tv BBC News America PBS October 18, 2023 5:30pm-6:00pm PDT
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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 per blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". ♪ >> ts is bbc world news america. president biden makes a trip to israel as he seeks to calm tensions ithe region. the trip ends with a deal to allow some humanitarian aid into gaza over a week into israel's siege into the strip. an explosion in a hospital has set off protests around the
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world. ♪ welcome to wor news america. president biden is on the way home from israel where he made a shorter than planned trip to ease tensions in the middle east. he announced a $100 million in aid to palestinians in gaza and reached a deal with israel's prime minister to allow humanitarian supplies into gaza as long as it does not reach hamas. the admission president nash the egyptian president has agreed to allow 20 trucks carrying aid in. the white house says the trucks will cross in the coming days after road repairs are made. the president previously planned to meet with arab leaders but the meeting was canceled shortly after an explosion that ripped
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through a crowded area at the al-ahli hospital, sparking widespread panic. the president met with the israeli prime minister to discuss gaza, the hostages held by hamas and a regional response to the violence. he focused on the rghly 200 hostages held by hamas which include some americans. >> there is no higher priority than the safe return of the hostages. for those who are leaving -- grieving, i know it feels like there is a black hole in the middle of your chest. the u.s. stands for the protection of civilian life during conflict. and i grieve for the families who are killed or wounded by this tragedy. the people of gaza need food, water, medicine, shelter. today i ask with -- i ask the israeli capital to agree to the
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delivery of humanitarian assistance to gaza. >> the deadly solution at the hospital set off protests across the world. in beirut there was a protest organized by hezbollah. protests also took place in iran, jordan, the west bank and turkey. the u.s. says based on its own assessment, israel is not responsible for yesterday's hospital blast. the bipartisan leaders of the senate intelligence committee also agreed. president biden acknowledged there were a lot people out there who were not so sure. and in the u.s. hundreds of protesters swarmed the u.s. capitol complex in washington dc demanding an immediate cease-fire. our partners at cbs news report that 300 people have been arrested.
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health officials in gaza say 471 people were killed in tuesday's blast. our correspondent has been to the site of the hospital in the heart of gaza city. we want to warn that this report contains distressing images. >> when i arrived to the hospital this morning, they were still collecting the dead. after the deadliest moment we have seen so far in gaza. erwere burned out cars after acute fire following last night blast. i was talking to one of the people who witnessed what the palestinians are calling a massacre. they were sitting in the garden peacefully and suddenly a huge explosion rocked in area. he said we are collecting bodies, injured people, serious
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injuries, using motorcycles. some people have been evacuated on foot from here. bloodsoaked mattresses only on the ground. children backpacks and it collapsed tent where people had been sleeping. doctors told us thousands were seeking shelter at the hospital when it happened. eyewitnesses say the hospital grounds were packed were people -- with people living under siege. people are collecting body pieces from underground. people are still in panic, they don't understand what has happened. fear, grief and anger. >> my message to the world,
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stand up for the right thing, don't be afraid of the americans, don't be afraid of israeli air forces. we will continue this fight until the last drop of blood. >> health officials are saying hundreds are dead, injured and missing. this is the moment of furor for this -- for palestinians, already traumatized by this war. >> president biden praised the egyptian president for his help to allow aid into gaza in the coming days. while traveling home to washington, biden says he deserved a lot of credit. the white house statement says the two leaders spoke by phone on tuesday and agreed to work together to help preserve the stability in the middle east. during may now to discuss visit is a formal specialist to the assistant secretary to near
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middle eastern affairs. thank you for joining us. looking at what has happened today in israel, president biden's trip, did he push netanyahu in terms of what the u.s. goals were? >> i don't think the purpose of this trip was to push, the purpose was to make a deposit, to show empathy, to show that he cared to the israelis so the push can come. what he did to was talk about the mistakes the u.s.-made after 9/11, the importance that as you look forward you need to be looking beyond the conflict. but i don't think this was a trip where he was trying to shape the israelis so much as get credit with the israelis so when the time comes to push, he will have the credit to use. >> initially the trip was supposed to involve the meeting with you and yahoo! and moving onto jordan -- meeting with
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netanyahu and moving onto jordan, that meeting was canceled. how did that shape the? outcome? >> it set back what he was trying to do, which was look beyond the conflict to the post-conflict environment. arab leaders are going to have to play an important role, giving legitimacy to whatever comes next. to create a longer-term situation in the region that provides stability without the arab leade there, that piece of the trip was me sing -- was missing. >> it seems to have not helped, but added to the protests we are seeing around the arab world. there was real anger. >> the baffling part of this is the information behind the protests seems not to have been
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good. we have not h serious israeli action in gaza like we expect to have in the coming days and weeks. what happens when that happens, and there is a genuine large-scale suffering and not what seems to be a palestinian islamic jihad rocket that goes astray, and unlikely that the number of people died in this attack? even so, the way social media is creating narratives, it does not matter if it is true, it is generally true, that can get hundreds of thousands of people into the street. we could be heading into a different political environment in the region. >> what would that look like? >> regional leaders need to demonstrate that they care about palestinians, i think regional leaders will have a role in legitimizing a post hamas government if everybody can get
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to that point. but bringing the public's along and getting a degree of understanding is important. what i saw in the quick decisions to blame israel for this strike is a sense that they feel they do not have much space now to go against where the public is. >> will we get to find out the truth about who was behind the strike? we have seen what u.s. intelligence has said is in line with israeli intelligence, which is the opposite of what the arab world is sayin >> i have looked at reports for u.s. intelligence, and my experience, 9/11 was different, and the erect nuclear program was different -- iraq nuclear program was different. when they tell me they see something with high confidence, i think you can take that to the bank. >> what do you think is going to
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happen next? >> it seems that there is going to be some sort of increase of israeli action. what the u.s. has been trying to do is think about where you want to be, and structure your actions now so i guess you there. in the u.s. learned a lot of that when they were fighting isis. it is not just about fighting somebody, it is nagging about where you want to be, how do you create an environment. because the military side only sets up the political side. exactly what the israelis do, i think americans will stay in touch, officials are talking to israelis, all of them had the iraq and syria experience in the background. the hope is we get to the post-conflict situation soon. >> we have seen the dod pushing troops on deployment standby, moving pieces of infrastructure
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into the area. is there a place in the future where there are american troops deployed to the region? >> i have a hard time seeing circumstances in which there would be u.s. forces in combat. when i spoke to u.s. pentagon officials, they said their job is to give the president options, but nobody thinks it is a good idea to have american combat versus engaged. what we are trying to do is get to the post-conflict environment where there is a different future for gaza and israel and more security. i just don't know how quickly we will be there. >> thank you for joining us without analysis, we will talk to you again i am sure. the u.s. treasury department announced new sanctions against hamas on wednesday for the surprise attack on israel two weeks ago. 10 group members, officers and
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facilitators were targeted as financial sources. that apartment says hamas lies on a small donations through cryptocurrency but these sanctions can no longer access funds held in the u.s.. the treasury secretary said they will take steps necessary to deny hamas terrorists the ability to raise and use of funds to carry out atrocities. she carried on that includes by imposinganctions and coordinating with allies and partners to track, freeze and it any hamas related assets in their jurisdictions. to give us context of what these systems will look like for those in gaza, i spoke to a formal political advisor to the palestinian authority. thank you so much for joining us. if i could get your reaction to the deal that has been agreed today that food, water and
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medicine will be allowed through the crossing, no fuel, what is your view? >> first of all i think this is definitely an important development. people in gaza need those basic necessities. this is a triumph for u.s. diplomacy, it was president biden who pushed for it. and a triumph for egyptian diplomacy that has been consistent and firm when it comes to this issue. as we all know, the need for more than 2 million palestinian civilians in gaza -- the gaza strip was in a dire humanitariaa welcome first step. >> president biden was do to meet abbas, why was that canceled? >> after the tragic incident yesterday at the hospital in
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gaza, the amount of anger and the palestinian streets, the jordanian streets, it was not time for diplomacy. we saw major demonstrations in oregon, and elsewhere -- in jordan and elsewhere. given the grief and emotion, the time might not be good, certainly people like abbas, don't want to be vulnerable to attacks from their opposition saying you are sitting with the americans who are pro-israel. so the political environment made it impossible. >> when you mentioned that the u.s. has been pro-israel, is that the view that people will come away from after his trip today? >> certainly. this is not new, this is not speculation, the u.s. has said
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from day one that they support israel this is a strategic relationship based on both the depth of the relationship and american perception that this attack is part of a larger regional dynamic. the u.s. is clearly supporting israel, this is a fact. this comes with benefits. but also comes with liabilities in terms of the view of the arab street of the u.s.. >> president biden saying that the intelligent such that the u.s. reads it says the attack on the hospital was not an israeli one, that is not a view that is shared by arab leaders. what impact will that have? >> that is a view that goes against the arabs, hamas says the u.s. is complicit by adopting the israeli narrative.
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i personally believe that this information comes from the pentagon, and the intelligence community, it should be looked at seriously. that said, when arab leaders reacted, they were reacting for a night to their own street. the arab street is convinced this is israel's fault. and arab leaders cannot afford to counter that. we have to understand they also have their own political sensitivities and dynamics they have to attend to. >> seeing the level of protests we are seeing today, are you concerned that we might be seeing the conflict spreading? >> i am concerned, all of the focus has been on will run come
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in, hezbollah, lebanon, etc.. what we are seeing is the disruption and destabilization of arab allies of the u.s. and the west in general. i don't think we have yet to the point of crisis. i believe these donstrations will be managed. but if we assume this war is going to go on for a long time, this pressure will build up, there has to be messaging and policies that deal with this. among these has to be the humanitarian aspect in gaza and the safety of the civilians. we are in this for the long haul and it has a threat of escalating. >> we leave it there for the moment. thank you so. joining us now is bbc state department correspondent, what
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is your assessment of the value of this trip we saw, and emotional about talking about the loss of life? >> it was important that he got that agreement to unblock aid into gaza through egypt. it was important politically for the israeli prime minister because his government is being blamed for not being prepared for the attacks. it was important for israeli citizens because they are traumatized by the attack and this mensuration of solidarity is significant for them. his emotional identification, he talked about their grief, he talked about the holocaust and 9/11. he also cautioned about letting their rage and emotions consume them. u.s. officials were saying he was going to be necking the same
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kinds of -- to be making those same kinds of statements to the leadership in private to get a clear strategy on the goals of the military campaign. >> this trip was going to carry risks for the u.s. president, what are the implications now that it has played out? >> it places president biden solidly and israel's corner of the most explosiveoment in the israel hamas war because of this got the hospital attack. it is very much a gamble because of that. president biden is a visceral politician, he believes in the power of face to face meetings, there was a suggestion it would give him a leverage to steer them away from a maximum war of revenge. we knowhe americans are concerned about israel's deterrence of value given that
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the hamas attack they believe made it look weak to its enemies and they want to show that israel stands in its corner. but it does mean that president biden is going to be tied to whatever happens in gaza, which has already been damaging. it means that arab protesters who are already angry at israel are getting more angry at the u.s.. >> when you mentioned those protests and the u.s. standing firmly with israel, what does that mean for the perception of the u.s. in the area for arab u.s. relations? >> i think no matter what the americans are able to negotiate with regards to aid, what the arabs will see is the photograph of president biden hugging the israeli prime minister. they had already felt that the americans re giving the green light to israel, they are furious over this hospital explosion, they blame israel.
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biden shows solidarity, says it was not the israelis, it might have been a history palestinian rocket. all of that reinforces the anger, it is not just the street , america's arab allies are pulling back. you saw the summit canceled, hugh had criticism from one of america's arab allies at the u.n. when the americans vetoed a resolution that would have created america -- humanitarian pauses in cause a because it did not mention israel's right to self-defense. it makes this environment more complicated. >> thank you very much for that. let's go back to israel for the latest on the -- jeremy joins us now from southern israel. you have described earlier that this trip was going to be a gamble. has it paid off? >> i think it has for president
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biden to a degree because he has arranged this humanitarian access from egypt into gaza. it is incomplete and though far -- insofar as it does not include fuel. hospitals need fuel. that is something which at the moment does not seem to be in the agreement. there are questions, how much will be allowed in and will the israelis insist on searching it which could be a problem for egypt. >> you mentioned the humanitarian aid coming in, is this the beginning of an alleviation to the crisis? >> it is i dilution -- a dilution. the volumes needed will not be sufficient. it will help people in the south, there is no suggestion that they will be trucked further north.
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the israelis have asked strongly to get out for their own safety. a briefing at the security council recently happened by the u.n. special envoy for the middle east. if you find out online and read it, it makes sobering reading, talking about the middle east potentially going into an abyss, and international failure going back 100 years to solve this crisis, this conflict equitably. and a real fear that the war could expand to include other parts of the region. i am afraid not a great deal of that is bright but certainly good news that some humanitarian aid will be getting into ga. >> thank you very much for that.
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we will continue our coverage on the war and its impact across the region on our website at bbc.com/news and the bbc news app. we have news and analysis from our teams on the ground in israel, gaza and right around the world, you can keep up to date there. thank you for watching world news america, take care, goodbye. ♪ 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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