♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned.

brk: these are people who are trying to change the world. startups have this energy that energizes me. i'm thriving by helping others everyday. people who know, know bdo. 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". anchor: this is bbc world news america. fighting is reported near gaza's hospitals as israeli tanks and air strength -- airstrikes close in. they say they don't fire on spittle's. french president called on israel to stop bombing in an exclusive interview with the bbc. >> i think this is the only

solution we have, cease-fire. it is impossible to explain we won't fight by killing innocent people. anchor: and could next weeks method -- meeting between present biden and the chinese president change things? we will take a look. welcome to world news america. we begin and gaza, israeli tanks are operating around the main hospital amid reports of explosions, gunfire and people trapped inside. the palestinian red crescent says is real snipers opened fire at a nearby hospital and hamas officials claim deadly airstrikes struck the biggest hospital in gaza. its director has accused israel of launching a war on medical facilities. israel has repeatedly accused hamas of operating from tunnels

under the hospital, which hamas denies. an israeli spokesman said they do not fire on hospitals but if they see hamas fires shooting from them they will target the militants. this as palestinians continue to flee the fighting with more than 100,000 people moving from north to south along designated evacuation routes the past few days according to the idf. the death toll in gaza has soared past 11,000. palestinian health officials say since isel's operation against hamas began. it has taken weeks to identify some victims with israel revising its death toll down slightly to 1200. more than 200 people are still being held hostage inside gaza. the french president told the bbc israel must "stop the bombing in gaza" in an exclusive interview. he said a cease-fire would benefit israel while recognizing

israel's right to protect itself. >> we've had weeks of aid organizations sounding the alarm about gaza and you say that humanitarian pauses in fighting are not enough and there needs to be worked toward a cease-fire. are you disappointed other world leaders are not joining you in that call, the u.s. or u.k.? >> i hope they will. let's be clear, i was one of the first to call israel after the terrorist attack on october 7. we condemned the attack and we recognize the right of israel to protect itself and react. because israel is led by democracy it should be compliant with international rules, war and humanitarian law.

they after day we seen bombing of civilians in gaza. i think it is very important to see the whole story. but i think this is the only solution we have. this cease-fire. because it is impossib to explain we won't fight against terrorism by killing innocent people. >> you talked about the fight against terrorism needing to be merciless but not without rules. you just referred to the high loss of civilian life in gaza. do you think israel is respecting the international rules you are referring to? >> look, in the very first days it is clear the emotion created a situation where everybody was just close to israel and backing

them and sharing the pain. and we do share the pain and the willingness to get rid of terrorism. we know what terrorism means in france. but i think there is no justification to attack civilians. >> what i would like to clarify with you, are you saying israel is guilty of breaking international humanitarian law? potential war crimes? >> look, i think it's not the proper way to approach the question. we do recognize their right to protect themselves. one month after this terrorist attack i think it would be not the right way to deal with a partner and friend just to say you will be condemned and are guilty. defective, civilians --

civilians are bombed, babies and old people are killed. there's no reason for that. we urge israel to stop. i am not a judge, i am a head of state. i just remind everybody of international law and i call for a cease-fire and i will urge them for a cease-fire. anchor: israel has reportedly rejected causes -- calls for a cease-fire. i've been speaking with our correspondent in jerusalem for the latest on the military operation. what is israel saying about strikes on hospitals? reporter: israel says it does not hit hospitals as a matter of policy. they also say that the hospital is being used for military purposes by an armed group, that hospital is a legitimate target,

provided you give warning you plan to attack it. the israeli army radio tonight said a projectile that hit hospital earlier today was, according to the radio report, launched by a militant organization, either hamas or islamic jihad. there was a similar incident veral weeks ago at another hospital where the israelis said a strike on the hospital have been caused by an errant palestinian missile. that's what they are saying about this incident today. but the fact of the matter is they are now focusing their military activity very close to these hospitals because they say that is where hamas have some key facilities, including what they alledge to be underground bunkers below the hospital. it was inevitable the is really military would move in close to

these hospitals and they would become increasingly precarious places for the civilians in and around them. anchor: at the same time we know some of those civilians have gone to these hospitals seeking a safe place, so what do we know about how they are managing these hospitals or even managing to function at this point? reporter: we get the impression some people have left, some of the civilians sheltering in the vicinity of some of those hospitals. inside, the scenes are grim. we keep seeing videos of corridors and wards of people. some of them just lying on stretchers or blankets on the floor. there is blood everywhere. there are people in shock and extreme distress everywhere, and a staff trying and probably by now failing to deal with this horrendous humanitarian situation.

they still seem to have some power, they still seem able to function to appoint but they are warning, and indeed the red cross was warning today that the entire health care system in gaza city is really on the brink of collapse. i think the israelis will be acutely conscious that they cannot see sitting on the outskirts of these hospitals -- cannot be sitting on the outskirts of these hospitals a long time while the situation inside deteriorates further. something has to change relatively soon. anchor: israel says it wants civilians to move south. is it still possible to do so? reporter: yes, we seen many thousands of people on the road leaving from gaza city to the southern part of the gaza sip, that is a road the israelis have elaborately kept open for several hours the last few days to encourage cilians to leave. i think one of the problems is just getting to that road from some of these besieged locations

is precarious. we saw a video earlier today of a crowd of people, a lot of them waving whi flags, trying to leave a different hospital compound only to find themselves facing volleys of gunfire. don't know where the gunfire came from. they had to retreat back inside in a state of panic. it is very difficult for people to move outside of these hospital areas in a way that is remotely safe. but clearly some are. anchor: paul, thank you. un aid agencies have warned nowhere is safe in southern gaza despite israel's call for peopl to evacuate their from the north. our correspondent is in southern gaza, where he has seen a steady stream of displaced palestinians. he sent this update earlier. reporter: a huge number of people flee from gaza city in the north and they made the

journey walking the road, the main highway to the south. many hundreds of them arrived to the hospital today and make it difficult for people to live in the hospital. the hospital is overwhelmed by thousands of people living on top of each other, begging for water and food. the hospital is suffering because of the number of people using the hospital as shelter. when you asked the people they say we couldn't find anywhere else to go. schools are closed. full of people, thousands of people in schools. thousands of people taking any space of land empty as shelter, without cover or clothes. they were only allowed to walk carrying essentials from gaza city to the south. the fighting is serious, around 40 hospitals in gaza city,

especially where there are tanks. anchor: theonflict has led to growing anger and unrest in the wider region and now the biden administration reportedly received stark warnings from american diplomats in the arab world that support for israel's military campaign in gaza "is losing us the arab public for generation." the cable underscores profound concern among american officials about the growing anger against the united states. earlier i put those concerns to the former american ambassador to turkey and iraq. we are seeing these four our daily pauses and negotiate -- infighting, negotiating toward longer pauses but israel still rejecting a cease-fire. do you see this as a first step toward somehow slowing or stopping the conflict? >> not necessarily because i don't understand what the focuses on stopping the conflict.

the most important thing in the middle east today is hamas be destroyed as a governing and particularly military force in gaza. not only the view of the israelis but the united states cap -- united states, our european allies. the cost of the struggle is something that needs to be brought under control, but we should not let the purpose of the fighting be dismissed because of real concerns about the humanitarian situation. anchor: more than 10,000 people have died in gaza during the fight. how can israel carry out the operation as you've said, you see it necessary to eradicate hamas. how can the israelis do so without such ending -- such an immense loss of life? >> there are ways in the united states has advised them they can take certain steps and use different ordinance. the problem is, and i experience that in the attack on fallujah in 2004, muzzle in 20, -- in

2016. i was in a city when an enemy terrorist force entered and used civilians as human shields. there is tremendous destruction and high civilian casualties. nonetheless they can be reduced and that's what we are pushing israel to do. anchor: we have also spoken to family members of those who have been taken hostage inside gaza and they have also said somehow these airstrikes in gaza are not helping the aim of getting hostages released. what is your response? >> that may be, but what i've not heard, and it has been many days since the secretary of state has said that the purpose of the fighting is to defeat the hamas threat to the existence of israel. that is a real fear on the part of the israeli people and for good reason. i don't know how they will do

that if they stop fighting. anchor: what about the analysts who make the point that defeating hamas politically and militarily will be extremely difficult to achieve? >> that's what i call the classic counterterrorism argument. it has a lot of validity but it is wrong because it is what we did not do in the obama and trump administrations against the islamic state and i was the person responsible on the civilian side for that for the u.s. government. we took them on as a military force. the primary goal with the attacks in syria and other battles was to destroy it as a governing and military force capable of threaning literally the existence of iraq and the syrian democratic forces in northeast syria. it still exists as terrorist cells and the ideology is still there and i'm sure that will be the case with hamas.

the point is, it won't be able to do in the future what it did to israel on the seventh of october just like the islamic state was not able to roll over half of iraq like 2014. that's the purpose the israelis are trying to accomplish. anchor i also want to ask about the region. we've seen cnn reporting the biden administration has received stark warnings from american diplomats in the arab world that it's strong support for israel's military campaign in gaza is turning the arab public away from the u.s. for a generation. what do you think of that? >> i spent much of my time in the middle east and i appreciate my colleagues providing honest reporting but i will say never thought we had the arab public support. when i was in iraq, well after the fighting had ended, we were down around 10% or 50% of the

population indicated something positive about us. we've seen the same reactions. we saw them in 2000 3, 1991 with the first gulf war. and after 2001 with afghanistan. i don't want to belittle these, they are important developments and concerns but that should not be the primary driver of washington decision-making. anchor: if there is a push for peace, if there is to be an end to the conflict, can the u.s. be an honest broker in the region? >> we made a huge mistake with strategically devastating effects on the region in 2003 going into iraq. you remember how we were condemned. yet look at the role in the region such as mobilizing the east asian community, look at

what we've done in ukraine. i think we will take some hits diplomatically. i would point out two things. the six arab countries that have diplomatic relations and economic ties with israel and lebanon has a recent offshore gas deal with israel, none of them have broken off any of their ties. they have pulled ambassadors but they are still maintaining a relationship. anchor: thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. anchor: to other news, the u.s. and china confirmed on friday their leaders will meet next week in the san francisco bay area. the summit will take place on the sidelines of the asia-pacific economic cooperation conference. it will be their second face-to-face meeting during the biden presidency and follows a sharp deterioration of relations earlier this year. u.s. officials said the main goal of th meeting is to manage the relationship by ensuring communication channels are open especially between militaries

good china cut off communication channels after nancy pelosi visited taiwan in 2022. the biden administration has pressed to restore them after the u.s. shutdown and alleged chinese spy balloon in february. for more, we have our state department correspondent here in the studio. always good to have you. it was just about a year ago that these presidents meet ♪ -- met in bali and since then things have deteriorated, especially with the spy balloon. reporter: i remember the incident very well because antony blinken canceled her trip to china over it and i was already en route to beijing when i heard it wasn't happening. that visit was supposed to continue those efforts to reduce tensions that xi jinping and joe biden have started. instead, tensions ramped way up. when the dust settled, the biden

administration did a lot of damage control, a diplomatic blitz, sending three cabinet officials to beijing, not just mr. binkley -- mr. blinken, who did end up going. i will say in terms of what you said aut military to military communications, the administration said the balloon incident highlighted the problem this communication had been cut. when the secretary of defense and to call his counterpart about the balloon, no one picked up the phone. the administration is very keen to get those restored. anchor: what is the aim of the meeting in california? reporter: there might be some achievements like maybe those communications between the militaries will be restored, that's been pushed for. maybe there will be more cooperation on narcotics fighting, especially reducing the flow of fentanyl produced in china, but really none of the fundamental issues, the fundamental disagreements have changed. none has shifted on them,

trade and territorial disputes in human rights and all sorts of things. don't think other side is expecting a breakthrough or reset in relations, it's really about managing the relationship prevent conflict and that means the two sides talking to each other. not just at the highest level. at the highest level for sure, but also at the institutional level and there's been some progress in that in recent months. anchor: we keep hearing the secretary of state saying they need to put guardrails on the relationship with china. still taiwan a big source of tension, as are china's actions in the south china sea. how will these tensions be addressed do you think in this meeting? reporter: those are two of the main fundamental issues and i expect they will be addressed in the way that both sides continue to view them. taiwan is probably the biggest issue for china because it claims that territory as its own and the united states doesn't have diplomatic relations with taiwan but very robust

unofficial relations and gives it weapons so it's always a source of tension. there will be an election next year so it could be even more of a source of tension. it's possible xi jinping will look for more reassurances from the united states it doesn't support independent taiwan, perhaps a public declaration. i think mr. biden will repeat u.s. concerns about very assertive, aggressive the americans at say, military action by the chinese near taiwan in recent months. the south china sea, also the chinese are very assertive about their disputed territorial claims and the americans have become much more vocal about supporting their own allies in these disputes could one thing officials have said to expect is joe biden will probably express a specific commitment to the security of the philippines because the chinese have been taken action -- taking action there. anchor: the one area where the sides say they seem to be able to work together is climate change? reporter: that's the area where

they have the most potential to work together. anchor: our state department correspondent, barbara. thank you for your analysis. let's turn to some important news around the world. australia is offering climate refuge to the citizens of a pacific island nation in a la marque agreement after 280 people per year will be granted new visas to live, work and study iaustralia. it's the first time it will offer residency to foreign nationals because of climate change. the island is among the most at risk -- risk for rising sea levels. in the u.k., thousands of people are expected in london for a pro-palestinian protest on a day when veterans will also gather for armistice day. this follows were marks by the home secretary that called into question the metropolitan police handling of pro-palestinian protests.

just seven days left before the u.s. federal government shuts down and republicans in the housof representatives are struggling with a plan to keep the government running. the speaker is trying to provide a short-term spending measure but has yet to release any details. current funding is set to expire on november 17. drone footage from japan has captured a rare moment when a volcanic corruption gives birth to a new island. the unnamed undersea volcano started its latest eruptions at the end of october. the island measured 100 meters in diameter and was as high as 65 feet or 20 meters above the sea. experts say the new island, just have a kilometer off of iwo jima, has shrunk because it's complete formation made it vulnerable to erosion.

we will look at some pictures here right now taking place. we are waiting for an announcement from sag-aftra, union the represents actors. earlier this week there was the announcement they had reached a deal with studios to end the actors strike that has been going on since july. there will hopefully be an announcement soon on whether union members have agreed. thank you for watching world news narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding waalso 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. ♪ >> good evening. tonight, bombing is closer to hospitals in gaza city. making conditions for civilians even more desperate. the number of journalists killed also rises. >> that means that our ability to understand what is happening in gaza and the west bank is diminishing. >> demand outpaces supply for a treatment to protect children from rsv.