nbc's claudio lavanga joins us now from rome for the latest on how israel is responding so far. good morning, claudio. what can question we expect next? >> good morning, frances. well, now that the alert is over, israel appears to have gone back to its normal life. children are returning to school and a ban on public gatherings which was introduced as a precaution ahead of iran's attack has been lifted. now the only question that remains of course will israel retaliate. according to an israeli official we spoke to, nbc news it's not a matter of if, but when and how, even though a counterattack doesn't appear to be backed by either the u.s. or the united nations. now following an emergency meeting of the security council there, the united nations secretary general antonio guterres said it is vital to avoid any action that could lead to military action on multiple fronts in the middle east, even though the israeli representative to the united nations during that same meeting said that it is israel's right, legal right to defend itself and to retaliate. and he used some colorful lan

let's go to claudio lavanga. th this law has been in place for about a day now. how's it going so far? >> reporter: good morning, richard. let me just start by explaining how this works. essentially from now until july and on selected 29 busy days like holidays and weekends, anyone who comes to venice will have to register on a dedicated website. now it you're a tourist just coming here for the day, leaving by the evening, you're required to pay at least a $5 fee, which is a little more than $5 u.s. and if you have at least a one-night accommodation or a local, so residents, workers and students, you don't have to pay but still have to register. what you get in return is this. a qr code proves that you have registered. now there are no checkpoints, but if a ticket inspector in venice stops you and you don't have this, you're eligible for up to a $300 fine. the mayor of venice saying they're not really looking to monetize this. they want to just reduce the number of hit-and-run tourists who come on those busy days. now he says that by thursday more than 100,000 pe

let's go live to claudio lavanga. good morning, claudio. what more do we know about this strike? >> reporter: good morning, frances. al aqsa tv aired the video that claims to show the moment ismail haniyeh learned over the phone about the killing of his three sons. he appears to respond that he thanks allah for the honor of having his children and grandchildren martyred. three sons as well as three of ha his grandchildren were killed. now he confirmed the death of his three sons to al jazeera but also said this will not soften hamas' position in the ongoing negotiations. but it's absolutely no doubt that these are some of the highest profile fiegsgures that have been killed. and it comes at a time when there are growing fears that the war may escalate beyond gaza's borders. president biden warned that if iran may be planning a significant attack inside israel in response, or in retaliation of israel's airstrike against an iranian consulate building in syria, in damascus last week. but at least according to officials who spoke to nbc news, any retaliation against israel may focus

for the latest, let's go to claudio lavanga, who's following developments for us. good morning, claudio. what is it in that israeli offer that blinken describes is so generous? >> reporter: good morning, frances, according to an israeli official and arab diplomat that is familiar with the negotiations, as part of the deal, hamas is expected to release 33 hostages, all of them children, women, the elderly and hostages who are in need of urgent medical attention, in exchange for the release of palestinian prisoners. initially, there were talks of the release of 40 hostages, but hamas made it clear that some of the hostages that meet that criteria that i just mentioned died during captivity. now, but the most important point, the crucial point in the negotiation seems to be the cease-fire, because israel appears to be ready to agree to a six-week truce, which is a major concession on the part of israel, based on a u.s. proposal. but so far, hamas has always demanded a permanent cease-fire, so that will probably be the turning point in the deal. now the final decision f

let's go to claudio lavanga. good morning, claudio. what's the late ohs then war six months in? >> good morning, frances. well, throughout the weekend, delegations from hamas and israel met once again in cairo trying to find an agreement on that ceasefire. and at least according to an intelligence official who spoke to al kahira, a state affiliated egyptian news channel that finally some good progress. but that claim was denied in the last couple of hours by a senior hamas official who told al jazeera that no progress was made on sunday. now this comes as michael griffiths, the united nations humanitarian chief said that the end of this war is long overdue and called the six months anniversary of the beginning of this war a terrible milestone. he also put out a statement, and i quote saying it is not enough for six months to be a moment of remembrance and mourning. it must also spur a collective determination that there be a reckoning for this betrayal of humanity. now on the battlefield in gaza on sunday, the israeli army announced that it was withdrawing its troops from khan y

for the latest, let's go to claudio lavanga. good morning, claudio. what's the latest on the war six months in? >> good morning, frances. well, over the weekend, the delegations from israel and hamas met once again in cairo, trying to reach an agreement on that ceasefire. and at least according to al kahira, a state affiliated egyptian channel, there was finally good progress on those truce talks. but this the last hour, a senior hamas official told al jazeera that he denied that claim. and he said there was no progress back on sunday on the ceasefire talks now. this comes as martin griffiths, the united nations humanitarian chief said that the end of this war is long overdue, and this six months anniversary from the beginning of the war is a terrible milestone. he also issued a statement saying, and i read, it is not enough for six months of war to be a moment of remembrance and mourning. it must also spare a collective determination that there be a reckoning for this betrayal of humanity. now on sunday, on the battlefield in gaza, the israeli milita

let's go live to claudio lavanga who has more on this and other developments out of the middle east. good morning, claudio. what more do we know about this strike? >> reporter: good morning, frances. well, al aqsa tv is a television channel run by hamas and aired a video that claims to show the moments when is when ismael hak lea ismail haniyeh learns about the death of his children. he thanked allah that his children and grandchildren were martyred. the three sons were traveling in the car with three of ismail haniyeh's grandchildren when the car was hit by an israeli airstrike that killed all on board. now he also confirmed the death of his three sons through al jazeera but said that this will not discourage or soften the position of hamas in the ongoing negotiation. there is absolutely no doubt these are some of the highest-profile figures that have been killed, at least among hamas' ranks since the as start the war. and it comes at a time when there is a growing fear that this war may escalate beyond gaza's borders. president biden said iran may be planning a significant attack in

let's go to claudio lavanga who is following developments for us. what is in that offer that blinken describes as generous? >> reporter: according to an israeli official and arab diplomat who are familiar with the talks and spoke to nbc news, as part of the deal, hamas is expected to release 33 hauostag, all women, children, elderly, and some require urgent medical attention in return for the release of palestinian prisoners. in addition there were talks of 40, but hamas said some of those who meet that criteria died while in captivity. but the crucial, the most important part appears to be the cease-fire. because israel will agree to a six-week truce, which is a major concession on the part of israel, based on a u.s. proposal. but the problem here is that hamas has always demanded a permanent cease-fire. so that could be a turning point of the deal. the final decision relies, according to all sources, on yahya sinwar, who is believed to be hiding in the underground network of tunnels under gaza. >> we'll see how far this goes. claudio, thank you. >

let's go to venice and claudio lavanga, good morning. this law has been in place for about one day. how's it going so far? a little bit early, i know. >> reporter: good morning, richard, now by thursday, the mayor of very muchisnice says m 100,000 have registered to access venice so far. 10% are paying visitors. he says this shows the pilot is working and did not go dead in the water. imagine being charged $5 just to walk down the iconic streets of new york city. >> i don't think you should be charging for it. >> i sure would, but i don't think a lot of people would pay for it. >> would you pay $5 to go to times square? definitely not. no. >> reporter: well, that's now the reality in venice. the italian city is sometimes called an open-air museum. and starting thursday, some tourists will have to pay a ticket as if it was one. for now on, day trippers will be charged 5 euro or the equivalent of $5 u.s. to simply enter the city. these tourists arrived in train. instead of being met by gondoliers, they were met by ticket satakers asking for a qr code. >> i come here as often as i can.

for more on all of this, nbc's claudio lavanga joins us. does the biden administration expect israel to respond to the attacks? >> reporter: good morning, frances. well, it does, according at least to four officials who spoke to nbc news. the u.s. does expect israel to retaliate, even though they say any action will be limited in scope and will probably target israeli military forces and/or iranian-backed militias outside of iran. they also said that they don't know what this official said, told them, they don't know when the attack's going to happen, but it could happen at any time. and also that the u.s. will not participate into any such actions, but they do expect to be informed by israel about it beforehand. all this information was confirmed and corroborated by another official, this time from israel who said that an attack by israel against iran in retali retaliation into iran's attack last weekend was im niminent. iran said it is not planning to take any further action for now unless of course israel retaliates. in that case, iran s

let's bring in claudio lavanga. how has this impacted the region? >> reporter: good morning, frances. after that record downpour, it became quite clear that dubai was not built for, nor is it ready for that kind of rain. now at least one man, authorities say, was killed after his car was swept away, and thousands of passengers were stranded at a main airport after all flights were grounded. all schools were closed across the country and workers have been advised to work remotely if they can. now, experts are pointing the finger of course to climate change. but there is one meteorologist in dubai who says it was partly caused by rain seeding, which is a method used thiin dry countri. but experts say they didn't perform any rain seeding during that weather. it affected oman where at least 18 people were killed. >> a fascinating back story of what might have caused it. claudio, thank you. >>> millions of americans on alert this morning as severe weather we've been watching sweeps into a new day. dozens of tornados tore through the midwest this week. in

let's go to claudio lavanga. will this increase in aid be enough though? >> reporter: good morning, frances. well be president biden on his x account made a clear reference to the killing of the seven aid workers from world skcentral kitchen. he told benjamin netanyahu that strikes against aid workers are a humanitarian situation and are completely unacceptable and israel must take immediate steps to protect civilians as well as of course the safety of aid workers. to emphasize how serious president biden was in those demands, secretary of state antony blinken said after that call the overall u.s. policy in reference to gaza will be on the basis or assessment of how quickly and effectively israel takes those steps. and maybe not a coincidence that rate right after that israel did announce that the port of ashdod will be open to allow more humanitarian aid into gaza by land and sea and that they will take steps to make sure that innocent civilians are protected as well, as well as aid workers. in that phone call, president biden told benjamin netanyahu that

for the latest on this unprecedented storm, let's bring in ens nbc's claudio lavanga. how has this impacted the region? >> reporter: good morning, frances, well, obviously, dubai was not built for heavy rain, and that record downpour proffered it cpr proved it cannot deal with it. all schools were canceled and workers were advised to work remotely if they can. experts are pointing the finger at climate change for that kind of freak weather, but at the same time, one meteorologist, at least in dubai, says it may have something to do with rain seeding, which is a method, rain enhancement method that is quite commonly used in dry countries like the united arab emirates. now the severe weather has affected neighboring countries, including oman, where authorities say at least 18 people died there. frances? >> the stunning images. claudio, thank you. >>> millions of americans on alert this morning as severe weather we've been watching sweeps into a new day. dozens of tornados tore through the midwest this week. in michigan, members evacuated from the house chamber as sirens

for more on all this, claudio lavanga joins us. how does the biden administration expect israel to respond to the attacks? >> reporter: good morning, frances. at least according to the four u.s. officials who spoke to nbc news, the u.s. expects israel to retaliate. even though they say any action will be limited in scope and will likely target iranian military forces or iranian-backed militias outside iran. the likely target could be for instance a shipment or storage facility that contains weapons that iran sends or provides through hezbollah. they also said that they don't flow when the attack is going to happen, even though it could be any time. also they said the u.s. will not participate in any such actions, even though they expect to be informed by israel about any details of this kind of retaliation beforehand. now all this details have been corroborated by an israeli official who spoke to nbc news, saying that a retaliation by israel against iran is imminent. and they expect to coordinate any action with the united states.

let's go to claudio lavanga. what is the latest on the war six months in? >> reporter: good morning, frances. over the weekend, delegations from hamas and israel were once again in cairo trying to find agreement on that cease-fire. and at least according to an intelligence officer we spoke to, a state affiliated, egyptian news channel, the word good progress on those talks, but that claim was later denied by a senior hamas fushofficial who s to al jazeera. they called the six-months anniversary of the beginning of the war a terrible moment. now he also said in a statement that it is enough for six months of war to be a moment of remembrance and mourning. it must also spur a collective determination that there be a reckoning for this betrayal of humanity. on the battlefield, israel announced it was withdrawing troops from khan yunis. it looked to be a concession to president biden and other w word leaders who were warning israel not to invade rafah. according to john kirby, this is less of a withdrawal and more of a rest and respite operation, meaning that t

for the latest, let's go to claudio lavanga. will this increase in aid be enough, though? >> reporter: good morning, frances. an increase in aid is absolutely a lifesaver right now for most people in gaza. as secretary of state antony blinken said, 100% of people living there right now need humanitarian assistance. that's why president biden during that telephone call with benjamin netanyahu said that striking aid workers just as it happened when search workers that worked for world central kitchen were killed recently, is unacceptable. unacceptable. and he demanded israel to make more steps to take steps to protect innocent civilians as well as the safety of aid workers. to emphasize how serious president biden was in those demands, blinken said that from now on, u.s. policy in regards to gaza will be determined by the assessment of how quickly it takes those steps. that may be why right after that telephone call israel did announce that it will reopen the port of ashdod and the crossings allowing aid to be delivered by land and sea and he will take steps to protect innoc

claudio lavanga joins usright now. what can we expect next? >> reporter: good morning, frances. now that the alert is over it looks like that israel is just going back to its regular normal life. children are going back to school and a ban on public gatherings which was introduced as a precaution ahead of iran's attack has now been lifted. now the only question that remains under answered is will israel counterattack. well, now according to an israeli official we spoke to, nbc news, it's not a matter of if but when and how. even though a retaliation doesn't seem to have the backing of either the united states or the united nations during or after an emergency meeting at the u.n. security council. the u.n. secretary general antonio gutierrez said it is important to avoid any confrontation on multiple fronts in the middle east. during that same meeting israel's representative to the united nations said it is in israel's legal rights to retaliate and used colorful language to emphasize that message. he said that israel is not a frog in boiling water, it is a nation of lions. back t

nbc's claudio lavanga joins us live for more on all of this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, frances. that's right. on tuesday, national security advisor jake sulg livan said in statement the u.s. will introduce new sanctions against iran and entities that support the revolutionary guards. he also said the u.s. military will reenforce existing missile defense and warning systems that are already in place across the middle east in order to limit the effectiveness and the danger of missiles and drones. all this at the same time here across the atlantic here in the european union, joseph burrell, who is in charge of foreign affairs here says the eu as well will reenforce, so they're united in reinforcing their own sanctions against iran. in the meantime, israel insists they will retaliate against iran. daniel hagari, the spokesperson for the israeli defense forces said they will retaliate at a time and manner of its own choosing. he also said that the response, the defensive response against iran's attack on saturday was amazing but also