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america. the u.s. secretary general says because it is becoming a graveyard for children and strikes continue -- says causes become a graveyard for children as the stress continues. former u.s. president donald trump took the stand to deny allegations of widespread fraud in some heated exchanges. ♪ >> welcome to world news america, israel's airstrikes on the gaza strip intensify with the saying they are targeting hamas infrastructure. the israeli military says it has a 400 50 hamas targets in the past 24 hours including antitank missile launch pads. president biden spoke with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and rose the possibility of a tactical pause of the fighting in gaza.

10,022 people have been killed in the territory as israel's campaign began. israel says it is targeting hamas, the group responsible for the october 7 attack that killed more than 1400 people and seized over 200 hostages. our international editor has more from southern israel. >> israel promised mighty vengeance. and plundered across gaza city. israel's justification is defending the living as well as avenging its dead. palestinians call this genocide. >> [speaking another language] >> this girl is asked what happened to her, she says missile came down on us. i asked where is my dad? my mother? >> [speaking another language]. >> she is asked where were you?

i was here in the house, i was at home and the roof came down on us. we looked in on the war this afternoon from the closest of israeli border town. israel's ruthless campaign in gaza is powered by the way hamas killed more than 1400 and took well over 200 hostages. this was beach refugee camps in gaza city where israeli stripes killed dozens during the night. most indians reject israel's justifications for killing -- most reject israel's justifications for killing. living in their cars, some of the more than one million displaced palestinians hoping for safety and not finding it. >> our home where we used to feel comfort and security was destroyed by rockets in an instant. we came here in hope to find

safety and security. that does not exist. we survive death to find death again. >> the israelis seem to be making steady progress in terms of territory inside of the gaza strip at the cost of a large number of civilian lives. israel has set itself an objective, begging for the hamas can no longer threaten the lives of their civilians. does the president believe that can be achieved by purely military means? or longer term or israelis prepared to try to get a political deal with the palestinians to try to end the conflict once and for all? from flying jackets in baghdad to turkey, antony blinken, the u.s. secretary of state is back in the region. >> we know the deep concern here for the terrible toll that gaza

is taking on palestinians, on men, women, and children in gaza and civilians. a concern that we share and we are working on every single day. we will engage the israelis on steps they can take to minimize civilian casualties. >> the only way out of this for the u.s. and others as an independent palestine alongside israel. an old idea that two decades of talks could not deliver. the horrors of the last month and those to come will make it even harder to achieve. bbc news in southern israel. >> the biden administration says it is continuing to step up its diplomacy in the middle east to secure humanitarian pause between israel and hamas. along with antony blinken's visit to the region, william burns spent monday in israel meeting with officials. he is expected to visit qatar,

dorton, and the uae during his visit. mr. blinken says the u.s. is working aggressively to get additional aid to gaza and free the hostages held by hamas. i spoke with our diplomatic correspondent who gave us an update from on the ground in israel. israeli forces have said they have essentially cut gaza in two. what have they been saying about their operations today? >> they are saying that they are pressing forward in the northern part of the gaza strip into the most densely built up and populated part of the gaza strip. gaza city and the surrounding area including two refugee camps. while we have seen in the last two -- what we have seen in the past couple of days is intense and urban fighting as they push in and the problem that the israelis will face more and more is the fact that there are still three, maybe 400,000 civilians trapped in the northern part of

the gaza strip. they're going to be in the way and so, as the israelis push in they will have to deal with this problem. all sorts of strategic locations around hospitals and u.n. schools, places where the israelis believe that hamas, or hiding, using civilians as human shields. there is this large population of palestinian civilians. that will be incredibly difficult for the israeli military to manage. >> we are seeing the hamas run health ministry in gaza saying that more than 10,000 palestinians have been killed. we have seen the calls for a cease-fire growing and humanitarian pauses. does any of the having an impact on how israel views its operations? >> not obviously, not yet, these figures are just mind blowing. i think viewers may think it is the middle east and the gaza strip and they have been to war

before, it has never been anything like this, 10,000 palestinians killed, a figure from the hamas run health ministry but it is a figure that most observers here think is probably credible and when you look at the images that come out from the gaza strip day by day, it is hard not to think that many thousands of people as indeed been killed. -- have indeed been killed. we have not seen any moves towards a cease-fire, not even humanitarian pauses that antony blinken and other officials are being talking -- have been talking about for days. windows were a short period of time in a specific location the fighting might stop so that aid could get in, there was once more examples of that last night where the jordanians managed to airdropped some aid to a hospital in the gaza strip and there was apparently a brief lull while that happened. that is the only sign of that so far. >> good to get your insights

from the ground, thank you. the united nations secretary general continue to call for a cease-fire on monday, he launched a $1.2 billion or 971 million pound italian appeal to help millions of palestinians -- humanitarian appeal to help millions of palestinians. >> gaza is becoming a graveyard for children. hundreds of girls and boys are being killed or injured every day. more generally, every -- more been killed than any conflict in three decades. the united nations aids workers have been killed more than any comparable period in the history of our organization >>. more than 4000 palestinian children have been killed since the war began a month ago. a report of the children

suffering in gaza. >> they can choose what they witness. -- you cannot choose what they they cannot choose what they witness. their grief of their elders, this child was killed by an airstrike on october 27. she came late in the life of her parents. reaching now for the comfort of memory. >> [speaking another language]

>> for 4 weeks we have recorded the impact of the war on children. those who survive live with the trauma. there is another story that speaks of gaza's children and alarming. 12 years ago they created a world record for kite flying, a transcendent moment. even now, amid all of the war, there is also resilience. children making walls of their own within the war. -- words of their own within the war.

this girl finds comfort with her family when the bombing starts. my mother because my brother and sisters to hold them and we hold each other's hands. in the hospital staff are the children of refugees, surgical gloves make little balloons. this is after one of the heaviest nights of airstrikes yet. that another part of the hospital, more of gaza's children are being warned. little children. [crying]

who can console who here? bbc news, jerusalem. >> more than 1400 israeli families were told that at least one of their relatives was killed in the hamas attack four weeks ago, one of the families included tom's hand who has informed his eight-year-old daughter emily had died in the massacre. during the time he was relieved she had not been taken hostage but now he has been told she could in fact be alive. ♪ >> innocent little angel. >> losing a child is a loss like no other. >> she could read music already. >> a grave so profound. -- grief so profound.

he was told his daughter emily had been killed in the hamas attack's on october 7. his response was that of a loving father. wanting nothing but the best for his dear child. >> the weirdest thing for a parent to hear that their child is dead. and you are relieved. [laughter] i just i knew she was not in gaza. i knew she was not terrified out of her life. i knew that she was not going to be in anymore pain or stress. it was all over for her. >> the majority of us are here. >> in all of the darkness there is light. thomas has been told that there is no proof emily is actually dead. with all of the evidence suggesting she was taken to gaza. that flame of hope that she might be home one day now banishes all fears.

>> heartbreaking moment. you said a number of things. how do you feel about that now? >> in some ways i regret that view. >> you regret it? >> some of the things i said, yes. some things that might have put her in danger. we move on. now, the strong possibility that she is in gaza and being held captive. now it is hope. we can only hope we get her back alive. it is her birthday this month. 17th. she will not even know it is her birthday. she will not know it is her birthday, no party or friends celebrating.

she would just still be there, living in terror every day. we just want her back. we want to see her again. love her again. poker again. kiss her again. never let her out of my sight again. >> here in the u.s., donald trump took the stand in a trial accusing him of civil fraud. making for a tense day in new york city court. the former president and current front runner for the republican nomination in 2024 is accused of fraudulently inflating the value of his properties to secure favorable loans. donald is facing a $250 million fine as well as restrictions that would prevent him from doing business in new york. he clashed with the judge overseeing the trial during his testimony.

the judge, arthur engoron one of the president to answer the questions put to him and not treat his court appearance like a political rally. donald trump argued about his company's evaluations and denied any wrongdoing. the former president has repeatedly called the case a witch hunt and accused arthur engoron and letitia james of political bias. we can speak to leslie, a former assistant attorney general in the department of justice's criminal division. good to see you. i want to start with these heated exchanges that we saw in the new york court today. do you think that the former president damaged his case at all by clashing with the very judge to is going to be the one to decide the verdict? >> i think from his perspective, no. he has already lost the case. the judge has ruled against him. i think he is playing to a

different audience that is not sitting in the courtroom. trying to portray himself as a victim of an unfair prosecution. that appears to be resonating with some people. i think that is his strategy. he does not have control over what happens with this particular case. >> the judge has made clear that there could be consequences for these exchanges. could he find donald trump in contempt of court? >> certainly, that would be possible. depending on the facts. i think it is unlikely given who he is and the collateral consequences that can follow from that. if you ultimately hold him and content -- him in contempt, you need to put him in jail or something. that would be not worth the angst that would it would cost. >> that is an interesting point. donald trump's lawyers are

saying he is not getting a fair trial. they donald trump. ruled he has inflated the value of his properties. is that complaint true? >> this is a civil case, no criminal case. the judge found that there was base to include that there was fraud and the only issue is what is the damage from the and the financial penalty and the other consequences that flow from that. that is quite normal in a civil case for part of the case to be adjudicated before the actual trial and remaining issues are adjudicated at the trial. >> we saw the former president indicating that they might make a motion for a mistrial. when they have a case? dashboard they have a case -- would they have a case? >> they are trying to make it based on comments that the judge

made to his courtroom deputy or partly that seems to be the basis. i do not think that is a successful motion for a mistrial. certainly not, emotionally, it will be made to the judge. they will not be successful with him. i do not think it is likely to succeed. >> what about the defense we heard from donald trump and his sons over the properties that they owned? they were massively overvalued because they had trusted their accountants? is that a valid defense? >> you can argue that you relied on professionals such as lawyers or accountants to advise you. there seems to also be some conflicting testimony from other witnesses about how the evaluations were reached. mr. trump would set at what he would want something to be worth out of it would be reversed engineered to achieve that number. that is not relying on your accountants. >> what are you looking out for in the coming days? the former president's daughter

is excited to testify. >> i understand that she will be testifying next. then i think the attorney general will say that her team is resting their case fairly shortly after that. i know that there has been some talk about donald trump's cycling bankers to say that they either did not rely on the financial statements or they have no objection to the way that this was conducted. we will see if that happens or if the president's side because the other witnesses. >> very good to get your perspective, thank you for joining us. >> thank you, my pleasure. >> more details on the ground from new york, our correspondent is there, he is cataloguing all of the twists and turns on the ground there. there were heated exchanges in court, we have been witnessing

it. what stood out to you? >> this is no legal strategy. that is what is very clear. we know that the judge is already ash has already reached a summary judgment and repeated fraud on behalf of donald trump's organizations. in this sense the legal side of this in some ways is a bit wrapped up. this was a political performance by the former president. we expected that. he did go on the offensive from the stand. attacking the judge, pointing at the attorney general in court saying that she was a political hack and being admonished by the judge. the judge even saying that donald trump's lawyers if you do not control him i will. it was a pretty fiery day as we expected. once he came off of the stand, afterwards, attacking the whole process. really shaping this as part of a political attempt to undermine

him in the election interference. all messaging he messaging for his supporters. >> that is the political side of it, what about the legal aspect? what is donald trump's defense. >> that is a good question too. interestingly, he took a slightly different tactic from his two sons. they said this is donald junior and eric. we left all the rest of to the accountant. nothing to do with us. do not know what we are talking about. donald trump was more engaged and he did acknowledge changing the evaluation of his apartment in trump tower when it was pointed out that it was about the third of the size he claimed it to be. he acknowledged that. he went on the attack for the evaluation and other properties like mar-a-lago. he said it was worth between 1 billion and $1,000,000,005 as he put it. it was near a $20 million segment.

he did engage in some of that. the problem for him of course is what we are looking at here is not just a big fine as they called it in the civil cases come up to $250 million, we are looking at it as these licenses are removed to do business in the state of new york. losing control of iconic buildings like 40 wall st or trump tower, not being able to operate here. that is the absolute call of the donald trump brand. donald trump's identity. >> if that is what is at stake, what do you think is the impact here for the donald trump family for this organization and the former president if you were to lose this trial? -- if he were to lose this trial? >> i think you have seen what he will do. he will frame this as a part of the wider attack on him. the political attack. he suggested at times that joe

biden was involved in bringing this prosecution for which he was not. it was done by the attorney general here in new york. that is part of the election strategy. this is part of a reelection strategy. the curious thing is that the polls in recent days, interesting polls in the swing states, they have shown donald trump ahead of joe biden in some of the sun belt states like arizona and georgia and up in the rust belt, but they showed him suffering from those people who if he is convicted do not believe he will be fit to be president. >> interesting point that you make. in new york tonight, thank you so much, gary. thank you for watching world news america, stay with us. ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james.

man: bdo. accountants and advisors. 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. on "the newshour" tonight -- israeli forces close in on gaza