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states devastated by hurricane helene. and the standoff continues as for the 40,000 port workers on strike for a third day in a row in the u.s. ♪ hello and welcome to world news america. i'm caitriona perry. we start with the situation in the middle east. u.s. president biden he does not believe an israeli attack on iran is imminent. he told reporters at the white house that nothing was going to happen today, but in an off-the-cuff remark, mr. biden said the u.s. was discussing possible israeli strikes on iranian oil facilities. the cost of brent crude oil jumped 5% after he made that remark. following joe biden's comments, the u.s. state department spokesperson said the u.s. is committed to israel's defense. >> we think it is appropriate

israel is bringing terrorists to justice and launching these limited incursions, at least at this point. we will see how that unfolds over the coming days. ultimately our goal is a diplomatic resolution. where we want to see this go is un security counsel 1701, which has never been fully implemented, implemented, so you have security on both sides of the border and the ability for lebanese and israeli civilians to return to their home. caitriona: amid concerns that conflicts in gaza and lebanon could escalate into a regional war, one of the most senior leaders of hamas said the palestinian militant group's october 7 attacks on israel, which killed more than 1200 people, were necessary he said to put the issue of palestinian statehood back on the global agenda. hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by the u.s. and many other governments. he spoke to our international

editor, jeremy bowen. jeremy: with an israeli attack looming, iran and its allies are trying to rally. the iranian president was in qatar, embracing the political leadership of hamas, whose attack on israel last october started a year of war and a crisis that is deepening. he became the most senior hamas leader outside gaza after israel assassinated his predecessor in july. his leg was broken in the attack and he was still in a surgical boot when we met him in doha, a few hours before iran attacked israel on tuesday. let us go back to the seventh of october last year. why did hamas attack israel? >> we had to sound an alarm to the world, to tell them we are a people with a cause and demands. it was a blow to israel and a

wake-up call to the international community. we had to tell the world that people have been under occupation for decades. jeremy: why did your men kill so many civilians, children as well? >> we ordered our resistance fighters on the seventh of october not target civilians, women and children. the objective was the occupation soldiers, who were destroying in gaza. we don't endorse harming civilians. on the ground there were certainly personal mistakes and actions. the fighters may have felt their lives were in danger. jeremy: your men were not in danger. they were standing with terrified civilians sitting on the ground and standing over them with weapons. that is not a battle. >> we have all seen how the fighters went into the houses and spoke to the families. they ate and drank. >> sorry, they were shooting them. there are videos. >> when they went into some of the houses, none and the women

and children were terrified. those views were published by the israeli occupation, not us. jeremy: almost a year later, gaza is in ruins, more than 40,000 dead, many of them civilians. your capacity to fight israel has been massively diminished. was it worth all of that? >> it was the occupation and its army who destroys gaza, who killed its people. who is now killing civilians in shelters, schools and hospitals? ask the world and those who created international law. we are defending ourselves. if 1200 people from the occupation are killed, how does that justify israel killing 50,000 people and destroying all of gaza? isn't that enough for them? they are motivated by the lust to kill and the lust to destroy. jeremy: the israelis say clearly that they respect the laws of

war and they also say that the reason why so many civilians have died is because you and hamas fight from within the civilian population and use them as human shields. >> that is not true. they destroyed mosques on top of the heads of their owners when there were no fighters. they destroyed houses and high-rise buildings when no one was in them. they bombed houses when there was not a single fighter in them. it is all israeli propaganda. jeremy: israel says under the right circumstances they would have a cease-fire. what about a cease-fire where you simply give back the hostages and the war ends? would you accept something like that? >> the question is, what will netanyahu decide? when will the world to compel him to stop the war? it is the decision of netanyahu and the israeli occupation to continue the war. jeremy: you could do it. you could surrender. >> how can we surrender?

people who resist the occupation do not give up. if we surrender, it is impossible, our children won't give up. the world needs to understand that israel wants to burn the whole region. if the palestinians do not take the rights to a state, the return of refugees and self-determination, the region will not calm down, know how matter -- no matter how much killing takes place. jeremy: for you, is the israeli state part of the charter, it has to be destroyed? >> we say israel wants to eliminate hamas and the palestinian people. israel is crying and claiming that hamas want to destroy it. let's ask what israel thinks of the palestinian people. give us our rights. give us a fully sovereign palestinian state. jeremy: the israelis say the reason why they don't accept the two state solution is because

they fear that people like you want to destroy their state and kill their people. >> so far, israel does not recognize a one state solution or two state solution. israel rejects it all, international law, and our rights. jeremy: do you think of yourself as a terrorist? that is what israel calls you. >> i'm seeking freedom and defending my people. to the occupation, we are all terrorists, the women, the leaders, the children. you heard what israeli leaders called us and said we were animals. [sirens] jeremy: about an hour after the interview, iran attacked israel. as the middle east war widens, the israelis still insist on total victory over hamas. the u.s. and its allies, including the u.k. and saudi arabia, all say middle east

peace requires a secure israel alongside an independent palestine. but right now military action, not diplomacy, is setting the pace. caitriona: jeremy bowen there. israel's ground operation inside southern lebanon is continuing. two lebanese army soldiers were killed in separate israeli strikes on thursday. earlier the israeli military said its fighter jets struck targets belonging to hezbollah's quarters -- hezbollah's headquarters in beirut. most targets hit have been in southern lebanon. wednesday night, israeli airstrikes on central beirut killed nine people in a multistory building, housing a hezbollah affiliated health center. paramedics are among the dead. it comes as israel warns more people to evacuate their homes, saying the strikes will continue. for more on that situation, our correspondent sent this update. correspondent: the israeli army says hezbollah has fired more

than 120 rockets today into israel, launching them from inside lebanon just behind us here. we have seen some of those be intercepted by the israeli air defense, the iron dome. but this reflects that even though hezbollah is being pounded by the israelis in many parts of southern lebanon, they continue to launch these rockets. it's worth reminding ourselves that the prime minister benjamin netanyahu says the mission is "a doubt to try and push back hezbollah, degrade it, to destroy lots of its weapons. a lot of israeli families -- caitriona: nearly 2000 people, including 127 children, have

been killed in lebanon since israel's invasion begin. the world health organization says 28 health workers have been killed in just the past day. the international rescue committee's country director --

we talk about one million or 1,200,000 interned. >> out of these 1,200,000 emergency shelters and around

892 emergency shelters that are spread all over the country, but the majority is either with friends and family, trying to rent places, and even what is worse than all of this is some people up until now do not have access to shelter. that means these people do not have -- they are sleeping on the streets.

>> safety is one of the priorities -- we are trying to our best to ensure that the ablation that has remained in areas affected by the conflict, and whose urgent needs are not yet met. >> tell us about the needs you have at the moment. do you have resources for what you need to provide?

>> all kidding aside, we are

doing the same for north carolina. caitriona: let's discuss the situation across the affected region. i am joined by fema's active response recovery director. first of all, have you managed to reach everyone yet who has been impacted by this storm? >> obviously it is i'd name it situation in some of the areas that have been impacted, particularly in western north carolina. the terrain and access issues have been significant, but there's been a massive effort across all levels of government to be able to bring in resources and also access --

>> that is the areas where the roads were washed away and they are still under a lot of water then.

there are areas where coming occasions is significantly degraded. commonly you will find a list of those reported unaccounted for, and in many cases just a matter of getting communications to them. that is probably still the case for some. the state and local governments are working through that and i think there are some folks they are working through to contact at this point. >> notwithstanding the difficulties about transportation and reaching some of these areas, is there a rough timeline you can put on for getting communications to these areas? >> mobile communication platforms are working. it is getting significantly better. we don't have a timeframe on when those indications will be up, but it is getting better.

it will be a long road. the power system, communication, significant impacts. the goal is to get everything stable, make sure everyone has safe shelter, food, water, places to stay. we have declared a major disaster declaration, the president has for a number of states. those impacted can register with fema. caitriona: just briefly, we are at the time of year where there will be a lot more rain, a lot more storms coming through. what can you do to protect these communities or increase their preparedness for the months ahead? >> fairness is important. we work closely with our partners at the weather service to make sure we are tracking every hazard. we push information out to the public to make sure they understand what they can do to be ready. ready.gov is a great resource

for individuals to see how they can have a plan, supplies, communication plans with their loved ones to make sure they are ready. we will continue resources and make sure our resources are available to respond to not just helene but whatever else may come. caitriona: thanks for joining us on bbc news. thousands of unionized dockworkers are striking in port cities for a third day, halting crucial u.s. trade operations weeks before the u.s. presidential election. that progress is to reach a deal that would and by the strike. ships carrying goods from car parts bananas are stuck offshore. and experts say the strike could cost the u.s. economy as much as

$5 billion a day. nearly 300 trade associations are calling on the government to use its authority to end the strike. a columnist at the washington post has been speaking to striking workers at the port of baltimore and told us about their concerns. >> they obviously really feel they deserve higher wages. they are asking for a big pay increase, 77% over the next three years. the latest indication is the port companies offered 50% wage increases, so they are getting close. the real issue when i was there in baltimore talking with those

workers is automation. big fear that they will lose their jobs. a lot of the signs they are carrying say things like "machines don't feed families" and" fight automation, save jobs." huge worry that as you automate more functions at the ports, you are losing this good middle-class job for 45,000 workers on the east coast alone. caitriona: so is this dispute more of an existential battle between man and machine? >> the first big battles we are seeing between highly paid workers in advanced automation in the united states. it's certainly inevitable that i number of ports will become more automated. that does not mean no jobs, but instead of a physical person sitting inside of a crane and lifting those containers off the ship onto the shore, it's more

like a videogame, that someone could be sitting remotely and operating that crane. it is a different skill set going forward. there is 1300 major container ports in the world. only about 60 to 80 of them are already automated. it's not like all of this will happen tomorrow. that is the heart of what is going on. how much protection will there be for all 45,000 jobs? will the port companies offer early retirement to automate some of the functions at the ports? caitriona: you said these are well-paid jobs, and the pay increases are very significant. can the companies afford to pay this? or what would it mean for how they will operate into the future? >> a lot of people have been pointing to the fact that there weere some record profit years coming out of the pandemic.

we were talking about how expensive it was to ship things during those supply constraint years, so certainly the workers are looking at those large profits that these companies have been making and saying, wait, why weren't more of those profits being passed on to the workers? realistically there is room to bargain here. it probably will be able to reach a deal on the wage component, but we are all watching that contract language around automation and also how long does this last? we've seen a lot of, fear mongering will this cancel christmas the united states? announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation,

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amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff bennett is away. on the “news hour” tonight, kamala harris campaigns with liz cheney at the birthplace of the republican party, while donald trump rallies voters in the swing state of michigan. a lawmaker from the house january 6 committee weighs in on newly unsealed evidence in tr