>> earlier today, secretary lloyd austin and israeli benny gantz gave brief remarks to the press at the pentagon before a closed-door meeting. -- israeli prime minister -- israeli minister benny gantz gave brief remarks to the press at the pentagon before a closed-door meeting. >> is a pleasure to host you here at the pentagon. i appreciated your hospitality when we saw each other ahead of israel's remembrance day and i'm glad to have the opportunity to reciprocate following your own -- our own memorial day in the states. i am anticipating that we will have an afternoon of frank discussions on a wide range of issues. as the minister and i usually do. before we start, i wanted to reiterate that the ministration 's -- the administration's commitment to israel's security design glad. we are committed to ensuring that israel can offend itself against iran, its proxies, and terrorist groups. the administration supports your country's right to defend itself against rockets fired by hamas and other militants against israeli civilians and i want to thank you again for your role in the cease-fir

peter: israeli defense minister benny gantz says israeli-u.s.rences should be resolved without defiant rhetoric. he has been dispatched washington, where he is expected to make a $1 million request to the pentagon to re-stock the iron dome missile defense system. there were more than 3000 rockets fired into israel and the most recent conflict with hamas. in 2020, usaid israel was just shy of $4 billion. almost all of it goes into the military. and washington is committed to an obama-era deal that would last until 2028, providing over $40 billion over 10 years. >> it is safe to expect that among the things they will talk about our regional security issues. and we have every expectation that iran and their malign behavior in the region will come up. this is obviously not the first time that the secretary has met or spoken with minister gantz. they have had numerous phone calls over the last couple weeks with respect to gaza, and we visited israel not long ago and they had an extensive date together. so we expect thursday's meeting will be a contin

the defense minister benny gantz will be in washington.s here to raise some money to replenish israel's iron dome missile system, but there's no doubt that there are going to be very strong conversations with the defense minister in terms of israel's position on the iran deal, also in terms of israel's ongoing settlement activity in occupied territory. there's a lot on the table at the moment. benny was a member of that coalition. this will be an opportunity for the biden administration to gauge which way the new government is going to go. lauren: thank you very much indeed. the united nations and red cross officials are in gaza to view the destruction 11 days after a cease-fire ended the conflict between israel and hamas. our correspondent has more. >> in this part of gaza, 42 people were killed, half of them belonged to one family. 22 people were lost across three generations in their home. >> at the beginning, we heard a strong sound, and our home violently shook. we gathered in the center away from the windows and furniture. the walls

. ♪ >> earlier today, secretary lloyd austin and israeli benny gantz gave brief remarks to the presspentagon before a closed-door meeting. -- israeli prime minister -- israeli minister benny gantz gave brief remarks to the press at the pentagon before a closed-door meeting. >> is a pleasure to host you here at the pentagon. i appreciated your hospitality when we saw each other ahead of israel's remembrance day and i

lloyd austin held talks with his israeli counterpart, benny gantz, in washington, d.c..e also said the security of palestinian's must be assured. security forces in sudan have closed of all major roads leading to government and military headquarters in the capital of khartoum. it follows protests marking the second anniversary of the massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators. the u.s. has outlined how it will share vaccines with the rest of the world. by donor says nearly 19 million doses will go to latin america, asia, and africa, as part of a sharing program called kovacs. an additional 6 million doses will be given to countries like india that have experienced a surge, through a program called covax. those are the headlines. the news continues here on al jazeera after "inside story." ♪ planet earth is being run on credit, with more and more resources being used up than can be sustained. but there is a rescue plan. are we up to the challenge? this is "inside story." ♪ hello and welcome to the program. i am peter. fromfarmlands, the world's ecosystems are being degraded a

benny gantz has been a holding talks with military chief lloyd austin at the pentagon. 250 palestiniansere killed during last months conflict in gaza, along with 12 people in israel. >> following the military effort, it is now time for diplomatic acts, which hopefully will prevent or delay another military campaign. the united states and the countries in our region will have a major role in ensuring the success of this process. with your permission, i present you the policy that will lead us there. lauren: america's defense chief says the u.s. supports israel's right to defend itself, but reconstruction efforts in gaza must be supported. >> going forward, we seek lasting security for israelis and palestinians alike. i want to emphasize defusing tensions in thwest bank and jerusalem and supporting reconstruction assistance for gaza that benefits the people who live there. let me stress that the department of defense supports president biden's goal of a two state solution. ♪ lauren: heavy rain and strong winds are hampering efforts to prevent a sinking container ship from causing further

us defense secretary llyod austin has reassured israeli defence minister benny gantz that the biden administrationn the aftermath of an 11—day conflict with hamas in gaza. the pair met on thursday. whilst currently serving in the netanyahu administration, mr gantz, as leader of the blue and white party, is part of a new coalition seeking to remove him from power. joining me now from chicago, dr sara hirschhorn, an assistant professor in israeli studies at northwestern university. very good to have you with us, professor. give us your take on the latest developments. yesterday, a new change bloc coalition was formed in israel on a very narrow majority of 61 seats, the smallest possible majority in the israeli knesset. so far, it seems this coalition will hold. but netanyahu, who does not look to be one to go gently into the good night, has certainly made his objections to this new blogger known, claiming the new prime minister, naftali bennett, the leader of the yamina party, is betraying the ideals of israeli security and of the future by joining ideals of israeli security and of the future byjoin

think it is important to know that unlike the previous coalition, which was an uneasy one between benny gantztrist, former military, that was kind of doomed from the start. there was bickering over policies. bennett and yair lapid are good friends, they say that in public. there are high hopes. right. and naftali bennett, a short while ago, he said president biden is a great friend of israel. where you are sitting, how is this going to go down in the states? obviously it is complex in terms of a government, but perhaps on a personal level, i don't suppose joe biden will not be bothered that it is not mr netanyahu he is dealing with? yeah, netanyahu in the past — biden is a steadfast israel supporter. he has made that clear. it will be interesting to see how they go toe—to—toe on certain issues like the iran nuclear deal. bennett has said we will continue the same stance as netanyahu, against any type of a deal. it will be an interesting sort of clash of personalities there. it is worth noting that a lot of the ministers are not on the far right, i think yair lapid will be foreign minister for

these are not people who opposed his policies, but former allies like naftali bennett, benny gantz —ou would be surprised, but i do agree with you that he made a few mistakes. when you serve in office for 12 years, you have enemies, political enemies. i want to bring you back to margaret thatcher after her long service, and in other places where you stay in office for long — yes, you create issues and luggage, people who don't want you staying in power. and that is true today. the majority of the voters wanted netanyahu to continue his post. but like you mentioned, the political players, the heads of the parties, didn't want to collaborate with him. and that's why today, we see a very bizarre government, a coalition of 60 votes out of 120, and you see the left and right getting together with only one thing in common — the desire to remove netanyahu. they achieved it tonight, and it will probably be the first and last achievement of this government. dani danon there. the doctor for the danish football team has confirmed christian eriksen did suffer a cardiac arrest on the pitch on sat

think it is important to know that unlike the previous coalition, which was an an easy one between benny gantz centrist, that was kind of doom from the start. there was bickering over policies. naftali bennett and m2 are good friends, —— and yair lapid are friends, although they don't say that in public. although they don't say that in ublic. �* ., ., public. right. and naftali bennett. _ public. right. and naftali bennett. a _ public. right. and naftali bennett, a short - public. right. and naftali bennett, a short while i public. right. and naftali i bennett, a short while ago, public. right. and naftali - bennett, a short while ago, he said president biden is a great friend of israel. where you are sitting, how is this going to go down in the states? obviously it is complex in terms of a government, but perhaps on a personal level, i don't supposejoe biden will be that way that it is not mr netanyahu he is dealing with? yeah, netanyahu in the past, biden is a steadfast israel supported. he has made that clear. it will be interesting to see how they go toe to toe on certain issues like the o

words of another of the coalition partners, if you like, the leader of the blue and white party benny gantzof visually society. and healing of visually society-— and healing of visually socie . ., , , society. ok, and i suppose in terms of _ society. ok, and i suppose in terms of limited _ society. ok, and i suppose in terms of limited appetite - society. ok, and i suppose in terms of limited appetite for| terms of limited appetite for any other eminent election, if the coalition were to fail, given how many they have had in the last couple of years. indeed, if the election it would be since april 2019. mark, thank you in for that. == mark, thank you in for that. -- a fifth election _ mark, thank you in for that. -- a fifth election it would be. to sri lanka now where a chemical—laden cargo ship is sinking off the country's west coast. it's sparked fears of an environmental disaster and has been labelled a "death blow" to the country's fishing industry. tanya dendrinos reports. a pristine coastline and a looming environmental disaster. the x—press pearl has been ablaze for two weeks, and de

and it will have to come down to the defense minister, benny gantz, to deal with it by force.m: al jazeera has seen a copy of the new u.n. report about children in armed conflict. syria's government, myanmar's military, and yemen to the rebels are among those named them about while israel is criticized, it does not avoid the blacklist. >> this is always very controversial when it is published every year. it is a report on cesldren living in conflict zones. and as an annex for the list of those in countries in countries and armed groups responsible for maiming and killing children. in the report, there is certainly criticism of israel. talks about more than 1000 grave violations against children, and ace jerusalem, the west bank, and gaza. the report says, "the u.n. remains deeply concerned by the number of children killed and maimed and encourages israel to examine each case where live ammunition was used." that is the body of the report. you turn to the annex, which is supposed to be the blacklist provided every year to the security council, and israel is not listed on the bl

netanyahu's stance and response to attacks from the hamas controlled gaza strip and given that benny gantzthe same defense minister that served alongside ex-prime minister netanyahu i don't think there is a huge surprise in terms of israel's response to these incendiary balloons which have been sent across from the gaza strip into the surrounding areas and have burned some more than 10,000 acres of fields or nature reserves that are in the surrounding area. i don't think that was a huge surprise in that sense. i think at the same time those people that supported this incredibly unprecedentedly diverse coalition, those that supported it probably won't have changed their views, those that were prepared to give it the benefit of the doubt will still be giving it the benefit of the doubt and those that were critical of this government, particularly ex-prime minister netanyahu, deriding it as in his words a left wing government that wouldn't be able to stand up to hamas and attacks from the gaza strip i think they will continue to oppose this government and will no doubt criticize it for being

on thursday, top biden administration officials welcomed israeli defense minister benny gantz to washington d.c., promising ironclad u.s. support for israel despite growing international outrage over the widespread killing of civilians, including at least 66 children, during israel's assault on gaza. gantz met with secretary of state antony blinken and was welcomed to the pentagon by secretary of defense lloyd austin. >> i wanted to reiterate that the administration's commitment to israel's security is our plan. we are committed to maintaining israel's qualitative military edge and ensuring israel can defend itself against regional threats such as those posed by iran, its proxies, and terrorist groups. amy: actions are planned across the united states, including seattle, oakland, los angeles, and new york, under the banner "block the boat" to prevent israeli-operated cargo ships from unloading on u.s. soil as part of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions -- or bds -- movement. zim transports israeli weapons, as well as consumer goods. in related news, the united educators of san francisco

. >> schifrin: and today secretary of defense lloyd austin told israeli defense minister benny gantz,u.s. would provide hundreds of millions for israel's defense. >> the administration fully supports your country's right to defend itself against rocket attacks fired indiscriminately by hamas and other gaza based militants against israeli civilians. >> reporter: but those >> schifrin: but those politics, are not nesreen and zaher subah's focus. their focus, is their children's shock. >> ( translated ): after our house was destroyed, the children were traumatized. they lost their toys and collectibles, their school bags, and books. we try to give them psychological support so they do not feel afraid and stressed. >> schifrin: the u.n. says from this war, 250,000 children need mental health services. eight-year-old mohammad is old enough, to remember everything. >> ( translated ): my sister was the first person to tell me that our house was bombarded. she was crying and then i started to cry too. then the whole family started to cry. but i am telling the children all over the world, plea

. >> reporter: i think, look, on the iran front we were hearing from benny gantz the defense minister who would be a part of this governing coalition he spoke with members of the foreign press and maintained that the iran deal was a bad deal, that there needs to be more pressure on iran, more access to nuclear facilities and the like to make this deal a good one. i don't think there will be much disagreement among the potential coalition on that count. like wise, with the abraham accords which saw israel sign peace agreements with a number of arab countries as well. they are just going to probably ignore the issues that divide them so don't expect progress on the palestinians, don't expect much change vis-a-vis settlements, neither more settlements or freezing settlements. they will avoid the issues that divide them and focus on what unites them and their main focus will be passing a state budget, economic recovery after the coronavirus pandemic and trying to heal some of the divisions that have emerged over the last two years of political stalemate that we've seen here in israel. >>

state department secretary of state antony blinken is set to meet with the israeli defense minister benny gantzrt of the historic coalition trying to push prime minister benjamin netanyahu out of power. we will see if secretary blinken and the two of them talk about that because this historic deal is just that, extraordinary, to try to oust netanyahu. you have eight political parties coming together from the hard right, the left, the center, and in a first for israel an arab political party, really the only interest they all share is no more bebe. kelly cobiella is in tel aviv. good morning. >> good morning to you, hallie. what a remarkable 24 hours in israeli politics. that scene of a nationalist, right wing candidate, politician sitting next to the leader of an arab party, signing an agreement, joining this coalition. absolutely unheard of in this country, really an extraordinary moment as you said, but now we move on to the next phase and that is a vote in israeli parliament or the knesset. the date has not yet been set. that's up to the speaker of the parliament, a staunch ally of benjamin

do have parties that are still on the left, those in the centre, like yair lapid's own, that of benny gantzided to join this unity government, and really it will be very difficult for them, so, what happens next? the coalition now needs to be approved by the parliament, the knesset. that will happen next week. these are the coalition parties involved. 61 of the 120 members of parliament need to approve the deal. so, it is still possible that benjamin netanyahu could stay in power, if enough right wing mps don't support the coalition or he can persuade them not to. here's richard paterfrom the britain israel communications and research centre injerusalem. there will be incredible pressure on the right—wing factions that have agreed tojoin this national unity government. there will be pressure particularly on the backbenches to peel them away back to netanyahu's right—wing camp, and so we will see exact how that plays out in the next days ahead. laura trevelyan is just back from jerusalem and joins us now. we are hearing about the pressure that benjamin netanyahu is calling on right—wing memb

. >> i've had this conversation with minister of defense bennie gantz, we were together about two weeks ago and he walked through the details of what his requirements were. we're working to flesh out those details and you will see a request in the future. >> thank you. thank you. >> thank you very much, senator shelby. senator feinstein. >> thanks very much, mr. chairman. secretary austin and general milley, as you mentioned, the department of defense is focusing more on the indo-pacific and china and i think we face -- as a californian i think we face a challenging strategic environment and that the united states has to be prepared to act in a region that's much closer in many respects to china than to the united states. so we need to be smart. we need to have conversations and we need to be strong as well. one of the things that has concerned me, i see a lot in the west about various countries having military to military meetings, interaction between various countries and i don't see that with respect to us. what is the policy of this kind of mill to mill engagement by our defense dep

is this a concern that you share do you raise this concern with your meeting with benny gantz last week? sec. blinken: yes, and yes. sen. merkley: thank you. >> i'd like to follow-up on some things i ask of you during the confirmation process. the first is the norge stream to pipeline. there is strong bipartisan opposition to president biden's deliberate failure to sanction all of the enemies that are involved in the construction of the norge stream to pipeline. protecting this russian trap is not in the u.s. national security interests. the pipeline threatens the energy security of our friends as well as our allies. we know that russia uses energy as a geopolitical weapon to coerce and manipulate. i know you've agreed to that during her confirmation hearing. it does seem that president biden is allowing the nord str eam 2 pipeline to be added to the energy arsenal. putin stated that ukraine must now show goodwill if it wants russian gas transmitting through the country. this is even before it has been completed. i think it's really critical that we act now. we have a misguided policy r

is this a concern that you share and did you raise this concern in your meeting with benny gantz last week? >> yes and yes. >> thank you. >> thank you. senator barrasso. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, welcome back. i would like to follow up on some things i asked of you during the confirmation process. the first is nord stream 2, the pipeline. there is strong bipartisan opposition on this committee and throughout the entire senate to president biden's deliberate failure to sanction all of the entities involved in the construction of the nord stream 2 pipeline. protecting this russian trap is not in the u.s. national security interest. it is a grave mistake. the pipeline threatens the energy security of our friends and allies. we know russia uses energy as a geopolitical weapon to co-herself, to manipulate. i know you've agreed to that during our confirmation hearing. it seems president biden is now allowing the nord stream 2 pipeline to be added to russia's energy arsenal. putin has said essentially the same thing. on friday he stated ukraine must now show goodwill if it w