from berlin. israel's conflict with palestinians escalates. in israel's cities, jews and arabs turning against each other, the prime minister condemning what he calls mob violence. also, taking time to smell the roses. the new covid-19 therapy that

helps patients recover lost senses and learn how to smell again. and tesla's elon musk sends bitcoin into freefall. he says the carmaker will no longer accept the cryptocurrency because it uses insane amounts of energy. ♪ i'm brent goff. to our viewers on pbs in the united states and all around the world, welcome. we begin with the escalating conflict between the israelis and palestinians. egyptian negotiators are talking to both sides, but so far, the's no breakthrough report. israeli forces are reported to be building up on the gaza border, and the army calling thousands of reserves. israeli forces have hit back with devastating airstrikes on gaza, and mob violence has

broken out in israeli cities. the death toll in israel and the palestinian territories is rising. >> they are shouting, "revenge." hamas supporters in gaza hold funerals for 13 militants killed in israeli air raids. the atmosphere is charged as the conflict between israel and the militants worsens by the day. one of the israeli casualties of the manhundreds of hamas missiles, a soldier who died too young. israel's prime minister says the losses his count is sufferi will not be in vain. the idf has already attacked hundreds of targets, and we continue t strike hamas whilst defending our citizens. it will take time, but with both defending and attacking, we will restore peace to israel.

>> the air raid sirens sound yet again. israelis run for cover. this time, israel's missile system intercepted a missile. but others have cracked the so-called iron dome, and the reach of hamas seems to be extending further and further into israel. this is a neighborhood just 10 miles east of tel aviv in heavily populated central israel. as hamas launches more rockets from gaza, negotiators from egypt held talks with both sides to try to find a truce. egyptian, qatari, and international mediators are talking with the resistance hamas and the israeli occupation, but every time they make an effort to create a situation which allows the progression to stop, a new attack which kills women and

children stifles these efforts. at the end of the holy month of ramadan, the holiday of eid is usually a time of joy, but here there is little to celebrate. brent: for the latest, i'm joined by our correspondent in tel aviv. good evening to you. what are you hearing about israel's military campaign and possibly starting a ground offensive? tanya: the focus at the moment of the israeli military is on an intensive air campaign, air bombardment. that is what we have sn here the past two days at least. they want to degrade as much as possible the military

capabilities of the militant groups in gaza, but nevertheless, there is preparation for other operations to come, and the israeli defense minister has authorized today an additional 9000 reservists to be called up needed, but it is unclear at the moment if they will be a ground offensive, -- if there will be a ground offensive, and if they will be needed. brent: we know there are mediators from egypt in the u.s. on their way to israel. how much hope is there for diplomacy? >> -- tanya at the moment, neither side is backing down, t what we have seen in previous rounds of hostilities, it is egypt, the united nations, other lal actors at try to mediate a cease-fire or

cessation ofostilities between hamas, the militant groups in gaza, and israe but at the moment, it iunclearf this is happening behind the scenes and if both parties are interested to end this any timeoon. brent: we know there is domestic unrest in israel. there have been domestic scenes of violence between israel's jews and arabs. tanya: the police have been bracing for more violence tonight. there's a lot of police here on the street. people are very shocked. i talked to people from different communities, and they are all very shocked. in one sitting, there's a curfew tonight. there's additional border police troops deployed.

people are simply shocked to see such a loss of control, so to speak. it's not just in one location. it is across the country in many cities. brent: dw's tanya kramer with the latest tonight. thank you. to talk more about the unrest on israeli streets, i'm joined by the director of the serling institute for jewish studies and modern israel. we have heard that the street violence in israel is unprecedented. do you agr. quick cs, in many ways it is, and it is especially tragic because stress this evening, there was supposed to be an agreement for a new coalition government that in who did --

that included an israeli party, and there was supposed to be good news where for the first time in israel's history, there would be an arab party in israel's coalition government. it was going to be unprecedented good news this evening, and unfortunately, things have unraveled, and it does not seem like that is going to happen. brent: do we know what is fueling this violence we are seeing in israel? >> again, it is especially tric because, as your audice knows, certainly some of the demonstrations in jerusalem days ago kind of preced this, and in some of the demonstrations, it was jewish israelis and arab

israelis marching together in some of those demonstrations, and now, it has come to this violence. i would like to say the vast majority of arab israelis and the vast majority of jewish israelis are not participating in communal violence against each other. there are so isolated incidents in terms of injuries or peopleew being killed through that violence. that certainly is concerning and has the possibility of escalating, but on the other hand, one should also always look at things in context. comparatively, riots in paris over the years have been of even greater extent. there is also a connection, of course, to the larger israeli-palestinian external confli happening between gaza and israel which inflames it.

there are issueof the pandemic which inflame it, which has been a year of challenge and hardship for everyone in the world, but including israel and including the northern population of israel. of course, israeli arabs are nearly 20% of the population. there are those inequality issues in israel, and there are also issues within arab society that there has been increased calls for a lack of attention to crime and inequality and lack of resources in those communities. that was onef th reasons why th particular israeli arab party was going to agree to be part of the coalition government. brent: quite a turn of events, isn't it? there was supposed to be good news announced in israeli

politics, and instead, we are talking about the possibility of this domestic violence may be slipping into civil war. how likely do you think that possibility is? >> i dnot think it is likely. things are always possible, but i would say it is unlikely it is going to break into a civil war, but nevertheless, it is highly concerning, and, luckily, some leaders of different cities, mayors, leaders of arab political parties, some leaders of israeli parties are being responsible and calling for calm , calling for constructive ways of fighting for the necessary equality that should exist in the society, but not all leaders are being responsible in calling for these things, and of course, it is exacerbated by the

conflict now between hamas and gaza and israel. the quicker there is a cease-fire between gaza and israel, the quicker that may be one of the things that can calm things down internally in israel, so we are hoping for an end to the violence on both ends and that actually legitimate demands be met through peaceful protest and through working for the system to create a more equal society. brent: we appreciate your time and your insights. thank you. >> thank you. brent: tensions from the israeli-palestinian conflict have spilled over to cities around the world, including right here in germany. there have been renewed protests against israel's military operation in several cities with over 1500 people gathering.

there have also been fresh incidents of vandalism targeting synagogues. german police targeted more than a dozen men suspected of damaging a synagogue and starting a fire at a jewish memorial site. for more, let's talk to our political correspondent. good to see you again. how is germany reacting to these attacks? benjamin: good afternoon. seven politicians have joined the leader of rest line rest -- rest find was failure -- west rhine westphalia where these attacks happen. they said this vandalism had nothing to do with expressing political opinions but were motivated by peer anti-semitism.

an opponent leader join him saying we cannot allow politics to be laced with religious fanatism. they said the jewish people ofdw germany are defitely the wrong people at which to direct criticism of israel. brent: between our german authorities, are they doing enough to prevent the growing anti-semitism in the country? benjamin: there is growing criticism not only to authorities, but also where there are rallies. t's remember, these are not isolated events. in october last yea one year after the terrible attack on a synagogue, the germanli security service warned germany as experience a steep rise in

anti-semitism. the german government thinks while this conflict we are witnessing is getting worse that this will also happen here. these are not meant to israel protests but anti-semitic protests when theris vandalism on monuments. they asked to call it what it is,nti-semiti, and also to bring -- to bring perpetrators to justice. let's see how politicians react to that. brent: as always, thank you. here are some other stories now that are making headlines around the world. columbia -- colombia's foreign minister has resigned after a police crackdown on protesters

who initially were against a police crackdown but morphed into a larger antigovernment movement. in the united states, the centers for disease control recommending face masks for fully vaccinated people, but the cdc says masks are still recommended in crowded settings like buses, plans, and hospitals. over half of the u.s. population has received at least one dose against the coronavirus. one of the common symptoms of covid-19 is the loss of smell and taste. most people regain their senses not long after being infected. for some, the loss lingers. but there is hope. a new technique is helping patients begin to learn how to

smile again. >> she loves her collection of perfumes -- or rather, she used to. >> the smells -- although i really liked it once, it really smells bad, a bit like a baby's diaper. >> pleasant sense such as her favorite perfumes smell awful -- pleasant scents. after she was infected with covid-19 a few months ago, at first, she could no longer smell anything. then, many smells were distorted, one of the most common side effects of the virus. she says it is as if she were wearing an iron mask. >> there is a tiny bit of

something, but i don't know the smell. that's frustrating and makes me a bit sad. >> this frenchman can understand very well how she feels. he lost his sense of smell due to an accident five years ago. it is the smell of his children he misses most. but he does not want to give up his passion for cooking. >> it bit of color is good. we eat with our eyes after all. a bit like the great chefs of france are doing it. >> but it is the nose with its millions of olfactory cells that define the taste. after his accident, he was angry because no one could help him. even if an estimated 5% of the french population suffers from a distorted sense of smell. with time, his anger gave way to an idea.

he developed olfactory training in cooperation with scientists with concentrated sent -- concentrated scents. >> the sense of smell is as important as other senses. many forget about it. most people only discover it once they have lost it. >> since the beginning of the pandemic, thousands of affected people all over europe have been using his sense of smell training techniques. this belgian is also exercising her nose. her doctor has seen for herself that many patients are recovering thanks to the training. for example, because the old factory cells damaged by the virus renew themselves. >> this gives me hope, but my motivation varies, and so does my hope because sometimes i'm just sad. i keep asking myself if it will ever come back. >> even if things are getting

better only slowly, she hopes these smell bottles will help her put on her perme again without upsetting her nose. brent: a black thursday for bitcoin after tesla ceo elon musk single-handedly sent the world's leading cryptocurrency into a virtual freefall with just a single tweet. it's value dropped by nearly 17% on the news before recovering slightly after muska announced the electric vehicle maker will stop accepting bitcoin -- after musk announced the electric vehicle maker will stop accepting bitcoin. he cited energy concerns, calling bitcoin's energy use "insane." for more now, i'm joined by our reporter. millions of digital dollars just wiped out with a single tweet. how is that even possible? peter: you know, elon musk has

quite a history of making unexpected claims on twitter, and i think this one is in the top three. musk has long been one the world's staunchest proponents of reptile currency. in february, he announced tesla had 1.5 -- $1.5 billion worth of corn. a month later, he announced you could now buy a tesla with bitcoin. month later, we saw bitcoin prices shoot up to an all-time high, but the decision to accept bitcoin has been controversial from investors and environmentalists alike, who point out that digital currencies come with a massive carbon footprint, according to the center for alternative finance at cambridge university. bitcoin alone uses more electricity each year than entire countries such as malaysia or sweden. brent: it makes sense that you have the ceo of one of the

world's leading manufacturers of electric vehicles citing with manufacturers and not energy guzzlers. peter: yeah, even though it's not quite clear that that is what it changed his mind. elon musk wants rate 14 -- once raked 14 billion dollars off tesla's stock price after tweeting that he thought it was too high. what makes this even more eyebrow raising, i think, is the fact that musk has demonstrated not quite the same amount of concern for the environment when it comes to some of his other projects. take his aerospace company, spacex. last year alone, it launched some 25 rockets into space, more than any other company. that released roughly 4000 tons of carbon into the atmosphere, the equivalent of flying from

paris to new york and back 4000 times. right here in germany, musk has come under fire from environmentalists for his new giga factory. you may recall, tesla has built the most environmentally friendly production facility in the world, but building the factory cleared nearly 100 hectares of forest, and early research suggests it may use as much water as a small city. brent: we know elon musk knows how to get people talking about him. what are we to make of this story? peter: it is not quite clear at this point. musk has been compared to a 21st century met genius, and to others, he has been seen as a second coming. a recent online survey found almost 4 in 10 respondents had

made investments based on his tweets. the fact that one man wields this amount of influence over a product like it coin really just shows how volatile cryptocurrcies are and wife is likely -- why it is likely to take years if not decades for them to be as stable as the currencies we use today. brenda: or maybe people are just reading too much into tweets. peter: wouldn't be a first. brent: the 2020 games are still set to take place this summer, but the pandemic has put many hurdles in the way of those hoping to compete. we meet a boxer hoping to compete. >> the sport began to inspire her beyond getting in shape, and after year, she was a national champion in japan. the nurse by day dedicated herself for years to realize her dream of qualifying for the

olympics, but after the final qualification was canceled, so was her only shot at competing in tokyo 2020. >> when i got a phone call from the boxing federation, i was told the qualifying match was canceled. i felt very disappointed. i have been working so hard, and it is so frustrating that i don't even have the right to compete. it's very disappointing. >> being knocked out of this upcoming olympics does not mean the 27-year-old plans to hang up her gloves any time soon. >> i cannot say i am in for the next olympics in paris at this point, but what i can do is try to keep working hard step-by-step at any competitions ahead, small or big.

>> staying ready, she makes her international debut at a tournament this month. brent: the conflict between israelis and palestinians is intensifying. mob violence has broken out in several cities. egyptian negotiators are talking to both sides. after a short break, i will be back to take you through "the day" tonight. but first, a dj who was on top of the world. a french electric musician performed at an altitude of 3000 meters surrounded by the storied peaks of the swiss alps in a show of support for artists who had been put out of work by the pandemic. ♪

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people and profit on france 24 and france24.com.n france anchor: live from paris, world news and analysis. these are the headlines. three missiles fired into israel . hamas sent rockets into israel on thursday, as israel pounded gaza with more airstrikes and calm up 9000 reservists. -- called up 9000 reservists. we have the latest. in afghanistan, a truce, but it