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tv   BBC News The Context  PBS  October 18, 2023 5:00pm-5:31pm PDT

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♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by...
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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. you are watching the context on bbc news. >> i was outraged and saddened by the mormons loss of life on the hospital in gaza. it appears to be the result of an air india -- of an iran rocket.
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>> we are trying to understand what happened. >> jill biden's presence will only deepen the conviction among palestinians -- joe biden's presence will only deepen the conviction among palestinians and everything israel is doing in gaza. >> welcome. joe biden has flown in and out of israel today on a whirlwind eight hour trip. it has been overshadowed by last night's blast at a hospital in gaza. isel maintains it was not responsible but not everyone agrees. hamas, palestinian authorities, and other airbnb nations have blamed israel and it has triggered protests across the
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nation. merck will be with us. -- mark will be with us from jerusalem. that evening. u.s. president joe biden has pledged solidarity today with israel during an eight hour whirlwind visit but his trip was overshadowed by last sides bla at hospital in gossett. the health ministry says it killed 471 people. it inflamed tensions and sparked protests across the region. israel maintainst was not responsible, saying it was caused by a rocket powered by islamic jihad. they say it appears -- joe biden said it appears the blast was done by the other team. but other air countries have blamed israel and it triggered protests across the middle east. the bbc is trying to verify
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claims from both sides. after the two leaders met today, president netanyahu called presidt biden a true friend. following joe biden's visit, israel set it will not thwart the delivery of food, water, and medicine from egypt for civilians in gaza as long as it does not reach hamas. people in gossett will be fleeing their homes to escape is a strikes today, which palestinian officials say have killed more than 3000 people. israel says it is targeting members of hamas, designated a terrorist organization. it follows the deaths of in israel -- the deaths in israel 11 days ago. let's get a report from the ground in gaza from our correspondent who has been at the scene of that hospital
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blast. reporter: when i arrived at the hospital this morning, it was still deadly. it looks to be the deadliest moment we have seen so far in gaza. there were burnt out cars from the huge fire following last night's cars. i was talking to one of the witnesses of the massacre. he said they were just sitting in their garden peacefully, and suddenly a huge explosion rocked the area. it lifted bodies and injured people. we have seen serious injuries. some people evacuated on foot from there. bloodsoaked mattresses lay on the ground. as we picked our way through the
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devastation, and wreckage, children's backpacks and collapsed tents where people had been sleeping. doctors told us that thousands were seeking shelter at the hospital when it happened. i witnesses say the hospital ground was packed with people living under siege and under fire. we are still collectg body pieces underground. people are still trying to understand what happened. fear, grief, and hunger. my message to the world is stand up for the writing. do not be afraid of the american. do not be afraid of the is forces. he will continue this fight until the last drop of blood. health officials are saying that
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hundreds are dead, injured, and missing. this is a moment of hurdle for palestinians who are already traumatizeby this war. . bbc news, gaza city. >> we were live with our middle east correspondent. it has been a busy day where you are. bring us up-to-date with the latest. >> president biden was only here for half the day. expectations before he came were not great because the visit was overshadowed by what happened to the hospital last night with hundreds of people killed. subsequent to that, the arab leaders who work meant to meet president biden on the second leg of the trip pulled out of the meeting. expectations were not high. in a news conference this evening, it was clear that president biden managed to get concessions out of the israeli government, in particular an is
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concession with the agreement of egypt. it can allow basic american aid through the rough crossing on egypt's border with gaza. this will go some way to alleviating what many people are calling a humanitarian crisis because israel insisted about one million gazans boomed from their houses and homes in the north of the strip to avoid the is a really targeting of parts of gaza chase hamas and the ultimate goal of ending hamas as a fighting force. everyone here is expecting israeli troops and heavy armor on the ground. to go in the gaza and achieve that goal. that is the expectation on the ground once these diplomatic visits are over. >> is the anticipation still that it could be days or are we
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looking at weeks? have president biden's visit change the timing of -- has people to visit change the timing? >> i do not think so but israel has changed their timing with events. one of the key things is what happens if and when israel goes in on the ground. does this bring other actors from the west bank or hezbollah from the north? evenb last night, after the attack on the hospitalbc in gaza which israel blamed on palestinian militants. palestinians say this was the subject of an is a really attack. but there were protests around. they say there would be loss of life on both sides. there could be repercussions in the region and that iwhy american warships are off the coast to act as a deterrent. when he the key things of president biden's speech was
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another warning in the wider region to not get involved. >> you mentioned the wider regional fallout. yesterday, we were talking about skirmishes on the border with lebanon. what do you see in terms of the reaction across the region? ar there protests from other governments? we know the other leaders that were meant to meet with president biden pulled out of the meetings. >> the three days of mourning were announced by the palestinians. the jordanians were two of the leaders meant to meet joe biden. that cannot go ahead. israel's number one enemy, iran, made it clear it feels is proxies the hezbollah have the right to intervene on behalf of their brethren in gaza. israel is concerned this may be the case. i cover the 2006 war between
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hezbollah and israel which followed a similar series of events in gaza when people were kidnapped and there were targeted attacks in gaza. all of a sudden, the war broke out when hezbollah came across the frontier with israel. israel wants to make sure it is prepared on the northern border and around the volatility of palestinia cities. israel and its military leaders will not go into gaza and told it is secure as it can be. >> thank you very much for joining us. as we have bn hearing, one of the aims of president biden's truncated trip to the middle east was to look for ways to stop the crisis from escalating. he had been due to fly for talks about humanitarian assistance but joins king abdullah canceled
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it. but jordan's kinabdullah canceled it. >> a car park outside of this hospital became a killing ground. the arguments about who is responsible come too late for the people whose lives ended there. even with their bodies taken away, the clean up morning also meant collecting small pieces of flesh. [speaking another language] >> god have mercy, he says. they were civilians. [speaking another language] >> muhamed cannot unseat children with legs blown off and the bodies he helped carry -- cannot unsee children with legs blow off and the bodies he helped carry. they all thought they would be safe beside a hospital.
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the u.n. says they proved that israel did not fire the rocket but that it was malfunctioning, fired by jihad. >> the trajectory says the rocket was fired close to the hospital. according to our intelligence, hamas checked the reports and it was an islamic jihad rocket that misfired. they decided to launch a global military campaign to decide what really happened. they went as far as inflating the numbers of casualties. >> coming to tel aviv was a gamble for president biden. he wanted to ease gaza's humanitarian catastrophe, while supporting israel's war effort. perhaps an impossible thing to square with benjamin netanyahu.
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but a deal emerge from their meeting. food, water, and medicine, but no fuel from israel to gossett. and an agreement that they did not hit the hospital. pres. biden: it appears it was done by the other team, not you. i wanted to personally make this clea thank you for having me. i am looking forward to having a thorough discussion about where everyone goes from here. >> the president will not change the minds of those who insist israel attacked the hospital. joe biden's presence will only deepen the conviction among palestinians and millions of other errors that america is not just on israel's side but is also complicit in everything israel is doing in gaza, including killing civilians. until the hamas attacks on israel, president biden dreamt of transforming the middle east.
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the americans, when negotiating with saudi arabia and israel, to try to get two countries to recognize each other. that is not on the agenda anymore. in arab capitals, there have been protests against israel. this was beirut. [chanting] >> so far, the shouting has spread but not the fighting. keeping it that way will be a challenge. jeremy bowen, bbc news. >> joining me to discuss this further is david my koski, who works in the office of the u.s. secretary of state, and is a senior advisor to the israeli-palestinian negotiations . he is a distinguished fellow at the washington institute. you obviously know a thing or two -- or two about what is
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going on. i wanted to pull up some things jeremy said. there will be many who feel that america is just -- is complicit, should i say, with israel. what do you make of this viewpoint some will have after cupid's visit today? david: people will say what they want. there will be some people -- i heard jeremy's report. some people will say it is a hard struggle to square. you want to identify with israel's goal of toppling hamas, but you want to avoid civilian casualties. it is always hard. the u.s. has faults in urban terrain and it is very difficult. i think this is heartfelt with the president. the president sees the massacre of 1300 people, beheadings of babies, rapes of women and says,
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"even isis did not do this." that is understood. at the same time, the president is saying that there are rules of war and want to make sure you are taking precautions to avoid hurting civilians. yesterday, people thought israel did this. now, the pentagon is saying it is not israel. this is not the is a really poor interview. it is the american point of. whenever there is a war and urban fighting, it will be very challenging. there will be a lots of tough conversations between the u.s. and israel during this war. >> david, you say conversations, but there were many conversations president biden was not able to have. many meetings were canceled. he was meant to meet others in the region. how much of a blow was that >> it is unfortunate it was
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canceled. it is based on what seems, according to u.s. sources, as an erroneous report in the arab world that made it seem like it was israel. that is why you had demonstratio. that is why the jordanians had to cancel. these are allies of the u.s. and also the palestinian authority on the west bank. i think the president would have gained from hearing those perspectives. it is unfortunate it was canceled. >> did the trick then achieve what it was intended to do? >> he will speak on the phone with these people. at the end of the day, whether he sits with cc and king abdullah of jordan or president abbas, he may secure a zoo meeting with them. >> but it is a snub. a zoom is never the same.
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>> it was not his decision to cancel. the decision was first president abbas could not go because of the attack. >> they snubbed them. >> the president did not snub the arabs. that is the key. >> but was the trip achieved in the end? he was going to aceve something and did not come home with that. >> there is no doubt he would've liked to but he cannot force his way into george and begin airspace -- into jordanian airspace if they say, because of the way the story was presented in the media, but it would be difficult to host him now. the president says this was done by -- the israelis say it was the islam jihad. this had a huge impact because of what you just said. >> david from the -- a former
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state department official. joining us now from the washington institute. let's bring breaking news. it has come to us from the u.k. foreign office which is now advising against all travel to lebanon. it says that you can see on the tweet from the travel advisory, "if you are currently in lebanon, we encourage you to leave right now while flights remain open." this comes after increasing activity near the lebanon border. the u.k. is advising against all travel again -- into lebanon. around the world and across the u.k., this is bbc news. let's take a look at other stories making the news. the inquest into the death of
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manchester arena bomber has turned to suicide. it was published today by the judge corner who shared the manchester arena inquiry. the request was potentially suicide while undertaking a terrorist attack that killed 22 people and injured many others. good prices have seen their first monthly fall in two years but fuel prices have risen. note, cheese, and egg prices all fell -- milk, cheese, and egg prices all fell. london's metropolitan police say the environmental campaign of greta thunberg has been charged with a public order offense after a protest tuesday. 26 people were charged with obstructing the highway after being asked to move. they failed to appear -- the are set to appear before court in
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november. bbc news. in lebanon, hundreds of people join the protest in the capital, beirut, organized in reaction to the attack of the hospital in gaza. forces used tear gas and water cannons to control protests in front of the u.s. embassy. the u.s. is pledging unconditional support for israel in its war in gaza. joining me to discuss all of this and more is bruce hoffman, a senior fellow at the council on foreign relations. we just had breaking news that came in for the u.k. foreign office, advising against all travel to lebanon. clearly, there are fears that this conflict could spill into the wider region. how concerned are you? bruce understaffed bruce: not quite -- bruce: i am not quite
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concerned. they basically said that they will not listen to others'councils for restraint. he said, "we are prepared and fully ready." in 2006, when there was a previous hamas and israel war, they jumped in and the war lasted 34 days. >> there are concerns because of hezbollah's support from horizon -- from iran. >> hezbollah is heavily depend on iran not just for finances but for weaponry. since the 2006 lebanon war, hezbollah has amassed from syrian and more patrons but also an arsenal of 130,000 to 150,000 rockets. >> what is the relationship between hamas and hezbollah?
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>> it is close and goes back several decades to 1992, when israel had which they thought would be a signal blow against the palestine and islamic jihad and ported 15 leaders and fighters of those organizations. and deposited them on a hillside in the middle of winter in lebanon. hezbollah arrested -- hezbollah arrest to their aid end bond was formed. i strongly suspect weapons were acquired from hezbollah. since then, there have been close relations. from the u.s. department's own figures, hamas and palestine jihad get up to $100 billion a year from iran. >> what do you think the redline might be, if there is one, to get a wider regional involvement? what do you think might trigger hezbollah's involvement?
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>> until yesterday, i would have said it was the launching of a ground invasion into gaza. as had been the case in 2006. however, as she reported, the still unconfirmed events surrounding the bombing in the hospital in gaza certaly give hezbollah a reason to attack, given the death toll there. >> since you are here and speaking to us as an american expert, what is your take on president biden's visit today? >> absolutely historic. i cannot recall where a president has gone into a zone. i think you have to go back to 1928 with president harry s truman. he made a statement that was so clear and strong a declaration in support of israel. >> bruce hoffman, senior fellow
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at the council of relations. thank you for joining and sharing your insights. there is plenty more on that story on our live paint on the bbc website. before i leave you, let's recap developing news that has come in from the u.k. foreign office. it is now advising against all travel to lebanon. i was just discussing with our guests bruce hoffman about some concerns about hezbollah and the wider region being brought into this conflict. the advisory says, if you are currently in lebanon, we encourage you to leave now while commercial options remain available. an advisory from the u.k. foreign office that's all travel to lebanon is now not being advised. just a reminder to recount what
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that tweet says if you are currently in lebanon. we encourage you to leave now while commercial options remain available. a reminder of some top stories this hour. israel says they will not work at the delivery of food and medicine to gaza as long as it does not reach hamas. this comes after president joe biden made a historic visit to israel 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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♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by...

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