berlin. all eyes are on a border crossing between gaza and egypt. talks are said to be underway about a truce to allowed -- i a trucks. israel denies any agreement has been reached. israel steps up airstrikes on gaza. bombing overnight was the heaviest since attacks began in response to hamas pass and president as if israel.

israel's army says hamas took more hostages than previously thought. the militants killed more than 1300 people. to our viewers on pbs and the united states and those of you joining us from around the globe, welcome, it is good to residents of guys are rushing toward the border crossing in the hopes of making it across the egyptian border. human rights groups have been calling for a humanitarian cease-fire to allow safe passage both for aid and people to leave

gaza. the water was shut down early nearly a week ago. >> these people are rushing toward the border crossing. hoping the gates will open. >> there is no safety. even at the crossing, you are afraid. became thinking it was safe. wherever we go, there is shouting, screaming, crying, screaming for blood. i swear to god, no electricity, no water, no internet.

quick second to visit my family. my sister, my brother i want to spend two or three weeks my family and enjoy. no water, no food, no nothing, no life. i don't know how they are thinking about people. we think there is a lot of people here. there are people here that in. it is not right.

>> there was talk of a possible humanitarian cease-fire. mostly to clear the border between egypt and gaza. all of those reports were later denied by israel and hamas. i asked him what he makes of this. >> it seems like some foreign countries are very interested in allowing this humanitarian -- there is an understanding that what is happening right now in

the gaza strip is becoming a humanitarian crisis and it will only become worse and worse for civilians. israel told over one million residents they have to flee south to allow the idea of forces to show hamas in the northern part of the gaza strip. we have seen the egyptian military has spent the last two days fortifying the rafa border crossing trying to prevent palestinians from playing. right now it seems like the efforts are focusing on residents and citizens of foreign countries, americans, germans and europeans that are currently in the gaza strip and

for them, there may be a humanitarian corridor to escape the gaza strip. it is still there was a religion know exactly what will happen. we will have to follow closely. >> we learned today that hamas adopted 199 people from israel last weekend. all this in exchange for the israeli hostages. >> it is it's really hard to art -- to anticipate how the hostage exchange will take place. releasing 6000 palestinian prisoners all of whom were accused and found guilty of offenses within israel seems like something possible. israel has never faced such a dilemma. over 1000 people including the

military leader were released in exchange for only one soldier. what sort of haggling power does hamas have right now? this is a new type of haggling power hamas and other palestinian power has held before. it is quit hard to see how this unfolds. we have no past events that could teach us how israel would work with that. ? on the situation in gaza. israel stepped up its airstrike. carrying out the heaviest bombardment since the attacks began in response to the hamas massacre of more than 1300 israelites. the israeli military has ordered

more than one million gazans to lead the north of the enclave ahead of suspected grounding. >> as they run out of bass, ice cream trucks are being used to store the dead bodies. the number of casualties is multiplying every day. they are struggling to name the arriving victims. >> these are the ice cream freezers. ice cream freezers contain so many bodies of the dead inside these trucks. the bodies had not been identified since day one. these bodies cannot be identified, unknown bodies that should be honorably buried. >> hospitals are overwhelmed with injured civilians. as they prepare for an

offensive. essential supplies like food, power and clean water are running short. doctors have struggled to treat patients and they fear many will die. >> israel's defense forces have warned people to move from densely populated northern gaza to the south. many follow ultimatum and left. but with an impending health disaster and ongoing airstrikes, the search for safety has not ended.

>> israel's defense forces are some of the most advanced in the world. let's take a look at some of what they had been preparing in recent days and what they can come up against. >> israel began massing the military. it has mobilized 360,000 reserves. israel has since carried out 100 airstrikes in the gaza strip. and it ordered more than a one million people to evacuate the northern part of the territory including gaza city ahead of expected ground operations. much of the gaza strip is surrounded by a high-tech security barrier israel built. once troops get inside, they will be caught up in urban warfare in densely built gaza city. experts predict the fighting

will be very costly both for soldiers and civilians. hamas is estimated to have some 30,000 fighters. many of them -- not the terrorist organization has also had an extended network of underground tunnels stuck to stretch hundreds of kilometers. the labyrinth has been used to smuggle in a stockpile of weapons including rocket propelled grenades and antitank missiles. in the tunnels could be used to hide hamas's hostages. israel has vowed to eradicate hamas. previous campaigns vowed to end the terrorist's ability to launch rockets into israel. but it is not yet clear what israel's long-term strategy would be following a ground incursion. its main ally, the united states has one occupying gaza would be a mistake. and analysts cautioned that

invasions like the u.s. wars in afghanistan and iraq and russia's invasion of ukraine rarely go according to plan. request this is a retired colonel and now military analyst. i asked him how complicated the ground operation in gaza could be. >> it would be extremely difficult. if you look historically, battles in urban areas, they are very complicated. issues that the terrain is so complex. include superstructures going up in the sky. historically, 10% don't leave. request that is something i would like to touch on a little further with you. even with an act of self-defense , israel is bound by international humanitarian law.

how can that be done under such extraordinary circumstances? >> is extremely challenging. the first move is to get them to displace as many as possible and take them out of the battlefield. that is complicated by the fact that hamas has tried to put up a human shield. hamas is putting their own civilians at risk. the first part is trying to get them out of the area as much as possible and then you can control which weapons you are trying to use. you try to do that with minimal destruction of damage as possible but if you look at other cities around the world, typically 90% of the structures can be destroyed in battle. instruction is just terrible. >> israel has vowed to crush hamas but what does that mean? even if the top brass and infrastructure work able to be

wiped out? >> politically, it is nothing to say, that they will destroy hamas. that is something they have been trying to do for decades. some of the underlying root causes of the conflict, those are not just going to go away with military operation. they are going to target lee -- key leadership, key logistical things which will severely degrade hamas but they will not be capable of destroying it. >> what would bashan accomplish look like? >> mission accomplished looks like setting back hamas to such a level that they are not capable of conducting an operation like this ever again. that is what the goal of israel will be, to do that. that will be very dangerous and

costly. it will be a challenging operation. >> thank you so much. >> israel has ordered its residents to evacuate the area. at least two people have been killed in israel. at least 11 in lebanon. they fired missiles into israel. israel's military said it responded with strikes on southern lebanon. and it also accused iran of ordering the hezbollah attacks. israel has boosted his troops along the border with lebanon. antony blinken has returned to israel to consult with officials over the conflict with hamas. blinken is in tel aviv after

visiting several other countries in the region. all of this as part of diplomatic talks to prevent the conflict from escalating further. he has been meeting with israel's prime minister and the countries were captain. >> secretary blinken -- i asked our correspondent in washington if they had achieved much. >> when we all like to know? i have to tell you this is still a work in progress for antony blinken for secretary of state and for this biden administration. they are doing this travel blitz. countries like egypt, saudi arabia, jordan, cutter, abu dhabi and of course, egypt. why is he doing this?

the u.s. is pursuing a two dimensional progress here. that is preventing the expansion of this conflict. preventing a widening of this conflict to be a real regional conflict. have you not involved, others involved may be. that is number one. number two is the humanitarian effort here. where are the humanitarian corridors for 250 americans in gaza? trapped in gaza who can leave gaza through this exit to egypt. what about all the others? palestinians living in gaza. not hamas. houston is to flee into the south and where did they get paid, how did they get paid?

i think this is what secretary of state blinken is working on at the moment. >> this is not the end of his trip. apparently he will have another stop over in jordan indicated there was something concrete in the works. >> i would not speculate on this. for sure, it is basically the merry-go-round. it is jerusalem, it is trying to get a reading on where the netanyahu administration stands going forward with this. how they can coordinate with the u.n. and the americans and then go to the partners of the united states. jordan is an ally or partner in the middle east. then they can confer with them. it is that shattered diplomacy which is absolutely necessary in the eyes of the americans to prevent a bigger conflict from being -- from happening here or going to happen here.

of 47 humanitarian relief not just for americans but for all in the gaza strip who are in a very dire situation right now. >> we don't have much more time. maybe briefly can you tell us how people in washington will be able to prevent the conflict from spreading? >>, think anybody in washington will talk about this. i think there is a lot of eyes on the biden administration, how they handle this. and the republican part of the gop at the moment in their desperate search for speaker of the house is in a bit of turmoil. there is less pressure coming from that side on the biden administration on the issue at this moment. >> thank you so much. let's look at some other developments in the conflict now. olaf scholz has confirmed he

will israel even show of daschle and the chancellor will then travel on to egypt to assess the humanitarian situation in the gaza strip. the european union has set up plans to launch and aid airlift to gaza via egypt. the first place to egypt will begin dated this week. he says that the eu will also triple for civilians in gaza to 75 million euros. a ship evacuating usa u.s. citizen from israel left the port of haifa for cypress -- cyprus. commercial airlines have largely stopped flying to tel aviv.

600 days have now passed since russia launched its full-scale invasion of ukraine and there seems to be no respite in fighting. ukraine says it has successfully repelled -- another city close to the front line people seem to have adapted to life at work. locals taking on volunteer work to help each other. >> as tens of thousands of people fled the russian assault of kharkiv, this may decided to stay. >> it is very hard to express this feeling.

>> kharkiv is just 40 km from the russian border. for the first two months of the invasion, it was a frontline city. sometimes they were struck several times in a single day. after his ig office close down, within a week of the start of the full-scale war, he and his wife had opened up a volunteer kitchen to cook food and select supplies from soldiers. they call it hell's kitchen. the kitchen's volunteers are still turning out bread and other ukrainian dishes. he counts these days as his days off because he only works about

four hours. the volunteers here make about 4000 meals a day, operating continuously. no weekends, no holidays. >> russians don't make a brick to give us arrest. it is not our choice. if you are doing something, you are in a better mood. >> kharkiv has been quieter since there were -- the russian borders were driven back last year. >> for us, the victory is on the border of our country to be safe. we don't want anything else.

we just want to be safe in our country. >> he and his wife are living off their savings now but he says how's kitchen can deliver meals indefinitely. life's expenses are pretty lucky says with a focus on the things that matter most. request the right wing governing law and justice party appears to be on the verge of losing power. the opposition leader called at the beginning of a new era. >> pones election saw the highest voter turnout in more than three decades. voters are still waiting for the final results. in warsaw, many residents are indicating the incumbent law and justice party is unlikely to secure a third term. >> i am very happy.

i think poland will move a bit closer to europe. the good times will return and we will put an end to the middle ages. >> others are skeptical but help the political shift will be a positive one. >> and disappointed with the results but we don't have the final results here, they suggest a victory that -- for those that call themselves the democratic opposition. request for european opposition leader donald tusk is confident. he says he and his civic coalition party already have a mandate to leave the next government. >> we have a really tough battle. we have a good democratic government with our partners. poland has one and you have one.

the men and women of poland have one. request the law of justice party won more votes than any single party. its leader said he did not know if the parties success with lead to another term in power >> of course, we are still facing the question of whether we can turn the success into another term. it is something we still don't know. but we need to have hope. we know that in power or opposition, we will keep working on this project in different ways and we will not let poland be betrayed. other parties, the question democratic third way coalition and this party were celebrating

on election night. they are looking to be part of a really coalition government. many analysts believe the opposition's strong showing good drastically improve the relationship between brussels and warsaw. quick stay with us now because after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day and we will keep looking at the war in the middle east. i hope you have the time to join us.

anchor: 10:00 p.m. in the french capital. here are the stories making world headlines. developing out of russells, two people have been killed in a shooting. the suspect is on the run and wielding an automatic weapon. no word on a weapon but a terrorist investigation has been opened. 10 days after hamas's surprise attack on israel, the attack -- the humanitarian crisis in gaza reaches an emergency level. rn