from berlin. heavy fighting continues between israel and militants in the gaza strip. egypt says it has negotiated a truce with israel's military continues to intercept rockets coming from the gaza strip, as launches strike on militant targets inside the territory. also, nationwide protests continue as political turmoil grips pakistan.

angry supporters of former prime minister imran khan take to the streets after his arrest. the dramatic events come after a lengthy tussle between khan and the military that brought him down. ukrainian forces on the outskirts of bakhmut push russian troops backed by some two kilometers. we talked to some fighters defending the city and ask them why they do it. plus, eritrea where ranks as one of the world's biggest repressor's a free speech. dw meets a writer and poet in exile and hears about her experience of incarceration and torture. ♪ i'm nicole frolich. to all of you joining us on pds in the united states and our viewers around the world, welcome. israel's military is going ahead with military strikes despite

reports that egypt had brokered a cease-fire. the militant group islamic jihad said it fired hundreds of rockets wednesday setting off air raid sirens throughout southern and central israel. israeli airstrikes have killed at least 21 palestinians including three militant commanders in the latest fighting. israel said it was attacking rockets sites preemptively. dw correspondent rebecca ritters is near the border with gaza and across the border in gaza city is journalist sophie. i asked them about the situation on the ground. rebecca: it certainly has been pretty heavy cross-border fire as you rightly point out. some of the worst we have seen since august last year when there was another flareup. here, nearly 300 rockets, the last official figure was 270,

although they thought that number would be a lot higher as the volleys have been continued today from gaza. it is pretty dark now, you probably cannot really see behind me, but the light on the hill is across the border into gaza. even in the last couple of hours we have been hearing rumors being reported in some media, talks of a cease-fire. even at the same time as that was announced or being reported on in various media we saw another quite large volley come across, a couple since then, and even some missiles towards tel aviv. so, definitely that cease-fire talks at least are not going that well. the situation here is that most of those rockets, many of them we could see behind us a little bit earlier, they were shot out by israel's defense system, the iron dome. some did make landfall, where a

couple buildings were damaged. nicole: we cannot see it from where you are but we do have someone across the board in gaza. what is happening there? >> i am standing north of gaza city. we have seen during the past few hours from about 7:30, rockets being launched from here towards israel. we have been seeing and hearing them. at the same time there has also been attacks from israel into the gaza strip. so far we do not know anything about casualties here. of course we have also been following talks about a possible cease-fire. but the fighting obviously seems to be continuing. right now it is quiet but we need to see how this is going to be developing. nicole: this latest escalation is between israel and the jihad designated a terrorist group by israel, the u.s. and european countries.

how strong of a force is this group in gaza? sophie: it is a militant faction in gaza second to hamas, which is controlling the strip and has less capabilities and finances. but the fact it has been behind recent attacks shows that this faction is not to be underestimated. israel reiterates they are specifically targeting the islamic jihad militants. whether this conflict might further escalate totally depends on what role hamas might be playing. nicole: up to this point, they have been appearing to remain on the sidelines. how so? what is their role? sophie: hamas is not interested in a fully fledged escalation. that is what many experts are assuming because hamas has seen what an escalation like that could mean.

back in 2021, massive destruction, massive suffering in the civilian population. and they are worried about popular support if that were to happen again, if there were another war that would include hamas with lots of casualties. the situation in gaza is dire. the economic situation is very dire. work permits given by israel to palestinian workers are very important for the economy in gaza and they will be threatened if there was another longer escalation that hamas would be involved in. so there's definitely political interest here as well in not letting this further escalate we need to see what will happen. nicole: let's talk about the prospects of a cease-fire. what is being done to bring this fighting to an end? rebecca: there have been talks ongoing between egypt, qatar, and the you went -- the u.n.

earlier in the day israel was saying was willing to accept a cease-fire, for its part that it would definitely be willing to cease hostilities. we were hearing that hamas were also in agreement. but now it is looking like we are also hearing from some sources saying that the cease-fire talks have broken down mainly because israel would not stop targeted assassinations in gaza against the islamic jihad militants. that means the islamic jihad said they would not go ahead with any cease-fire. but of course these things are fluid. this is an ongoing situation and the talks continue. certainly residence in gaza and here in southern israel are all hoping for things to be calming down, but it could be a long night ahead. nicole: a volatile situation. rebecca ritters and sophie von

der tann, thank you very much for the view from both sides. a court in pakistan ruled former prime minister imran khan can be held in custody for up to eight days. khan was dragged from court interested in islamabad on tuesday, sparking widespread protests across the country. at least five people have been killed according to media reports in hundreds of supporters have been arrested after clashes with authorities. local broadcaster geo news says khan has been indicted for in lawfully selling gifts during his time as premier. he comes on the heels of growing tensions with the military leaders who ousted him. reporter: chaos continues in pakistan. imran khan supporters are protesting nationwide. after the dramatic arrest of their leader and former prime minister. >> imran khan's arrest is illegal and unconstitutional.

the continue -- the protests are still going on. protesters will not stop until imran khan is released. reporter: due to the violent protests, schools and businesses remain closed in many cities. >> roads are blocked, businesses are closed, people cannot go to work. these people vandalized our shops. most of the students cannot go to school and the children are suffering. reporter: the army is being deployed in two pakistani states to maintain law & order. imran khan's party leaders are asking supporters to remain peaceful. >> people are out in the streets protesting. and they will continue to protest. protesting is their legal, constitutional right.

keep it peaceful. do not get into people's houses. do not destroy public or private property. but peaceful protest is all right. reporter: the former prime minister faces dozens of corruption charges which he and his party denied. this time, the pakistani authorities accused imran khan of receiving valuable land as a bribe from a property tycoon. >> this is an arrest that is not motivated by any victimization. this is an arrest which was not done at the behest of the government. it is an arrest that was made by the national accountability bureau, the institution that is supposed to look after corruption cases in the country. reporter: meanwhile, a pakistani court indicted imran khan for

unlawfully selling state gifts during his tenure and approved eight days in a physical remand of imran khan in another case. if convicted, he will be disqualified from becoming premier again. nicole: earlier i asked dw asia correspondent shamil shams how likely the situation will spiral out of control. shamil: in my opinion it is already spiraling out of control. khan supporters have taken to the streets, chanting slogans against the military. this is quite unprecedented in pakistan. it has never happened before. in my opinion, things are already quite bad. it has not happened in the past, as i said.

if things remain like this in the next few days, and in my opinion the next few days are very crucial for pakistani politics, i could see the military could possibly intervene directly and take the matters into their own hands. i will not deny the possibility of a military intervention. nicole: could the protests affect the court's treatment of khan's case? shamil: i think it is quite unlikely. as i said, the military is quite unhappy with the whole institution and they came up with a statement where they criticized khan's party and khan 's party officials. the military has been constantly attacked by several politicians. the country's economy is quite weak. so the military is not as powerful as it used to be some

years ago. but it still has considerable strength. if and when it decides to flex its muscles, the political party, the judiciary, all of the stakeholders will not be able to resist the military's power. so i do not think imran khan supporters could force the military to back down. nicole: khan is a polarizing figure but he is also the most popular political leader, according to polls. how do you explain that? shamil: he is a populist politician. he is an outsider in pakistani politics and people see him as an alternative to traditional politicians. and people believe that khan can fix everything in pakistan. they want easy fixes. but the thing is that when khan was in power, he failed to deliver. if he comes back to power, he's

unlikely to deliver again, as well populist politicians failed to deliver. he does not have a proper idea with how to deal with the economy, how to deal with structural issues of the country. so that is the issue. he is considered a messiah. he is very popular right now, but popularity is not a constant phenomenon in politics. nicole: pakistan is going through a number of crises at the moment. what does this political turmoil mean for the path forward? shamil: the economy is the most important, most crucial issue in pakistan. all of the issues are a cup -- are important, but the economy, the economic situation is really bad. the pakistani government is struggling to get the imf bailout. and this situation after khan's arrest is going to further dent the economy and it is going to get worse from here, but we have

to wait and see what happens. nicole: shamil shams, thank you so much. here's a look at some other stories making news around the world today. the german government has agreed to provide the country with an additional one billion euros to provide housing and services for the growing number of asylum-seekers. chancellor olaf scholz made the announcement during a meeting in berlin. or than one million ukrainians have sought refuge in germany since russia invaded their country last year. at least 15 people drowned after a boat capsized in northwestern meiji area. at least 21 passengers were rescued. the wooden boat was crossing a river when it capsized. overcrowding and poor maintenance of boats is responsible for most accidents on nigerian waterways. a british soldier who fought in world war i has finally found his resting place in a cemetery in belgium. the remains of private robert

malcolm were found four years ago, more than one century after he went missing. the u.k.'s detectives helped identify him using dna. residents of a tiny swiss village have been told to evacuate immediately over fears of a major landslide. authorities believe a giant rock formation from the mountain above them is set to come loose within the next few days. it's home to about 60 people who have been given just three days to leave. a ukrainian army unit fighting near the eastern city of bakhmut says it has pushed russian forces backed by some two kilometers. the claim appears to confirm an account by the head of russia's wagner mercenary group who said regular russian forces had fled from the battlefield. many civilians living in the region are now deciding to get out and get away from the destruction while they still can.

reporter: gunfire and blasts of mortar rockets. here on the outskirts of the deceased ukrainian city of bakhmut, the fighting continues. these ukrainian soldiers are poised to respond to attacks. russian troops are very close by. >> we are going to shoot back right now. try to kill some of them. reporter: bakhmut has seen the deadliest fighting since the war began. both sides have lost huge numbers of troops on its streets. the city itself has been devastated. and yet ukrainians are not prepared to give it up. >> if we retreat, yes, we could

save a few lives with them we would have to assault back we could lose more lives. we need to stand here until the end. reporter: but for some, the fighting is getting too close. less than 30 kilometers away from bakhmut, they are packing up and preparing to leave the city. >> i feel bad. i have had such a long life. i am 83 years old and now i have to leave my hometown. >> it is just a matter of two seconds, but you barely have time to get to the shelter. i tried once to get to the shelter with my mother but it took me 40 minutes to pack things up. reporter: ukrainians continued to flee towns and cities on the

front lines. often leaving beloved relatives. and not knowing if and when they will be able to return. nicole: eritrea is one of the world's biggest jailers of reporters. since he became a dictatorship in 2001. the country is a news and information black hole says reporters without borders. during the crackdown, a writer and poet was incarcerated and tortured. >> [speaking foreign language]

reporter: a poem that led to prison and almost death. 14 years ago, she was arrested for her words. she wanted to publish her collection of poems but fell foul of the sensors. authorities interpreted the driver -- the dictator has ruled the country for more than three decades and is accused of crimes against humanity. >> this poem tells the driver to drive carefully, because he is carrying people to wear a seatbelt, and that he is responsible for those in the car. if the driver does not want that responsibility, he should let others drive the car. reporter: she was taken into custody and interrogated. >> they said the poem was about the president. i said it was not. then i was beaten until i lost consciousness.

the torture never stopped. reporter: she was held in a secret detention site in a 2x2 meter cell. others were held in shipping containers, boiling hot during the day, freezing at night. they said they were subjected to regular beatings. >> my whole body was swollen from the first injuries. i did not think i would survive. reporter: but she did. after six years in prison without explanation, she was freed. as soon as she could, she fled the country. but not only her poems got into trouble. she also worked as a radio journalist in the capital. >> there is no freedom of the press in eritrea. private newspapers have been shut down and there is only one state media that serves propaganda. reporter: eritrea is one of the

world's biggest jailers of reporters. journalists have either fled the country or are in prison. she now lives and works in germany, touring the country, reading the poems she wrote in prison. people are keen to learn about a country that holds a citizens captive and incarcerates its journalists. now is a writer in exile, she hopes her work can help make people understand the reality in eritrea. >> i want to go to eritrea one day, where i documented my memories when i was young. and didn't think you could be punished for your thoughts. reporter: but for now, she does not see a future for herself in the world's most censored country. nicole: football now, and in a pretty dismal year for german

teams in europe, by and rosen have been the one shining light. they other last european club left and looking to make their first continental final since 2002 by beating roma in the semifinal. reporter: it's 21 years ago but the events of may 2002 remain etched on the minds of bayer leverkusen supporters. they completed a season of scarcely believable heartbreak. it was their third major loss in a matter of weeks after they imploded. and they then lost the german cup final. the earned than the cruel nickname, neverkusen, but now they are the only european team left with a chance. >> we expect a fantastic

atmosphere here at this beautiful stadium against a very good team. they are experienced but we are looking forward to it massively. we want to use that to play a good game tomorrow, so that we have the opportunity to reach the final next week, and at home. reporter: but alonzo faces a federer him -- if are amenable foe, -- a formiddable foe, his old coach. >> we have this last hurdle. despite all the problems we have, we won't go there there tomorrow to give the game away easily. obviously we go there to put everything we have on the pitch. in terms of quality and desire. all we have, we leave on the pitch. reporter: ominous words, but

injury means roma's key jewels are unlikely to start. traveling fans will be hoping their team can go one step closer to emulating their success of 1988 and finally bury their unwanted nickname. nicole: to spain, and the birthplace of probable cost out. they are commemorating -- birthplace of pablo picasso. he remains one of spain's best-known painters but he was also a sculptor. a local museum is showcasing over 60 of his sculptures. reporter: three dimensional from one of the most famous painters of the 20th century. a head made from cement. and a woman carrying a vase. these are just some of the 700 sculptures picasso made in his

lifetime. over 60 sculptors by the pioneer of cubism are being exhibited at the costume museum. -- the picasso museum. >> at the same time he is an artist who claims not to represent the world, but to build his own world. reporter: to build, or rather, sculpt that world, picasso experimented with materials like wood, iron, and steel, creating recognizable shapes. his grandson cofounded the museum. >> he would take a piece of metal and he would apply on it some plaster and then it would become also an animal or a bird or something. so it is a question of adding and taking away. it is very modern. reporter: human shapes, especially those representing women, are a central theme.

shapes inspired by his lover. as well as his pregnant daughter. the exhibition, called picasso sculptor, matter, and body, is the first major showcase of the artist's sculptures in his home country spain. nicole: a reminder of our top story. israel's military is pressing ahead with airstrikes and palestinian militants are firing rockets towards israel despite in egypt announcing it successfully brokered a cease-fire between the two sides. stay with us. after a short break i will be back to take you through "the day." hope to see you there. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

>> welcome to "live from paris," world news and analysis from france 24. i'm mark owen. these are the headlines. the new u.s. regulation that would deny asylum to most migrants crossing the u.s.-mexico border illegally comes as anti-migrant restrictions known as title 42 and this week. -- and -- end this week. representative george santos, a new york republic, pleads not to embezzlement