a dna sample. that he is hoping his mother is alive as a hostage. vivian silva, his mother, is one of israel's best known campaigners for pee with 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 that is happening now? >> that this is the outcome. this is the outcome of war. i've not striving for peace. -- of not striving for peace. israelis have that saying, living on our soul. this is what happens. you know, it's very overwhelming, but it is not completely surprising.

it's not sustainable to live in a state of war for so long. and now it firsts -- bursts. reporter: vivian was making light of it at first last saturday, until she could not. >> we may be was -- may be witnessing a massacre. i'm just telling everybody, telling you i love you. and i write back, i love you, mom. she writes during the house now. i said, i have no words, i'm with you she writes, i feel you. and that was it.

that is the last message. reporter: he was one of the first targets of hamas last saturday as it is right on the border. they shot dead the people in this car, stormed in, and set about killing israelis. by the time the army fought its way back into the area, you can see the veracity of the fight. it was too late to stop a massacre. the body bags of residents are still being brought out of the ruins. volunteers from an organization called zach that recovers jewish dead for a religious a barrier took us to the house where vivian silva lived. horrified by everything they have seen. >> it's not people, it is people making something like that. it does not go with people. >> there is not even a studio in hollywood that can make a horror

movie as bad as what we have seen here. >> i can't understand. >> they don't just kill them. they mutilated, they burned, they severed. it is impossible to describe. reporter: the army did not allow us much time in the street where vivian silva lived and brought up her family. she moved 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. vivian's house and her neighbors were gutted. we don't know if she is alive or dead. her family, like so many others, waits for news, good or bad. >> it has totally burned down.

reporter:reporter: the remains of the house in the destruction are evidence for most israelis that it is dangerously wrong for peace activists like vivian to argue that a century of attempted military solutions to the conflict have failed. the survivors. now it is a staging area -- area as the army waits for the order to enter gaza. as the jurors prepare, israel's government vows this time, it's forces will destroy hamas. jeremy bowen, bbc news. sumi: we will have much more reporting from the region, including from our correspondent in gaza, coming up in a moment. first, u.s. officials have reportedly stopped iran from accessing $6 billion in humanitarian funds in light of hamas attack on israel. the iranian assets were initially unfrozen as part of a recent prisoner swap deal between tehran and the u.s. public and critics claim it and

powered the support for hamas, something the administration has categorically denied. during his visit to israel, antony blinken stressed washington has full control over the funds. >> none of the funds that have now gone to qatar have actually been spent, or accessed in any way. by iran, indeed, funds from that count are overseen by the treasury department, can only be dispensed for humanitarian goods, food, medicine, medical equipment, and never touch iranian hands. we have strict oversight of the funds. and we retain the right to freeze them. sumi: for more on the story, have our lemat a correspondent, with me here in studio. we heard that clip from the secretary of state. what more do we know about these reports of the freezing of funds? barbara: the news comes from a closed-door briefing that was given by a senior treasury

official. lawmakers who attended it said he told them the u.s. had reached a quiet understanding with qatar to make sure iran did not get any of the money anytime soon. as we heard from secretary blinken, administration officials have not denied or confirmed this is the case, that the fund is frozen. some officials have indicated this is about politics. there has been pressure from republicans over this, some democrats have also joined in the pressure. mr. blinken focused instead on what he called the facts. he said this is about money for food and for medicine, that qatar has control of it, and that the u.s. has oversight of any transaction that could happen. the fund was recently set up, so the money had not started moving anyway. it would be a provocative thing if the money were to be frozen, especially because the u.s. is trying to prevent iran and the different militant groups it backs from joining the israel-hamas or.

iran has responded. its mission at the u.n. said the u.s. government could not renege on the agreement. sumi: very interesting. what else did we see from the secretary of state so far in this trip? barbara: he was quite emotional about his meeting with the victims. he talked about his jewish background, he talked about his stepfather who survived the holocaust. from a policy point of view, again, he pushed strongly the u.s. position that it backed israel, including its offensive against hamas in gaza. he was asked about restraint, civilian casualties. he said israel should do everything it could to protect civilians. that the united states and israel tried to obey the rules of the laws of war, which he said hamas did not. he was asked about the comparison between 9/11 and these attacks. people have been making those comparisons. pointedly, he was asked about the aftermath, the fact that

they were negative consequences from the way the u.s. responded, especially from its invasion of iraq, and whether there were lessons for israel. he was not going there. he said, we try two from past experience, but different situations are also different. sumi: last question for you. has been any update on the u.s. hostages being held? barbara: nothing concrete. we know there is a small number, according to the administration. we know assistance has been offered, and sent from the u.s. we are not aware of any plans, like a rescue operation or anything like that. i think the israelis are taking the lead. sumi: after diplomatic correspondentsumi:, thank you for joining us. 27 americans are confirmed dead in israel following the hamas attacks. the u.s. has started sending military equipment and sharing intelligence with israel. pressure is growing on lawmakers in congress to do more. the house is effectively paralyzed. without a speaker, they are unable to pass legislation brought to the floor.

they cannot approve white house requests, including for emergency funding for israel. republicans on wednesday narrowly backed representative steve scalise to be the next speaker of the house. he will need to convince more lawmakers to vote for him to secure the job, and to fast-track aid to israel, and to gaza. joining us live is representative mike turner, republican congressman from ohio. he serves as chairman of the house intelligence committee. it is free to have you back on bbc news. i want to start with those news about the u.s. and qatar are denying iran access to money for the personal -- for the prisoner swap. meeting has -- have these friends been frozen? rep. turner: the reporting you are giving of the heartbreaking stories of survivors and about those who have been murdered and taken, this people murderous terrorists attack that hamas has perpetrated upon israeli civilians is heartbreaking. it certainly is rising to the scale to understand that actions

need to be taken. hamas is basically a franchise from iran. they found them, they train them, give them weapons, rockets. they train the tears organization. when they undertake a terrorist attack, it is exactly how iran intended for them to behave. there can't be an issue of iran is not involved or is iran surprised. iran trained them to do what they did. in this instance, this administration just put $6 billion that came from south korea into funds in qatar for the purposes of them being ultimately, as the secretary of state was saying, applied to humanitarian funds and expenditures to iran. this still is fungible sources. if anyone can to you and set i would take care of your housing needs, medicine needs, you would have funds left over do other things. that is why this is so repugnant.

one of the large number for the prisoner swap -- sumi: i just want to jump in there if i can. you said that iran has long supported hamas with weapons and funding. is there any direct evidence that it helped prepare this attack? rep. turner: again, they are preparing and helping every attack, because they provide them weapons, training. certainly, the analysis is being undertaken as to what extent iran did. we have high officials from hamas and hezbollah indicating direct involvement in this attack, both training and approval. this question of whether or not they pressed the button or put in set these motions that result in terrorist attacks are not big distinctions. sumi: we just heard this could be seen by iran as provocative because the u.s. has warned iran and militant groups it supports from joining the conflict.

are you concerned about a response from iran if these funds are frozen? rep. turner: iran is incredibly productive -- incredibly provocative. they have funded hezbollah with weapon systems in terrorist groups and organizations. theyre providing weapon systems in ukraine. this is a very provocative country that is resulting in people being killed in europe and the middle east. we should be very careful about handing them expelli dollars at a time where by their own actions, things are escalating in the middle east. sumi: i want to ask about what we have seen over the last six days. the attack by hamas on saturday, israeli intelligence is considered of the strongest in the. we south african operational failures, intelligence boxes, that led to the breach. what does the u.s. now about what went wrong here? rep. turner: obviously, the u.s. and israel work closely together. both complement area and in

areas where we take turns. they take responsibility's and we take others. this is an area where israel will have to do a triage. i certainly will do that hand-in-hand with the partrship of our intelligence community. i do think if you look across the intelligence community for the west israel and the united states, we are beginning to rely too much on overhead imagery, over signal intelligence, and other traditional generation of intelligence where you have hands-on understanding of what is going on in a region. sumi: we saw the house foreign affairs chair tell reporters not just israeli but u.s. intelligence operations failed, saying we are not sure how we missed it. how do you see this from th u.s. intelligence perspective? rep. turner: we are complementary to israel. this certainly is an area where we are hand-in-hand with each other. this is obviously one where we were not seamless and there was a gap. this is one where we will have

to go back and figure out, how do we have to shore up our systems to make certain we understand what is going on on the ground? sumi: i want to ask about concerns arising about the humanitarian situation in gaza, as israel has upped its airstrikes. what can the u.s. do to ensure civilians do not come in harm's way as much as possible, as israel continues its airstrikes? rep. turner: this is going to be difficult. as a result of hamas, also victimizing the palestinian people, controlling the area and using it as a military base to do attacks on israel, the iron dome exists solely because of the rockets coming out of gaza that are supplied and supported in part by iran. you have populations that are vulnerable to what is going to have to happen to go in and militarily take out and fight hamas so they cannot continue this terrorist attacking of israel, at the same time where they have a siege, a crip on

gaza. -- a grip on gaza. sumi: do you think a humanitarian corridor would be possible? rep. turner: i think, already, this is not an unusual operation in the area. israel has had to face this and other conflicts with hamas and other conflict with hezbollah. the united states will be providing them assistance, and certainly, working with them to lessen casualties and provide humanitarian assistance. at the same time, understanding this has to be accomplished. sumi: the white house has aed congress to take action. the house cannot give more aid to israel until there is a speaker. . steve scalise was nominated in the republican conference. would you support him? rep. turner: i have already said i would support steve. the administration has not sent over its request yet. although it is taking an agonizingly amount of time to select a speaker as a result of the chaos from the small group of republicans that joined with

democrats to remove speaker mccarthy, right now, the house is not in a situation where they have a request from the administration that is waiting action. we know it is being put together. we are having conversations with them as it is being headed over here. as that package moves, hopefully, this deadlock will be broken. sumi: chairman, quickly, are you confident that aid to israel and ukraine can get through, even though there is no speaker at the moment? rep. turner: if there is not a speaker and the aid package gets here, and congress needs to take action, we have an ability to change our own rules to take some intermediate action. unfortunately, we are in a time where we are focusing on eliminating the chaos. the administration does not have its packaged onion. -- it's package done yet. sumi: chairman turner, always good to speak with you here thank you so much. rep. turner: good talking to you. thank you. sumi: the united nations is

warninof a humanitarian catastrophe in gaza, saying 330,000 people have been made homeless and 50,000 pregnant women are unable to access essential health services or even clean water. this as egypt asks israel to stop airstrikes near the rafa border crossing between gaza and egypt, so it can function as a lifeline. analysis editor ross atkins explains why people cannot flee the violence by leaving the territory. ross: despite the worsening situation in gaza, for the majority of people there, leaving is not an option. the territory selected by israel, egypt, and the sea, a heavily fortified primitive fence separates israel and gaza. normally some people are allowed to cross into israel. right now, no one can. it is not possiblto leave gaza by c. israel's navy controls the shoreline. then there is the border with egypt, which is also fortified. the crossing is the only way

through, even in normal circumstances, daily places are limited to around 400. and there is a long waiting list. this week, getting into egypt has been harder still. the crossing was hit by israeli airstrikes tuesday. for a time, egypt closed it. on thursday, it was open again. this does not change the fundamental equation. gaza is home to 2 million people, for almost all of them, there is no way out as the war escalates. sumi: you're going to leave you this evening with an insight into what it is like to work in a war zone. a bbc arabic journist here is what he witnessed today. his story contains some upsetting scenes. >> my name is adnan. i work for bbc arabic, and am a resident of gaza. here, bodies lay everywhere. they scream for help. you can never forget the sounds. among the dead and wounded, my

cameraman has seen his friend. malik has managed to survive, but his family have not. this is my local hospital. inside are my friends, my neighbors. this is my community. today has been one of the most difficult days in my carrier. i have seen things i can never unseat. -- unsee. this young girl's home was destroyed. her relatives have been killed, and she needs help. my daughter is the same age. i want to help her. we try to understand what is going on. a mother sits next to the bodies of her family. >> we were sleeping and they bombardeour house, like everyone else. we don't have any resistance

fighters in our building. all the building is full of residents. 120 people live there. >> the cordors of the hospital are filled with bodies. the morgue can no longer take the bodies of the dead. they have to be laid on the floor. outsidthe hospital entrance. you never want to become the story, yet in my city, i feel helpless as the dead were given no dignity, and the injured lift in pain -- live in pain. sumi: powerful reporting from our correspondent. remember, you can find more on the israel-gaza conflict on our website, bbc.com/news. we have regular updates from our correspondence across the

region, inside israel, also inside gaza. they bring you eyewitness accounts,hotos, images, and analysis. make sure to check out our website. also find more on all of the day's, go to our website, bbc.com, and follow us on social media, on twitter. we have all of the latest headnes there as well. for all of us here in washington, thank you for watching "world news america." i am sumi somaskanda. stay with bbc news. ♪ 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. geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz in tel aviv. on the newshour tonight. hospitals in gaza are overwhelmed with scores of injured as israel vows not to allow in aid until hamas releases its hostages. we hear from civilians caught in