from berlin. tonight, a major escalation in israel's war against hamas. israel's military says it is expanding its ground operations in the gaza strip and wrapping up airstrikes on hamas targets inside the territory as it gets closer to launching a full-scale ground invasion. also tonight, the u.n. looms of a looming humanitarian catastrophe for the 2 million people trapped inside gaza. hardly any international aid is

arriving, with food, fuel and water running short. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. to our viewers watching on pbs in the united states and to all of you around the world, welcome. tonight, there are growing signs that israel could be on the brink of launching a full-scale ground invasion into gaza. israel's military says it is expanding its ground operations there and has launched an aerial bombardment targeting the terrorist group hamas. >> as night fell over gaza, israel stepped up its bombing campaign again. israel aims to degrade the military capabilities hamas has to the greatest degree possible. >> in the last few hours, we increased the strikes in gaza. the air force is striking

on the ground terrorist facilities and other facilities in a serious way. the ground forces are extending the ground operation tonight. israel has steadily been increasing its incursions into gaza using mobile units with tanks bordered by jets and drones. a steady stream of attacks before an expected full-scale invasion. at the warning from israel on friday, in accuses hamas of using gaza's largest medical complex as their military operational headquarters. >> when medical facilities are used for terror purposes, they are liable to lose their protection from attack in accordance with international law. >> the challenge israel faces, the hospital has become a refuge from the bombing for tens of thousands of palestinians. an appeal by israel's allies --

>> the united states has made clear in both public and private conversations, that as israel exercises its right and indeed its responsibility to defend its people against a terrorist group, it must do so in line with the rules of war. there are no law free zones in war. >> israel has not yet succeeded stopping hamas firing rockets over the border from gaza. the military group says it fired a number of salvos on friday. rockets like this one, which hit a residential building in tel aviv, wounding several israelis, are a reminder that the terrorist threat from hamas is very much alive. brent: journalist sammy socha is following this story in jerusalem and has more on the military's expanding operations tonight.

sammy: not only have they said they are expanding the ground operations, but we have reports from the ground, from the north of the gaza strip that is rarely tanks are rolling into the gaza strip. there is also a hamas fighter, fighters there that are confronting them. this is the most recent development. earlier this evening, there was a bombarding of the gaza strip. people in the gaza strip are saying this has been the worst bombardment since the beginning of the israeli campaign. israel has been both from the air, artillery, and from the sea . the extent of this bombing, israeli residents who live in communities outside the gaza strip have been reporting that their houses have been shaking and some of the windows have been shattered as a result of

this bombardment that is taking place in the gaza strip. we also know that the strikes hit the leading palestinian telecommunications company, it hit that facility and now, in the gaza strip, there is no internet and the situation, of course, is very grave. brent: i want to make sure, we can confirm -- you are saying, the israeli military is saying that it's forces are encountering hamas militants inside gaza. this is the urban warfare we have been warned about, correct? sammy: we still don't know the scope of this, whether it is similar to what we have seen in previous evenings or if this is something of a larger scale. but there are israeli tanks now in the northern gaza strip. brent: what can you tell us by

the claims of israeli defense forces, that the hospital is being used by hamas militants inside gaza? ; today, the idf spokesperson spoke to foreign media and told them that hamas headquarters, their military headquarters is under the shiva hospital. that is being used by hamas fighters, there are tunnels leading and connecting between and under the hospital to the network of hamas tunnels in the gaza strip. of course, hamas has denied it, they issued a statement in which they denied this, and clearly, by making these kinds of statements, this israelis are signaling to the world regarding this hospital as a legitimate

target. brent: and we have to remind our viewers, we cannot verify these claims being made by the military, but if it is true, it falls in line with what we have been hearing from israel all along. that hamas uses civilian areas as human shields, right? ; this kind of argument is something we have heard over the years, but you have to remember that the gaza strip is a very crowded area, 2.3 million people are living in the gaza strip and clearly, the hamas fighters are located in the gaza strip. i would also say in israel, you have military facilities and military presence in civilian areas, so this is not something which is unique to hamas, but

the point israel has been raising again and again. to justify the kind of campaign it is waging against the leaders and commanders of hamas in the gaza strip and explaining why there have been so many civilian casualties throughout this air campaign. brent: journalist sammy socha with the latest developments tonight, the latest from jerusalem. sammy, thank you. coverage continues now with a senior lecturer and strategic studies at portsmouth university, and a former u.k. military intelligence officer who joins us tonight from office -- oxford. israel's defense forces say they are expanding their operations tonight. do you think this is the beginning of the much-anticipated ground invasion? >> there are three indications that would indicate it is the

beginning of a military operation. i will come back to that in the second. first is the communications blackouts, which will include electronic warfare to deny hamas communications. we will see that over the past few hours and have seen that go on, including cyber attacks and taking down a variety of towers. the second is bombardment. bombs are being dropped of a rate, heavy bombs, about one every 10 seconds. finally, there is the announcement of the israeli defense forces. i saw this as well, the israeli press is picking up that the palestinians are saying that the tanks are conducting a raid in force, but the u.s. are advising the idf very strongly, they have a senior general in the israeli headquarters, advising them not to conduct huge scale operations but what we call pulsing

operations. large-scale raids, withdraw, achieve objectives, withdraw, and i expect that is what we will see over the next few weeks. if we don't, they are not taking the u.s.' adcvice. brent: the idf says the hospital in gaza is being used by hamas militants as their main headquarters for military operations. they are also saying hamas is using civilians as human shields. knowing if you move into gaza, you are talking about urban warfare, is there any way the israeli military, even if they destroy hamas, if they can win this battle? there will be so many civilian lives that will be lost. >> i have no doubt at all that the idf is on top of this -- not for nothing is hamas called the terrorist organization. the main weapon against the

israeli defense forces are civilians, and the idf is more than aware of that, i think. but the military center of gravity of this operation is the tunnel systems. the israelis have plans for that. they have not just discovered now that the headquarters are underneath that hospital, that is something they have been aware of for a long time and would have land for that. i seriously doubt they are planning to take down the hospital, that would be disproportionate and present them with political problems as well. brent: egyptian officials are saying that unidentified drones hit two egyptian red sea towns on friday. israel is accusing yemen's iran backed houthi rebels. what can you tell us about this? >> last week, the uss connie was

destroyed, and another drone fell yesterday near the border. the israeli air force had reported had engaged drones, but there were heavy hints it was yemen again. i expect the drones crashed on egyptian territory today were being fired from yemen. brent: frank, as always, we appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you, brent. brent: meanwhile, the situation for the more than 2 million people trapped inside gaza is growing worse by the hour. a trickle of humanitarian aid is arriving and supplies of, fuel, and water have nearly run out. > in gaza, the relentless bombing continues from the air and the sea. the trickle of aid getting in is

nowhere near enough. >> medicine is running out. food and water are running out. the streets of gaza have started overflowing with sewage. gaza is on the brink of risk. >> all of this made worse by the fuel shortages. 200,000 people in shelters receive fresh bread from the world food program every day, and the few bakeries that are still open are producing a fraction of what they were before the crisis began. with no other option's, this woman is using whatever paper she can find to bake bread on the streets.

>> we have gone to get flower under bombardment from a besieged area, and brought firewood from the streets. we are risking our lives looking for paper. >> freshwater is also in short supply. many in gaza queuing up with bottles they canisters, and sure was a -- -- unsure when the water might be breaking through. the humanitarian situation on the ground is looking increasingly bleak. this woman, unable to breast-feed her baby and lacking access to mi, feeds the -- fears the worst. >> my son's skin is turning yellow due to lack of breast-feeding. what has he done wrong? what has this baby done wrong? >> this man mourns the death of his wife and eight-month-old baby, both killed in an israeli airstrike. despite early assurances that

southern gaza would be spared, seems to be nowhere safe in the strip and it is only exacerbated by the humanitarian crisis. brent: the u.n. says it will be forced to hold its operations in gaza if fuel is not allowed into the territory. we were told earlier what this would mean for the more than 2 million gazans in need. >> it means an absolute catastrophe for over 2 million people in gaza. food is running outs, water and medicine are running out, and aid coming through is not enough. it's nowhere near enough. fuel is not allowed to be delivered into gaza. hospitals need fuel to keep operating. water pumps and bakeries require fuel, so it is a catastrophic situation.

the events tonight in gaza are terrifying. gaza is under full communications with blackout, with an announcement that the israeli government has launched a ground operation. we fear for the worst. brent: are you saying that your organization will also have to hold its operations in gaza? >> we have had to scale down our operations because of the bombardment and the lack of safety for colleagues on the ground. we have continued to deliver cash assistance to support civilians and families, buying food items on the market, but it is nowhere near enough to be the growing needs on the ground. all crossings need to be opened and the israeli government has to live its seat over gaza.

brent: what about the situation in terms of medical care? we know that a third, if not one fourth of the hospitals in gaza have shut down. are things improving as aid slowly begins to trickle into the territory? i think there was a report that 10 european doctors have arrived. >> that is not enough, and doctors need fuel. they need fuel and electricity to keep running so they can treat people with the right medical supplies and care, and this is not happening right now. with de-escalation and violence, israeli ground operation being launched in gaza, we will see widespread lead shed and more destruction to civilian infrastructure.

our police international community, and this horrific suffering. enough is enough. while this catastrophe is unveiling in gaza, they are debating over a cease-fire at the united nations. it is not good enough and they must step up. brent: what have you been hearing on the ground from your community in gaza? hamas is headquartered, according to intel, in a hospital in gaza. have you encountered them on the ground? >> these claims cannot be confirmed. we have seen indiscriminate israeli bombardment over gaza that has hit civilian infrastructure, that has led to civilian casualties on a wired

--. we need to focus on the international community ending this suffering and preventing further bloodshed. they need to step up and call for a cease-fire brent: we appreciate your time tonight. thank you. >> thank you. brent: on friday, jewish organizations in ruin will solve the -- a table is 220 empty seats was set in front of a jewish community center. in judeo, is -- simon young has more from central berlin. >> 220 places late at the

shabbat table to draw attention to the hostages held in gaza by hamas. this is an event similar to those held in other cities too, which brings closer the suffering of families in israel. it is also a sign that they hope for solidarity of wider german society. many are concerned about anti-semitism and attacks on jewish institutions. they want to feel safe again and want the salt -- hostages home safely. brent: the eu has accepted a proposal from spain to hold a peace conference between israel and hamas within six months.

>> in agreement, despite the do divisions of eu leaders at the summit, the call to arrange an international peace, or in to try to find a way to end violence in the middle east. it's a good sign, he is now the -- it's widely agreed that the hamas terrorist group would not be invited to such a conference following their attack on israel, which eu leaders have universally can down. but with pressure from countries like spain and ireland, the countries agreed to call for have vegetarian causes -- for humanitarian causes. >> we are going to build a

humanitarian coalition with several european countries, particularly cyprus, which will serve as a base for the humanitarian c corridor. he also planned to renegotiate the eu budget to provide 50 billion euros in, newport for ukraine. >> everyone knows, but they don't dare say it out loud that the strategy has failed. it's obvious this won't work. ukrainians will not win on the front line. >> that's totally at odds with the eu position, and hungary will be pressed to drop its position between now and when they gather in brussels before christmas. brent: and pope francis on friday let a prayer vigil for peace in st. peter's basilica,

the vatican. he said he is praying for countries and regions, saying the world is in a dark hour. since the start of the israeli -hamas war, they have been appealing for relief in gaza and humanitarian aid for civilians. he invited people of various christian denominations and faiths to take part. the pontiff has been vocal about the middle east conflict. earlier, i asked our correspondent what the pope is saying with his day of prayer and penance. >> to some degree, it is a way to concentrate the attention of the catholic community across the world on the conflict. it is also an expression of support for the community in the area, which has been on the receiving end of a lot of the violence, mostly the bombing of

gaza now, where a church was bombed and it was actually an orthodox greek church, but there are also small but significant number of catholics living in gaza. there has been an uptick in the last couple of years, especially with a government that has been supportive of settlers in israel , there is a confrontation brewing between christian authorities, including catholic authorities, and protestant authorities in israel, and the israeli government, because the christian community in israel has been very vocal about stopping the war, stopping the bombing in gaza and recognizing the human cost, whereas the vatican has taken a much more cautious approach, which has to

do with the fact that the vatican is very much involved in the diplomatic conversations with both sides. that said, the vatican is now taking a position that seems to be much more open against the bombing of gaza. brent: brent: and i was going to say, prayer is something to be expected. to what extent is the vatican involved in this conflict diplomatically, particularly behind the scenes. do we know? >> we don't have a clear picture at the time of the conflicts, but a couple months later, we begin to hear how much movement there was on the ground. we do know the diplomatic boss of the vatican has met with the israeli ambassador to the vatican, and there has been a lot of movement from christian communities, but particularly the catholic community in israel in conversations with the israeli government. the pope, directly after the

attacks on the seventh of october, came out and demanded the release of israeli hostages held in gaza. as soon as the vatican started to discuss the casualties, that switch to the tide. brent: martin, as always, thank you. let's take a look at some of the other stories making headlines this hour. an independent commission in spain says the 1940's, the countries catholic clergy may have abused more than 200,000 children. the estimate is based on a survey of 8000 adults. the commission has proposed setting up a compensation fund. china's foreign minister has met with u.s. president joe biden and u.s. secretary of state antony blinken, where he is on a three-day trip to washington laying the groundwork for an expected summit between biden and chinese president xi jinping

next month. you're watching dw news, live from berlin. israel's military says it is expanding its ground operations in gaza and has intensified airstrikes as it moves closer to watching a full-scale -- launching a full-scale ground invasion. and the has announced a humanitarian catastrophe for the 2 million people trapped inside gaza. hardly any aid is arriving with food, fuel and water running short. after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. stick around, we will be right back. ♪

>> it is 10:00 p.m. here in the french capital. you are watching "live from paris." the army -- the israeli army says ground forces are expanding activity in gaza. the declaration comes after airstrikes on gaza which have continued since october 7. and amid a blackout of internet and mobile phone services in gaza. the already dire humanitarian situation is worsening with supplies of food and water desperately low. aid ships have arrived in gaza,

but the united nations says it is crumbs compared to what people need. the united nations approved a resolution calling for humanitarian troops that humanitarian troops in gaza -- calling for a humanitarian truce in gaza. thanks very much for joining us here on france 24. first up, the israeli army says ground forces are expanding activity in gaza as airstrikes intensified significantly on northern gaza on friday. those airstrikes already constant since october 7 and the attack on israel by palestinian terrorist group hamas.

these developments come amid a blackout of internet and mobile phone services in the gaza strip. for more, here is our correspondent in jerusalem. >> this is definitely an escalation. it is an escalation in the israeli bombardment, land, sea, and air. it has been the most severe of all the gaza conflict that i have covered. i have not seen an israeli response like this, and tonight, it has ratcheted up another level. i think tonight we can say is different to the days that have gone before since the hamas attack in israel on october 7. we are hearing that it is different. we know is it's a different not just from the gaza strip but from the reports emerging from the gaza strip, too, and basically, there are reports that tell us all the internet and phone lines are down, so if you want to communicate with the gaza strip, you will be lucky to

be able to do it. they've got to get into the palestinian network -- you got to get into the israeli network because the palestinian network is down. they say the heavy bombardment that the whole gaza strip was enduring means there is no more -- it is a complete communications collapse. that is the situation in the gaza strip. we have also heard from the border that there is now gunfire. that is some kind of clash on the ground there. i cannot confirm that. i have heard from one source on that. i'm just putting out there that could be the situation now. we will keep watching to see if that is right. we have heard a response from hamas, who condemn this massive escalation in the gaza strip. they are still firing rockets into israel, by the way, but they condemn the escalation in

the gaza strip, and they say that this destruction of the file -- the phone lines and the internet is an attempt to carry out, as they put it, further massacres, and i quote, "the occupation is intended to carry out further massacres without the supervision of the world or the world's media." i think the issue that has started to come into forward focus for israelis is the hostages, now believed to number 229. that number going up as more information becomes available, especially about foreign nationals. i think that has now become front and center. we have seen a pole that suggests about 49% of israelis would be happy if the ground offensive did not go ahead, and i interpret that to mean that that is because they are so concerned about the hostages, and all the information that has

been coming out suggest that if you want to deal with the hostages, you have to do it before a full-blown gaza offensive, a full-blown ground offensive. we heard from a spokesman this evening when he said there is an expansion of operations. the hostages remain a priority, so i think, is this a full ground offensive? i would say not yet, only because of those words from the idea of a spokesperson about the hostages, and i think they are becoming a national obsession as people mourn their dead, still burying their dead, but are very aware. families can barely sleep for fear of their loved ones in the gaza strip.

>> the already dire humanitarian situation in gaza is worsening as israel's airstrikes continue on the territory. trucks full of food and medical supplies entered from egypt. since the hamas attacks, dozens of aid trucks have made it into gaza, compared to several hundred trucks per day that were arriving prior to the conflict. the united nations has warned that many more will die due to the catastrophic shortages. >> israel has warned them to leave northern gaza, but these families have nowhere to go. they prefer to remain close to their torn down homes, but now they are living out of their cars. >> we have turned into beggars. we are running out to the water truck to fill up on drinking water. this is not what life should be like. where are we supposed to go in the south? we don't have any relatives there, so does its best we stay here and find people who can help us, people who can lend us

money to buy food. >> 1.4 million people are believed to have fled their homes. while many are headed south, eight is barely reaching them. more basic necessities are expected to enter from the strip's southern border with egypt. the united nations is calling for a cease-fire to allow for better distribution. >> many more will die from the consequences. bakeries, water ship, electricity in hospitals -- all this needs to function. >> bill -- mills and bakeries are unable to meet demand. some bakeries have been targeted by israeli strikes, and cues for bread can last for hours -- queues for bread can last for

hours. >> fuel is one of the key sticking points unpaid deliveries into the gaza strip. israel accuses hamas of diverting aid supplies. to talk more about this, we are joined by the regional head of the operations for the aid group action against hunger. thank you for joining us. give us an idea how operations are going. >> it is going too slow for the time being. as we noticed, there are some trucks coming in, but again, it is very few compared to the needs on the ground. but today, i think we are around a little bit more than 80 trucks compared to six days ago when they started. we know that before the conflict, gaza was depending on

at least 100 trucks per day to supply with basic items. we see the situation is going really too slow. this is not meeting the minimum needs of the population in such circumstances right now inside gaza. >> the united nations humanitarian chief said only crumbs were getting there, as you just described. what needs to change to get the aid to these civilians in need? >> first of all, we need a cease-fire. we need to be able to move safely on the ground. to have a sustained humanitarian corridor to allow for items to get in in a continuous manner and allow people to be able to move around safely. that's a very big problem because, of course, in these conditions, the aid is not able

to reach to the most vulnerable or cross along the different areas of the street. >> we mentioned the fuel situation. supplies running very low along with food and water. israel says hamas is writing supplies to be able to continue firing its campaign of thousands of rockets. what can aid groups like yours do to ensure that supplies are getting where they need to go? >> we are able to work directly on the ground and deliver it to the people that need it, so we don't have any evidence that fuel has entered the trucks that have been crossing, so we continue to insist. fuel is vital for everything, also for running the water system, which is one of the basic requirements.

our aim is to be able to do our work directly. we are there. we are on the ground. let's have some security to be able to move the items. >> can you give us any more details about what we are expecting in the coming days? what is ready to go into gaza as we speak? >> there are hundreds and hundreds of trucks piling up on the border. so that we are able to send our items in. thing is, it is going too slow, as i mentioned. the trucks are there. the items are available. that is an incredible situation.

the items that are there cannot get in, and it is incredible to see that people are just suffering and dying because of hunger, because of lack of basic items for survival. >> thank you very much for your insight. the united nations has held a general assembly emergency session in new york. the world body voted to back a proposal for a sustained humanitarian cease-fire in gaza. this put forward by jordan on behalf of the united nations arab grouping. the jordanian-led group's proposal came after the more powerful security council failed to agree on a resolution after 4 attacks. for more on this, we are joined by our correspondent in new york at the united nations. good to have you along.

first up, tell us what this means. >> it means that the vast majority of world powers want this war to end. they want a cessation of hostilities, and that is what this resolution calls for, and it passed with overwhelming support. it got the 2/3 support it needed to pass in the general assembly. it got 120 votes in favor, 45 abstentions, and 14 nos. amongst those who said no, israel and the united states, so it shows global opinion is stacked against israel and the u.s. when it comes to calling for a cease-fire. most of the world wants one. this resolution called for aid to be allowed in to help palestinian civilians in gaza, and really, it just shows there's a lot of anger coming in particular from the global south because amendments put forward by canada were rejected.

they did not get the support they needed. canada and also the united states and some other powers were calling for the word "hamas " to be included in the resolution, but other countries argue that if you name hamas, you also have to name israel. pakistan said they purposely did not name names in the resolution. his is a resolution calling for peace, calling for a cessation of hostilities. >> that's the latest on the united nations general assembly. this also another vote to take place in the security council on the resolution. tell us about that. >> that's right. the reason that this resolution came to a vote in the general assembly was because there have been 4 resolutions in the security council that have failed over the last week or so, and now there's a 51 in the pipeline that is being drafted and negotiated as we speak. it is being drafted by the letter e10, the elected 10

members of the security council, the members who don't have permanency, who don't have a veto in the council. at the moment, the text includes a call for a cease-fire. we don't know when it will come to a vote and we don't know if it would pass because the previous text calling for a cease-fire was vetoed by the united states. >> our correspondent in new york, thank. the main were tonight coming out of the middle east is that israel has announced it is expanding ground forces tonight as large airstrikes stepped up over the north of gaza later on friday. when i get reaction from israel's top ally, the united states, from our correspondent, fraser jackson, who is in washington. first of all, what is the reaction from the white house to the news? >> the u.s. is saying it is aware of the continuing operations on the ground in israel. they would not say if they were pretty worn that something like

this would happen, but they are monitoring the situation. the white house also saying that they hope that hostages can still be released in despite of this increased action and operations for the israelis on the ground. the united states is reiterating its support for a humanitarian cause. they are stopping short of calling it a cease-fire, but they do say they want a pause to be able to get hostages out and also help more aid get into the gaza strip. we know 10 more trucks got in today. that means only 84 in total have gotten into the strip so far, far less than the hundreds per day that we know normally goes into the area. the u.s. also saying it is not drawing any redlines for israel in its ground offensive. as as it still has its full support -- it says it still has its full support. we are still having conversations, the united states is, about minimizing civilian

casualties. the u.s. knows it is walking a fine line. it is israel's biggest backer but also is aware international sympathy for israel and the attacks it suffered could dry up in the face of mounting palestinian casualties. palestinian casualties have been growing in the last few days, but joe biden a few days ago said that he had no confidence in the number of casualties that the palestinians said. he said everything was being run by the hamas-controlled gaza health ministry. the united nations and other international agencies say the figures coming out of the gaza strip are still broadly trusted. >> there's a lot of concern about the israel-hamas conflict spilling over. u.s. forces stationed in the region have come under attack in recent days in a seeming retaliation for support for israel. what is the latest on that? >> there was a "wall street journal" report a few days ago that said the united state had asked israel to hold off on any

ground offensive until it could rush extra air defense systems to troops in eastern syria and iraq. i have asked multiple officials over the last few days if there is any veracity to this report, and nobody has confirmed anything, it has to be said. the u.s. does have assets in the region. it is a layover from the iraq war but also the fight against isis. troops mainly based along the border between syria and iraq in the eastern part. i went to a briefing yesterday at the pentagon where it was announced that they are sending patriot air defense missile systems and other things to help defend these troops in that area . it comes after multiple attacks on basis -- on bases which have injured 200 u.s. service people. they have all gone back to work, it must be said, afterwards. these have come from iran-affiliated groups. the u.s. has warned them not to attack, not to try to get involved and escalate this

conflict. the u.s. very clearly making a line between the war between israel and hamas and what is happening on these bases. they say not to conflate the two. that escalated itself early friday when the u.s. sent two f-16 fighter jets in what they said were self-defense airstrikes. these were sides they said were linked to yvonne's revolutionary guard call. they said the purpose of the strikes was to have a significant impact on future irgc and iran-backed military operations. it went right at ammunition depots they know are being used to support these groups. the goal was to deter and prevent future attacks.

that does not seem to have worked because we then found out another 10 rockets have been fired at an american base in retaliation, but the u.s. is remaining confident that the air defense system it has and the ones on the way will help keep troops in the region safe. >> that's the latest from our washington correspondent, frazier jackson. in europe, eu leaders have called for humanitarian corridors and pauses in the middle east to allow for aid into gaza. a statement from brussels came after hours of debate over language that reflected the deep divisions within the 27-member bloc. the french went further and called for a longer-lasting humanitarian truce. >> we are going to organize together with the israeli authorities, the united nations, and with egypt, ways of getting humanitarian aid through via land, and if possible, along the coast.

cyprus is the eu's closest territory in the area, so we wish to either transport patients or help food and medical aid get through faster. >> emmanuel macron speaking in brussels earlier on friday. time now for our daily fact checking program, truth or fake, here on france 24. good to have you along. there's been viral internet claims that hamas hired a palestinian internet created two fake injuries in gaza to garner sympathy for what is actually hamas propaganda. tell us more about this. >> there's been increasing claims of pale-wood, accusing this hospital patient of being a paid actor finance back hamas to fake the horrors in gaza and

spread a false narrative of suffering. these accounts claim that there is video proof of this man one day riding in a hospital bed, the next scene crying after claiming his apartment was hit or seen brandishing a gun or celebrating in the streets, and indeed, many of them have included video montages claiming to show just that, so we have a hospital patient there in a bed. this is infused later in the clip with a man claiming what they say is holding his wounded baby, later in the clip holding a gun, also seen wandering the streets of gaza. a man accused has also been named in many of these posts and has been named as an internet creator and in some ways and on the ground internet personality

in gaza. he has filmed himself and what he has seen daily ever since october 7 when the conflict re-escalated between israel and hamas. he claims his goal in doing this is to show the reality of what it is like for palestinians living in the gaza strip. >> you used the word pale-wood to describe this. it is with explaining what that means. >> these claims have appeared under the #palewood, a portmanteau of palestine and hollywood. this is a portmanteau seen as far back as 2005. it has been used as a way to cast doubt on palestinian suffering and palestinian voices and challenged israel as well. it is important to note that the founder of that word was

somebody pro israel as well. the word was also used in that context by an israeli politician as well. benjamin's communications team who used the word specifically along with a clip who claims he does not watch netflix because pale-wood propaganda is the actual comedy. the official state of israel account on x also made these same claims. these posts were swiftly deleted after being posted, but there is including that same video, and we can see, it says fake news alert. that is just reiterating those claims that he is staging himself as a palestinian victim.

>> ever-changing world on the social networks. how were you able to check these claims? >> those claims that we saw other men taking on the role of a wounded critical man in a gaza hospital -- in fact, the video of that patient is not him, and it is not even recent either. i found this out by carrying out a reverse image search of a frame of that video. it took me to the same video posted on tiktok in august of this year. it is not posted by the same account watermarked on that post, but the fact that it was posted in august does point to this not having anything to the conflict or the situation on the ground in gaza. it is not recent. i also found an article directing me to the details of a palestinian teenager wounded in a refugee camp. this was also back in august.

this is definitely our on the ground personality. in terms of those other claims that he was out running around in a, those videos are indeed posted on his social media, but they are being completely misrepresented out of context. in terms of the video of him being seen with the baby, that was posted -- that is posted on his social media, but it is from his instagram. he does not mention anything to do with being related to the baby, just that it is a sole survivor of the strike. the other clips we saw are visible on social media but have been completely misrepresented here into something they are not. what is being manipulated is the idea of him acting as a patient and going out as an actor funded by hamas in the streets and this creates a narrative of distrust against palestinian voices.

apart from the hospital video, all of those were indeed his posts being misrepresented, but as always, he has maintained his stance that his goal in posting these videos is to showcase the realities of gaza. >> thank. fascinating as ever. stay with us. we will be back in just a few minutes. >> [speaking another language] quick to join us on a trip to northern kenya to meet people of nomadic pastoralists who live on the front line of climate change. five years of drought have decimated their herds, forcing them to adapt. >> [speaking another language]

>> indigenous people facing climate change. a series of reports on france 24. >> follow our international journalists on france 24. douglas herbert. angela diffley. robert parsons. philip terrell, and armen georgian. from the newsroom to the studio or live on air, they are on standby 24/7 to analyze world events. tackling historic, geopolitical, economic, or environmental issues, our experts get to the heart of the biggest international news stories. they contribute to our special reports and scour the headlines for information. follow it live.

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10/27/23 10/27/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> unrwa is about to run out of supplies, including fuel that is needed for incubators and left support sheens in hospitals, needed for bakeries, water pumping. if we run out of fuel, we will not be able to deliver