>> this is "bbc world news." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to know your business, offering specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives. we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> no letup in the violence continued in gaza and southern israel.

the egyptian prime minister visits gaza. he described the attacks as a disaster and called for immediate international intervention. >> i am the prime minister, talking to you from the hospital so everyone can show there's a need to halt this immediately . >> welcome to gmt. i am david eades. coming up in the program, jaiels led for up to 24 years for crimes and acquitted. two croatian generals are walking free. and the brutal life as a slave in modern russia. >> the shop owner between a lot and hit me once nonstop for hours and even she hit me when i was pregnant.

she had no mercy. london, 7:00y in a.m. in washington, and it's 2:00 p.m. in jerusalem and gaza, where the egyptian prime minister has called for immediate intervention to bring about an end to the violence which he has blamed on israel. he held a meeting with the hamas prime minister in gaza and there's a truce. israel says 50 rockets were fired into southern israel in that time and it launched further strikes on gaza in return. sirens have been sounded in tel aviv where two rockets were fired on the city. now to an israeli border town to join my colleague ben. >> rockets have been fired into this town a few kilometers from israel-gaza border.

the sirens sounded five minutes ago. before that, an hour ago. normally the rockets are intercepted by the israel anti- missile shield, but one of them did get through to my lef andt and landed in open ground, not injuring anyone. two have landed in the tel aviv area with no casualties. but it does show the increase ranged that some of the rockets being fired out of gaza now have. the faja rocket which is applied by iran is thought to have a range of 75 kilometers -- supplied by iran. israel's military offensive in gaza continues. >> soon after sunrise, people

came out to assess the damage. after a long night of air strikes in gaza, israel hits up to 150 targets across the palestinian territory. there appear to be few casualties. this was a hamas interior ministry building. it was deserted. no one was injured. what local people are saying is that these air raids were designed to strike fear and panic as there are many residential buildings in this neighborhood and right next door there is a united nations school. families spent the night huddled in their homes. >> my children are crying so much. >> israeli civilians have also been suffering. hundreds of rockets have been far from gaza since wednesday. people have been leaving promised to seek refuge in shelters. even hospitals are moving their patients.

israel has started drafting in the thousands of reserve troops. the tipton prime minister on the left was welcomed by his hamas counterpart. lasted qandil's visit fro three hours, but that's longer than the cease-fire. two more dead bodies came into the hospital as he was there. >> israel's operation was a disaster. egypt cannot remain silent. >> israeli air strikes are ongoing. israel says in response to continued palestinian rocket fire. there's no end to the violence in sight. jon tumilson, bbc news, gaza. -- jon donnison reporting. >> despite hopes that there might be a brief cease-fire from

the egyptian prime minister when he came to visit today, but did not happen. >> no. there was meant to be a three- hour truce. both sides accuse the other of breaking that. hamas rockets being fired towards southern israel and militants in gaza say that israel launched attacks against the gaza, killing at least two civilians. there was evidence this morning in gaza city of israeli air strikes. any hopes of a long-term cease- fire hearour division. we have witnessed a large rockets being fired within the last hour towards tel aviv. we believe one of the rockets landed just short of tel aviv in an open area. i cannot see that israel would tolerate any long-range rockets being fired towards one of its

largest cities. any chance of a cease-fire is probably diminishing the more the rockets are fired and the more israel bars its own air strikes and rockets into gaza as wee heard from the border that there is an increase of israeli weapons and personnel. people fear that a big ground invasion may be about to happen in the next couple days. >> people there bracing themselves or perhaps a ground confrontation that could go on for quite some time? >> indeed. speaking to people here, there's a lot of support on the ground for hamas, despite the fact that a lot of people in gaza had to endure more than 130 airstrikes by israeli airplanes last night. there have been civilians killed. there have been buildings destroyed.

life is miserable for most people in gaza as it is for people in israeli towns living within range of at the rockets. perhaps that part of the militant psyche. they want to put israeli people in towns like tel aviv and other towns in the same kind of fear endangered they say they are experiencing. it's not clear that perhaps some people in gaza want a cease- fire and perhaps some want to carry on the fight. >> thank you very much. that was our correspondent in gaza, wyre davies. let's go to kevin, are middle east correspondent. there was a real show of solidarity for the militants. >> symbolically and politically. there was unambiguous support from the egyptian government for

hamas. the egyptian government has its roots in the same muslim brotherhood. enessere is the clos that is not surprising. the egyptian prime minister, when he spoke about carrying one of the casualties into a hospital and seeing the blood of a child standing on his clothing, that will resonate in the middle east. this is about egypt asserting leadership on this issue in the arab world. inova that whatever prospects there are for a cease-fire, it is in a powerful position -- it knows that whatever prospects there are of a cease-fire, it is in a powerful position. there have been demonstrations outside mosques in some cities. someone rushed on stage and announced they had seen on tv

and rockets had been launched on tel aviv and there was a great chanting and cheering in the crowd, so that is the mood in egypt. that is the mood of the egyptian government must reflect even as it tries to keep america happy by trying to keep the cease- fire. >> thank you very much indeed. kevin connolly in cairo. the spokes person for the israeli defense force joins us live from tel aviv. thanks for being with us. what's your reaction to the fact more rockets appeared to have been fired at tel aviv? it shows the palestinian militants in gaza have longer- range rockets. >> of far, they have not managed to really target tel aviv according to my initial investigation. rockets did not hit the ground

in tel aviv as of yet. we were aware they have these capabilities. this is why we targeted their the groundd -- on th fire fight. they have a rocket destined to read tel aviv. >> how long will the military offensive in gaza continue? reservists have been drafted in. is that the precursor to a ground operation? >> the operation will continue as long as we reach our goal. the main goal of the operation is to defend nearly 3 million israelis currently under this immediate rocket danger from gaza launched by hamas and other terrorist organizations. this is what all options are still on the table, including a ground operation. we are currently assessing our next steps and will decide how to continue this operation.

thank you very much indeed for being with us. let me show you the view in southern israel at. this is a beach. normally it would be packed with people on a friday before the sabbath, since it's a beautiful day to be down there on the beach. it's almost completely empty. there are one or two souls. that is quite extraordinary when you consider rockets have been fired into the town, pretty much as throughout the day today. we keep hearing air raid sirens sounding. and the anti-missile equipment fired up. back to the studio in london. >> thank you very much for the coverage, which we will be maintaining on bbc world news and on gmt.

let's look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world. in japan, the prime minister your yoshihiko noda has dissolved the lower house of parliament, paving the way for general elections. he has followed through on an earlier pledge to call elections after the opposition liberal democratic party agreed it would support several key pieces of legislation including a deficit financing bill and the electoral reforms. the election itself will be held on december 16. the german chancellor angela merkel has arrived in moscow for talks with the russian president vladimir putin. both sides are looking to ease tensions caused by berlin's recent criticism of russian's record on human rights. this is angela merkel has called on cairo to use its influence on cairo to ease heightening tensions in gaza. a yacht that washed up on a deserted island in condo was

found with a badly decomposed body on board and 200 kilos of cocaine worth $120 million. the australian federal police said international law people have been monitoring the bozen's when it left south america until they lost contact with the last month. police in a small pacific island nation have not ruled out the population the death was suspicious. -- a boat from tonga. much more ahead. four people have been killed and 17 injured after a freight train crashed into a parade floats in texas. it was carrying u.s. veterans and was on its way to an event honoring wounded service members. it happened at a real across the in the city of middle and. our correspondence has the latest. >> this was a parade float. it was basically a group of people sitting on the back of a flatbed truck that was crossing

over the will track when it was hit by a train. this was part of an event to honor war veterans. those who were sitting on the back of the truck or soldiers injured in battle and their spouses, on their way to a big meal being held for them in west texas and a big weekend of hunting had been laid out for them. the investigation has already begun. the union pacific spokesman said from what they could gather, the gates to the railroad crossing were working as were the lights and the train sounded its horn as it approached the crossing. but the train struck the back of one of these trucks and the people on board scattered to try to get out of the way. it appears there were a large number of people killed and injured. some of them were taken to a hospital and are critically injured. >> president obama has visited

several areas of new york city, the ones hit worst by superstorm sandy. president promised to continue federal support for the victims. he said the hardest-hit areas would need a long-term recovery time. gordon 100 people were killed by the storm which hit the east coast of america two weeks ago. the spanish government has approved measures to help people facing evictions from their homes. the victims will be suspended for two years -- evictions will be suspended for two years our people cannot pay their debts. it's a growing problem in spain. this is gmt from bbc world news. at i am david eades. the sound of a large explosion was heard in tel aviv and sirens sounded as hamas continues firing rockets from gaza into israel. a core tenet has acquitted of desecration former generals of

war crimes and crimes against humanity during the balkan conflicts in the 1990's. that's where we will stay for the moment. the acquittal of those two former generals. they had been convicted of war crimes and now they have been told they can go free. this is the reaction from their supporters in the capital of croatia following the decision. this was for atrocities against serbs in the former yugoslavia. our correspondent, peter, is there. give us the backdrop before we ask what happened. present is an interesting case. there was some surprise of the acquittals today. the background is the two were two croatian generals involved in a military offensive by the croatians to retake the serb-

occupied enclave in 1995 and august. it was alleged they had been involved in expelling serbian civilians and there were charges of murder and plunder and deportation and better things. it came to trial in march of 2008 and predicted in april last year and found guilty. one was given 24 years in jail and the other was given 18 years. on appeal, by a majority 3-2, the appeal judges have ruled they should be acquitted. >> on the basis of what? >> that the court had misinterpreted some of the facts and that the operation had been legitimate and that the serbian civilians had left because they were being shepherded out as part of an operation undertaken by their own leaders and not as a result of the expulsion by croatians. >> this comes a year after the convictions. we have seen the pictures of jubilation from the crowds as

two heroes may return. what is the response from serbia? >> sumwalt house dial. and not in many acquittals at the tribunals at the hat gue. that is not appear to be the case in this situation. the leadership says this could reopen old wounds and that it was a political decision and not a legal ruling spir. the president says ther was never a genocide in serbia where 8000 men and boys were killed in the 1990's. he said that war crimes were committed, but not genocide. >> 11 people held as slaves in a shop in moscow have been describing to the bbc the treatment that they experienced. they said it was brutal, but the shop owner be to them constantly

and forced them to work long hours for no money and very little food. there were held more than 10 years. some of the women had children wiles to present. one of them has been permanently disabled. our moscow correspondent daniel sanford has this report. like a toddler just learning to walk, but he is 5 years old and crippled by res -- by rickettsw. -- ricketts. a miniere enslaved at market. imprisoned by the shop owner. this person was brought from quebec stanton years ago at age 16. she worked long days a little food and was never paid and lived in constant fear of violence. uxbekistan.

>> even hit me when i was pregnant and beat me for two hours straight. bruises on my legs and on my face. >> this person had two children while being held as a slave and is pregnant again. she said the father was one of her captors who regularly beat her,. her 5-year-old daughter is missing. she doesn't know if she is dead or alive. >> the 11 slaves were freed during this raid, not by the police but by campaigners who had been alerted by the mother of one of the women. >> over 10 years this mini market was there prison. they lived and slept downstairs in the basement and were not allowed beyond the front door.

it seems the local police knew about this but were being paid off and brought back anybody who escaped. when three of the freed slaves went to report their imprisonment, they found themselves being detained again by the police as illegal immigrants. the activists had to free them once more. >> when we asked one officer why he was pursuing the victims and not the perpetrators, insisted he was just trying to persuade the women to cooperate. the shop workers are trying to have their immigration status result. my bridge workers in russia are often badly treated, but this is one of the worst cases ever to come to light. daniel sanford, bbc news, moscow. >> let's catch up on business news. there's to be an election in japan. >> sparked by the fiscal cliff question, the budget deficit.

it's the biggest deficit in the developed world, twice that of gdp, which puts everybody else into the shade. the reason why this election as kamal is there was an argument over this issue on how it would be financed. the prime minister noda said to the opposition at let's get this thing through and we will have an election straightaway. that's what will happen. a number small parties, one of which is sunrise, which is run by the mayor of tokyo, coming up from the wings, and they don't want to give them too much power to build too much support. the possibility is really at the moment, this is what people are looking at, they will end up with a weekend slightly fractured. fractured. -- slightly fractured government, weakened.

the stock markets are not that, surprisingly. a representative of fujitsu talked about how the politics will work out. >> it looks likely the ldp will win the election but it will not be enough to form a government. it will have to look for coalition partners. there are new parties forming. there probably will be new parties coming from the democratic government as well. this probably will be the situation over the next couple months until there's a new coalition. >> another story, east germany. and political germany >> this investigation will come out in about a half-hour's time.

by ernst and young investigating the relations between care, the east german government, and political prisoners. we will see if there's any compensation and who might have to pay the compensation who else was doing the same sort of things. west german mail order companies, forced labor, perhaps they were doing that as well, and whether similar things are happening elsewhere in the world, such as possibly in china. it will be the biggest in the coming months. our correspondent in berlin now. >> we know contract or maybe more than one contract was given to the east german government. we also know that former prisoners of the secret police, in other words the political prisoners, say that they recognize that furniture. people escaped from east germany in those years and then wrote to

ikea saying i was making your furniture. what we don't know is whether ikea -- we don't know how much ikea knew about the contracts. but that could be a minefield. >> and it could spread out to many parts of the world and many companies. >> thank you very much. for much -- thanks very much . two at tel aviv in the past hour or so. one of them fell into the sea and the other was intercepted. very much a hot issue for us on gmt. that's all for the moment. stay with us on bbc world news. >> make sense of international

news at bbc.com/news. >> funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers use their expertise in global finance to guide you through the business strategies and opportunities of international commerce. we put our extended global network to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.