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woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. 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". >> this is "bbc worls america." palestinians flee northern gaza after israelis worn more than one million people to evacuate. the u.n. describes it as dangerous. the u.s. cautions israel. the conflict is impacting lebanon with the first civilian killed there.

welcome to world news america. in gaza, a deadline is looming. early friday morning israel's military ordered the evacuation of one million people from the gaza strip within 24 hours. this is ahead of an infected -- expected ground invasion. the region faces a growing humanitarian crisis. there is a desperate scramble by families. to find some sort of escape. hamas has been urging the population to stay put and continues to launch rockets rights on israel. israel carried out local raids in the gaza strip to locate up to 150 people being held hostage. the first civilian death was reported in lebanon. a journalist from reuters was killed. journalists from al jazeera were

also injured in the incident close to the israeli border. more than 1300 people have died in israel since the hamas attack and 1900 people in gaza have been killed in retaliatory strikes. our editor reports from jerusalem. >> to win a war, a country have to break the will of its enemy to fight. history suggests airstrikes alone will not do that. even ones as heavy as israel's in gaza. so israel will have to send troops into the rubble. it wants to destroy hamas. telling civilians to get out is part of preparing the battlefield. leaflets and nonlethal air drops. telling more than one million people to move south. >> it happened to our grandfathers. now it is happening to us. it raises the ghosts of the

past. many gazans try to escape israel's anger. the descendants of almost one million palestinians who fled or were forced out of their homes at gunpoint during israel's independence war. palestinians call it the catastrophe. hamas sent their answer -- more rockets -- and told people to stay put. at the u.n., the secretary-general told both sides to protect civilians. >> even worse, their homes. international humanitarian law, civilians must be protected and also never used as shields. >> refrigerated containers hold bodies awaiting identification. more than 1300 israelis and

foreigners killed by hamas. israel says hamas will feel its revenge, not civilians. palestinians protested on the west bank. 14 have been shot dead by the israeli army by the evening. almost all the violence between israelis and palestinians before last week's hamas assault was in the west bank. it is very tense and could get much worse. jerusalem was quiet but not calm. only older palestinians were allowed to pray at the mosque by israeli security forces. younger men were abn -- banned as potential security risks. the mood was grim in jerusalem. the holy city is at the epicenter of a conflict. palestinians said they fear israel's anger at the hamas attack could be directed at them. >> it feels as if this crisis is

going up again. extreme pressure on civilians in gaza. tension here in jerusalem. nobody knows where this is going but it is certain this is a dangerous moment. the worst middle east crisis in a generation. >> until last weekend, israel believed the long conflict with the palestinians could be contained. that illusion has gone. jeremy, bbc news, jerusalem. >> joining us now is a spokesperson for the consulate general of israel in new york. it is good to have you on world news america tonight. i want to start with the people unaccounted for and being held hostage, including american citizens. what did you tell us about how israel and the u.s. are working together to locate them? >> this is truly a situation

that the u.s. and israel are working together. i can tell you personally from my end, i am working with the consulate in new york and we have the families of those being captured over there and it is heartbreaking. president biden just had a conversation today with the families of people being held hostage. when we are going to go on a military operation, we will try to get everyone back home, israelis and americans. >> we have seen some of the families of the hostages at the u.n. today. one relatives said we do not want more rockets, blood or tears, we just want family back and peace. how does that message shape how israel will go about the operation? >> most of the hostages are israelis and most of the families are israelis.

there is an israeli interest and american interest and the families interest to have as few casualties as possible. the situation is that israel cannot leave with hamas on its border no more. after what we just went through, it is clear now there is no difference between hamas and isis. no country can live with an isis entity on its doorstep. we will go there and do everything we can to eliminate this threat. >> i want to ask you with that operation, israeli forces have told civilians in northern gaza to evacuate. where should they go? >> we instructed them to leave that part of gaza. gaza is big enough to contain

those who are leaving. i am told there are other solutions that will be offered later on. the important thing is to remember that this evacuation is temporary. they can come back and return to their home, whatever is left of it, later on. but a loss of life of israel is permanent. >> i want to ask you because the secretary-general in new york sent today moving more than one million people across a densely populated war zone that is already under siege will be extremely dangerous, and in some cases not possible. what do you say to that? >> i would say that the danger is very permanent and danger is -- it is a danger to israelis. just lost 1300 of our people, and americans.

they are the immediate people to suffer from hamas the last 18 years. >> how do you eliminate hamas? the state admission of israel without destroying gaza? >> it is a challenge. gaza is geographically very small. it is a challenge that we are dealing with for the last 18 years. it is not the first round of conflict we have had. so far, we did everything possible to on one hand eliminate some -- until we can contain it. at the same time avoid collateral damage. it is a balance. we will try to keep this balance now, as well. but of course, after what happened, the balance shifts to another direction.

>> very quickly before we go, it is a difficult question, but what comes then if hamas is eliminated? >> it is a question i cannot answer because no one will know what will come then. it cannot be worse than death. >> spokesperson for the conflict general of israel in new york, thank you for joining us on our program today. >> thank you. >> as we heard, a total israeli blockade is enforced gaza with fuel, food and water running out. israel will not lift restrictions until hamas frees hostages. we have more on the crisis situation. this report contains distressing images. >> israel has now been pounding gaza, targeting hamas for almost a week. only when the dust settles

does the devastation become clear. >> our enemies are people. they are cowards killing children, said this man, amid the wreckage of his home. they have no humanity, he goes on. few jobs are more challenging than that of a first responder. under all this, somebody is alive -- for now. for three days, he says, i did not go home. but it never stops. for some, it is all too much. andy's paramedics -- and these paramedics are working well under fire. he just heard a colleague was killed while trying to save others. it is the fourth that day. but they cannot stop working. for gaza's doctors, the stream

of casualties is relentless. inside the hospital in this town, "i want my daddy," she cries. >> injuries to men, women and children. when i say children, i mean children. we are dealing with sophisticated trauma. >> and for many, the injuries are too severe. it is a massacre, says his father, leaving the hospital with his five-year-old hospital, dead in his arms. >> for more on the situation in gaza, i spoke with -- in the

occupied palestinian territories. thank you for joining us on bbc news. israeli forces have called on residents in northern gaza to evacuate to southern gaza. we are seeing a ground incursion appears to be imminent. can you tell us what the situation from your perspective looks like right now? >> it is a catastrophe upon a catastrophe. we new beginning last weekend there was a total sees on gaza with respect to the denial of food, water, fuel and electricity going into the strip. food was running out, bottled water was very hard to find. residents had initially three or four hours of power and now it seems most of gaza is in total darkness. now with this evacuation of half the population, over 1.1 million people from the biggest city, gaza city, and two for three of the biggest refugee camps in the new york -- in the area with no

place to go. a vast majority of them are exceptionally poor, do not have cars. they have nothing other than donkeys or the ability to walk on foot for kilometers and kilometers to reach some kind of safe area. when they reach a safe area -- an open field, another refugee camp in the middle of gaza -- they are not prepared to handle this flood of humanity. we already have no food or water. there is a number of respected voices in the world, starting with the u.n. secretary general, saying this is impossible for gaza to be able to absorb. >> we saw that message from the secretary-general today. we have seen the israeli government, the u.s. secretary of state all saying hamas deliberately uses civilians in gaza as human shields. what would be the right way for israel to strike back for hama''

attack in alignment with international law? >> there are very few choices when it comes to international law. the destruction of civilian infrastructure is for bitten by international law. if israel wants to evacuate or have the area evacuated in order to pummel the refugee camps in gaza city where people live, assuming they are gone, striking civilian targets and civilian infrastructure is absolutely forbidden under international law. let's go back a step. a war crime was committed by hamas on israel and israeli citizens last weekend. but because a war crime has been committed on you does not give you the right to commit war crimes in turn. >> u.s. secretary of state antony blinken arrived in saudi arabia as he works out the situation on the ground. he has visited jordan as part of his trip that included israel.

we have our diplomatic correspondent with us in studio for more. great to see you. what message have we seen from the secretary of state while he has been visiting these regional partners? >> a very focused message. he does not want the conflict to spread beyond israel and gaza. he is asking the u.s.'s arab allies to condemn hamas and show patience for israel's response given the particular brutality of the attack. more than that, he is afraid iran will get involved through its arab militant groups that it supports. he does not have direct contact with iran but the saudi crown prince does. he had a call with the iranian president earlier this week so i think that will be a key part of what antony blinken discusses with him. when he gets to egypt there will be a humanitarian focus because egypt shares a border with gaza. there has been talk of a humanitarian corridor.

egypt said it is went to help get aid into gaza but does not want to accept a flood of refugees. the americans are trying to negotiate safe passage for u.s. citizens that are palestinians -- there are 500 or 600 of them living in gaza. they're trying to arrange safe zones for palestinians in gaza. >> a lot of discussions happening with these various partners. the u.s. is specifically working with qatar to fry to free hostages. what we know about that? >> qatar has taken the lead because it has relations with hamas. it has a hamas office in doha. the prime minister of qatar does not have any progress to report with antony blinken. the americans believe a handful of citizens might have been captured but they are coordinating closely with the israelis on this. indications are the israelis are not interested in negotiating. under different circumstances they might have been because

recovering hostages is a priority but they see this attack as an existential threat and they are focused on eliminating hamas. it is possible that what they might try to do is rescue these hostages during military operations. the israeli defense forces have set ground troops have gone on limited raids ahead of this excursion to try to get information about hostages. >> the secretary of state was reaffirming once again in all of these places the support for israel. >> that is very much the administration's message. they are rocksolid behind israel. there have been questions about israel's response and the humanitarian impact. antony blinken has addressed that but always comes back to israel has the right to respond and has a duty to respond. this is not revenge, it is defending itself. that message could get harder and harder to keep given what happens coming up but he is trying to lay the groundwork for that. >> are diplomatic correspondent,

always good to talk to you. thank you. more details are emerging of the atrocities committed last saturday by hamas ■gunmenan jewish communities in southern israel. one of the most shocking massacres took place here. a warning, this report contains details that some might find distressing. >> they are the survivors. 22-year-old and her boyfriend santiago escape from hamas' massacre in their village. she was shot six times in the legs. >> we start to hear gunshots. one apartment, one apartment, one apartment. start to break the windows, break the doors and start to shoot. people screaming.

>> the killers filmed themselves on the loose. murdering dozens in the jewish community. with no israeli army to be seen, she realized the only person who could save her was her dad, who she had not spoken to in six years. she managed to message him. "they are close," she wrote. "lock the doors," her dad replied. the gunmen found her. >> they started to shoot like we were nothing. i fell down on the ground. santiago screamed, "please stand up and start to run! if you do not stand up, we will die! " >> she texted her dad again. they shot me, help. i am coming, he replies. >> my heart stops in my brain

starts to work. i was mad. >> when a policeman arrived at the village, he came under attack. >> they started to shoot at me, i shot at them. people start to shoot at me with an ak47. >> eventually he found her near the burnt out home and took them to safety. she said israel must now respond in the strongest possible way. >> i don't want hamas anymore in my life. they need to destroy them one by one. >> have you been thinking about what might happen to civilians in gaza if there is a big ground operation by the israeli military? >> my country did not want to hurt the civilians. i want them to be safe.

i don't think they need to die, like i do not need to die. >> but civilians are being killed in this war, in ever increasing numbers. bbc news, tel aviv. >> let's get more on the ground in jerusalem. our international editor is standing by. jeremy, good to see you. it appears a ground invasion by israeli forces appears imminent. what more do we know about israel's plans and this timeline to evacuate? >> local time has just gone midnight and that seems to be the deadline. however, the israeli army said this morning that they appreciated it would take longer than 24 hours -- a lot longer for some people. there has also been confirmation from the israelis that there have been incursions by special forces, supported by some units.

it is not the invasion but it is preparing for the invasion, i would say. pretty certain it will be going ahead sometime soon. a lot of these kinds of things they have been doing has been preparing the battlefield. >> jeremy, we saw the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, say we are fighting for the homeland. what is your sense, speaking with israelis, how much do they support him and his message right now? >> they support the idea that israel has to hit back. they support the idea that hamas is israel's bitter enemy. there has been an enormous amount of criticism in sections of israel, sections of the media that are against him, saying if anybody on the israeli side is to blame, it is not intelligence or a general, it is the prime minister. he was asleep on the job. that is the argument his enemies

here are making. >> what is the situation facing civilians in gaza? we have been speaking about how civilians view what is happening with gaza. >> the israeli official position is going for military targets, and if civilians get killed, it is hamas' . . fault i think it is much more complicated than that. they subjected the civilians in gaza to a really tough -- mid people, almost -- siege. -- mid -- that kind of pressure on a civilian population is undoubtedly appears to be a crime of war. it is against international humanitarian law. for people in gaza right now, li difficult and very dangerous.

it might only get worse. >> indeed. in the coming days, they will be crucial to watch. our international editor reporting from jerusalem. thank you so much for reporting for us, jeremy. that is our show. remember you can find all of the day's news on our website and see what we are working at on anytime. check us out on your preferred social media platforms. we will have all the latest. 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: on the newshour tonight, israel conducts raids in gaza to search for hostages and orders more than a million people to evacuate ahead of a larger potential ground incursion. >>