i'm joined live now by a lot of stein deputy spokesperson for israel's foreign affairs ministry thank you very much for joining us so according to your figures how many palestinians have so far been killed in this operation. we don't have the numbers and the palestinians are the ones who are giving out the numbers but i don't think this is just a numbers game what is happening here is that palestinians unfortunately are also in gaza are also victims of this terror going to zation call this a month they are using these people they are going into their homes they are using their homes as military combat unions and then they fire from these places the they use their missiles there and that's why these people are in danger and we differentiate between the civilians and the terror going as ations but unfortunately the mass thinks that this is ok to use their own people as human shields unfortunately we have some of the figures there that the u.n. is citing it's slightly more than two hundred at this point i believe it's two hundred five or two hundred six palestinian deaths how many israel

for more, we speak now to an israeli foreign affairs ministry spokesperson. thank you very much for speaking to us. israeli national has been killed during the last nine days. more than 200 palestinians. not today the tragic news of four innocent children. israel says all along it is inng precision equipment targeting specific individuals, so how do you explain these deaths? >> let me start by saying that this is a tragedy that is being brought down on both sides of this conflict by hamas, who dragged us into a conflict that we did not want to be in, and who refused to enter into a , which we accepted without any hesitation. a little bit duplicitous of your correspondent to present it as if there is a guarantee that everything will work according to plan. we are taking as much care as we possibly can to avoid civilian does nots, but that mean there are not civilian casualties. there are civilian casualties in every conflict, and that is the tragedy about it. you may have heard already we have announced a six-our humanitarian cease-fire at the request of the u

where for more on this let's now talk to paul hirsh on from israel's of foreign affairs ministry mr hersh and thank you very much for joining us here on r.t. international let's start the u.n. to me with wednesday that israel may have committed war crimes how do you respond. i think that navi pillay and the human rights commission should tread carefully here they risk embarrassing themselves more than they did last time when following the goldstone report judge goldstone who headed up that investigation eventually had to apologize and. say that the entire investigation was a fast but you know it was fascinating to hear the words of the palestinian ambassador and i heard yesterday in another interview similar words coming from a member of the palestinian authority it's interesting they don't mention the word israel and they say that all timothy's should be investigated and i agree and i'll tell you what we're going to discover we're going to discover that israel has taken unprecedented steps in a very difficult circumstance to minimize and to avoid civilian casualties and we're going to di

paul is the deputy spokesperson for the israeli foreign affairs ministry, joining me from tel aviv.'m joined by an hamas spokesperson on the phone now. israeli officials say, you heard them say, this is a limited operation intended to destroy tunnels between gaza and israel. they said there were attempts yesterday to go through the tunnels and launch a raid into israel. what is your response to that? >> what they are doing is a clear threat about what they are doing. they are saying that they will [ inaudible ] for 11 days they were bombing children and women, enjoyment women and children. they bombed a hospital. they are claiming they are attacking the tunnels, in fact, they are making pressure on the civilians, because they want to get rid of the people, the palestinian people. it's now a war crime. speaker trying to cover that. >> why are hamas rocket launch pads in the midst of residential areas in gaza. >> well, in fact, no one knows where is the rocket. and how they are launched and from where. in 2012 the israelis bombed a school and claimed hamas was launching rockets from t

amzad is with the umga palestinian foreign affairs ministry. so good to see you.ou're coming to us from ramallah on the west bank. what do you make of the white house condemning the shelling and expressing concern for loss of palestinian life while at the same time the u.s. has agreed to send more ammunition to the israel defense forces? >> well, jake, it's really the only word i can say is finally. finally the u.s. sees the palestinian people as human beings, that the targeting of these civilians is a basic violation of our universal values and the international law and a dent to our humanity. i hope this will lead to a policy of the u.s. that will see things as is and will stop supporting the israeli narrative no what it is and i just heard the israeli former ambassador again, blaming the victim. actually when i hear him and the israeli spokespeople i feel like the people in gaza are being murdered twice. the first from the israeli bombardment and the second by the israeli propaganda that it was them who were killed because they wanted to die. it was them who we

. >> reporter: frank lied the italian foreign affairs ministry and greeted by the prime minister himself waved away journalists emphasizing it was a time for celebration. ibrahim's faith saw her impressed in her country of birth. but here celebrate the along with her freedom. the head of the catholic church welcomed her and her family in to his residents for what the vatican called a very affectionate meeting. pope francis thanked her for her courage and maintaining her faith. he offered a blessing for her baby mia born in a prison two months ago, her husband unable to hold back the tears. ibrahim's case sparked interim international condemnation when it first came to light in may. she was impressed for abandoning islam and sentence today death. the daughter of a muslim father and i christian mother. married a christian. protests turned in to international pressure, sudan's high court threw out her death sentence in june, but when they tried to leave the country for the u.s. where her husband has citizenship she was blocked by authorities. >> the government of it's are you worked with th

instead they have shifted overall responsibility from the ministry of foreign affairs to the ministrytegic affairs which deals with strategic relations. why would a human rights movement like a nonviolent movement, be such a strategic threat to such a powerful country with hundreds of nuclear weapons because they are not designed to face such challenges. arghouti, a giver joining us today, the leader of the boycott, the best and movement -- divestment movement. >> on the plan to keep the pound, scotland says it belongs just as much as scotland to the rest of the u.k.. we are keeping the pound. it's our currency. it does not belong to george osborne. that working group is looking at a range of options but we are keeping the pound. plano we need to work on b, c, d, e, and f? we are keeping sterling. inall of the major parties westminster have said they would not be able to vote in favor of keeping the pound. the scottish committee said no if's, no but's, no fudges, no deals. >> these are the same people. unionists saying the same thing to each other but what we actually know according o

. >> amar is an official in the palestinian ministry of foreign affairs, joining me from ramallah. thank you for your time. how concerned are you that the ceasefire is over and there's no permanent salesian on the hz -- salesian on the horizon? >> we are extremely concerned because the ones paying the price at the end of the day are the palestinian people. it's obvious israel has no interest in carrying out a ceasefire, abiding by international norms and ending the siege. that's the elements for continuation of this complex. they are there, and continue to be there. they are treated with impunity. >> what is the palestinian leadership doing to try to affect a diplomatic solution. >> the palestinian leadership has been engaged following the freeing of the israeli settlers, which is an excuse. it has been involved with meetings with effective capital. the president has travelled to all neighbouring countries trying to impose a ceasefire. a ceasefire that will deal later on with the core elements and the root causes of the conflict, which is the siege. an inhumane 7-year seem in gaza.

according to the japanese ministry of foreign affairs 700 firms started up businesses as of october 2013. mexico is regarded as an attractive production base for exporting to north and south america. >> the largest group of japanese business leaders accompanying prime minister ab the this time a proof of strong interest in mexico expressed by japanese business sector. i expect not only further development of japanese car industry but also extending to new business in the area of energy, medical treatment, aerospace industry, infrastructure and so on. >> this year marks the 400th anniversary of the first japanese envoy to visit mexico. bilateral relations have entered a new era. the leaders of both nations anticipate developing more than just their resources. >>> last november japanese astronaut departed for his fourth expe dadition in space. spending six months in the international space station and successfully completed a number of missions. we spoke with him who's just returned to japan from the united states. >> welcome to our stood. how does it feel to be back in japan? you are now

. >> reporter: officials at japan's ministry of foreign affairs have opened a window into the pas documents on negotiations that took place from 1969 to 1971 on textile exports to the u.s. have now been made public. it might not sound like much now, but the negotiations caused a considerable amount of friction. during these negotiations, the prime minister had to promise to make concessions to the u.s. but in 1971, japanese textile makers announced volunteer limits on u.s. bound exports. the americans complained that the limits didn't go far enough, but the japanese government supported the textile makers. among the recently declassified document is a letter from u.s. president richard nixon to prime minister sato sent shortly after. nixon expressed his disappointment at sato's support for the textilemakers. he said, it seemed impossible to continue the negotiations. at the same time, japanese and american negotiators were locating tugs. the americans used those tugs to successfully press the japanese to make concessions on textiles. as a result, some people criticized sato saying he had so

of fatal incidents as well as intense fighting have been reported on thirteen july the ministry of foreign affairs of the russian federation issued a statement knowing that one russian national died and two were seriously injured when a ukrainian army shell hit a residential house ukraine has rejected this claim in the same statement the ministry also warned that tensions in the area of the russian ukrainian border have dangerously escalated and may have irreversible consequences for which ukraine will help be held responsible according to ukrainian authorities the country's border guard units have reportedly come under continuous attack with rockets and mortars by armed groups. there are also reports that several ukrainian military aircraft have been shot down over the past weeks most recently on sixteen july as the secretary general has reiterated on countless occasions armed groups need to disarm immediately and stop in gauging and unlawful and violent acts at the same time we continue to urge strongly the ukrainian authorities to act with maximum restraint and to make every effort possible to

has already demanded that journalists be released immediately a statement from russia's ministry of foreign affairs says that this is get another pointed provocation which exemplifies the relation of the ukrainian officials towards independent international journalists who are not sticking with the information that kiev officials are trying to feed to the rest of the world r.t. has also contacted the foreign office who said that they're keeping a close eye on the situation and are standing by ready to provide consular assistance when needed read the. story thank you very much. most easily this month that ukraine was labeled the world's most dangerous country for journalists to work in the international news safety institute report looked at conflict nations during the first six months of this year this is what they found was ukraine tops the list with seven international journalists killed during fighting in iraq is still so very much a danger zone six reporters killed since the start of this year five have died in syria two has been rocked of course by years of ongoing civil war pakistan five jour

the japanese delegation was led by the chief of the foreign ministry's asian and oceanic affairs bureau ihara. north korea was represented by its envoy for normalizing ties with japan. the talks were held in the north korean embassy in the morning after a couple of hours' break they restarted the talks in the japanese embassy in beijing. pyongyang promised in late may to set up a panel to investigate the fates of the japanese citizens it abducted in the 1970s and '80s. ihara said he hopes to have a constructive debate aft. he wants reassurance the panel will have authority to investigate state agencies in north korea. and he wants to know if the head of the secret police will be among panel members. song said both sides should responsibly play the roles required of them to make sure their agreement is met. ihara also launched a strong protest against pyongyang's ballistic missile launch into the sea of japan on sunday. he said it breaches u.n. security council resolutions. song says the launch is justified as pyongyang does not recognize u.n. resolutions. >>> now a senior official of ja

. >> the egyptian ministry of foreign affairs issued a statement late yesterday condemning the ground and saying israel is putting the lives of civilians at risk. it also says another thing. in a meeting with the foreign minister -- [ inaudible ] >> very keen on keeping the palestinians safe. he blamed hamas, turkey for the initiative. he says this presented by egypt is perhaps the only means to protect the whole region from being fragmented and provided to countries fighting each other. egypt is condemning the israeli offensive on one hand but on the other hand it's holding hamas, cut tar and turkey responsible for undermining the initiative as he says. >> i suppose the blame is handed in a sense. where does it leave efforts to negotiate a cease fire? are people still doing what they can to move this on? >> what we understood from egyptian officials we have spoke ton over past days, egypt is exerting efforts trying to convince parties to come together, sit at one table and negotiate a cease fire. again the foreign ministry says all parties involved have to accept unconditionally the

just before we came on air, we began speaking to the deputy spokesperson with the israeli ministry of foreign affairs. started by asking him how israels international standing and image has been affected by the recent attacks on the u.n. shelter. >> well, thank you for having me. it's always good to be here. we're in conversation with our friends around the world. they're fully aware of what's going on. i think that more so than ever before there is an awareness and an outstanding of the dilemma which is israel is facing. we didn't want to be in this conflict. we don't want to be in this conflict. we've done everything we can to get out of it. and we find ourselves up against a school of thought which has elevated suicide in society which amounts to nothing less than death. one time they're located in a school, next they're located next to a school. the same is true of hospitals, mosques and private homes. almost as if they have a desire to generate civilian casualty deaths on both sides. on the israeli sides because they hate us and on the palestinian side because of a cynical couldn't care less att

i'll ask you to stay with us as we cross to paul, the deputy spokesperson with the israeli ministry of foreign affairs, joining me from west jerusalem. we have seen harrowing pictures coming out of shajaiya neighbourhood, is israel using disproportionate support against civilians. >> thank you for having me. it's good to have you back on this sad day. this is what we were worried about, what we warned about for address. we have been almost begging the civilian population of shajaiya and a couple of other neighbourhoods in the area to move out, take refuge in other parts of gaza city and elsewhere in the united nations installations. shajaiya is a place where over 114 missiles have been launched into missiles, over 10 tunnel shafts have been identified in the area. the behaviour of hamas encouraging and in some places forcing their own civilians to stay and not heed warning will go down as a dark point in a dark history. >>> 61,500 people have fled to schools. they can barely cope with it. a lot of palestinians say they have nowhere to go. would you open the siege on gaza and let the people flee to som

when i talk to the ministry of foreign affairs earlier, they say the one thing they want is they want the siege as they believe on gaza lifted. and that would mean the opening of borders so goods and services could flow in and flow out, that gazans would be able to leave freely if they wanted to, to other parts of the world, and that is one of the major demands that they have given. and they said that they will continue to fight until those demands are met. and that's something that's going to be very hard for israel to accept. and that's why the -- we see this massive diplomatic effort in the region, also in europe, taking place to try to get these two sides to come together on some sort of deal. but until that happens, it's unlikely that the gazan militants will be able -- will lay down their weapons. >> all right. obviously we know that secretary kerry in france and so far that meeting and those meetings with heads of state has not yet been fruitful in this latest conflict here. miguel? >> all right, sara, thank you very much, from jerusalem, and ian in gaza city, keep yourselves s

. >> we have paul who is a spokesman for the israeli ministry of foreign affairs and thank you so muchs and i wanted to pick up on the last speaker saying it has been a one-sided situation. i mentioned one statistics and they dropped 400 tons explosive since it began and worth pointing out the whole of gaza covers 365 square kilometers over a ton of explosives per square kilometer. this is -- can this be described as a fair and balanced response? >> reporter: thank you for having me and good to be back with you. i think that the only thing i agree with your previous speaker on is the fact that this current situation was completely unnecessary. for three weeks prior to the israel announcing this operation, there was a dramatic escalation in the number of missiles, rockets, fired from gaza into israel incessantly and indiscriminantly in neighborhoods and it was answered with nothing. if you are comparing military minds, it was a hamas and their cronies firing on israeli people with zero response and three weeks we said to them quiet will be on set with quiet, calm will be responded to wi

the ministry of foreign affairs of the federal -- of the russian federation issued a statement knowing that one russian national died and two were injured him -- were injured when an -- injured when a ukrainian army shell hit a house. eitherarea have reversible consequences of which ukraine will be held responsible. according to ukrainian authorities, border guard units have come under continuous attack with rockets and borders -- rockets and mortars. severale reports that military aircraft have been shot down over the past weeks, most recently on july 16. as the secretary-general has reiterated on countless occasions, armed groups need to disarm immediately and stop engaging in lawful -- in unlawful and violent acts. at the same time we continue to urge strongly to ukrainian authorities to act with maximum restraint and to make every effort possible to ensure the protection of civilians caught in the fighting. estimations of the total number of civilian casualties very, but according to the office of high commissioner of human rights there have been approximately 500 casualties so far

you find a new priority is he in you know foreign affairs to coordinate the activities of our missions abroad. and the workload. here in the ministry and in our embassy is very high and we realize that it will not decrease it will only increase just as the requirements in terms of accuracy flexibility of our actions in protecting and pursue were in russia's national interest you're well aware how dynamic international developments are useful in there what he means. situationally you look when you is. developing very fast you know all of them or you are positive you are a more laconically old conflict. spreading up again. in years and very often we face them in. and i'm so pretty surprised ways and unfortunately you're saying is that about that we see that international law or fails it's that. simple rules of conduct fail. principle or lawlessness prevails that's all you see only by what ukraine the events which were provoked in ukraine when. the symbol of the policy of containment was to. use goes down it. woodenly way in decades back and that containment policy is not as strong after the end of the cold war as you say. they are co

foreign affairs department and spokesperson for hamas. isra, good to have you with us. i'll start with the same question that i put to the israel spokesman foreign ministry . >> in the aggression in gaza, and to help the palestinian people to get the health treatment medical. >> is it true that hamas is putting people in areas and telling people to ignore warnings that bombings are coming and hamas is then responsible for the high death toll in this latest air wal war. as you said many of the dead are children. what do you say what the israelis are saying . >> the truth is that they are the side who are attacking. they are the side making disasters in all area. so the narrative itself spoken about firing from israel, there are few and limited airstrikes at the same time it happens nothing. we have only aggression until this moment. we're taking our palestinian side, 107, 70% are children. 16% are older 60 years old. at the same time they are saying that they call the houses , this is a big lie. the reality . they are targeting the area. the whole area from big, large, huge massive weapons, and attacking those areas. it's very complicated and sensitive is

here is the reaction out of russia from the ministry of foreign affairs from the russian deputy foreign minister saying, u.s. sanctions versus russia to affect u.s. political and economic interests. from capitol hill the reaction, hoyer, the number two democrat in the house, potus decision to enforce these sanctions shows we won't stand by the ukraine's sovereignty is threatened. senator corker, the number one republican on foreign affairs committee saying we will continue to urge the administration to ratchet up more pressure if putin doesn't change his behavior. the senator said on russia, the delay from the administration has been damaging to u.s. credibility but today's action is definitely a step in the right direction. and kelly ayotte, republican of, new hampshire, said this. administration's decision to impose additional sanctions on russia is important step forward. what is your thoughts this morning? we'll go to joe in las vegas, a democratic carl. you're on the air. go ahead. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call again, greta. i think president obama is doing a g

this is coming out of doha, but when i talk to a spokesman, from the ministry of foreign affairs heree really will not be a permanent cease-fire until their demands are met. >> ian lee in gaza city. thank you very much. ana, it should be pointed out as we are now about an hour away from the end of the cease-fire, looks like israel is willing to exte exteten extend. whether hamas does, we'll have to wait and see. a day of both relief but also additional pain. ana? >> a tough situation there. martin savidge, thanks. >>> now to the major developing story in libya today. the united states has evacuated all its personnel from the embassy in the capital of tripoli. the u.s. state department says intense fighting between militias in this area of the embassy that prompted the urgent removal of staff there. the embassy workers were driven out of the country to neighbors tunisia. this marks the second time in a little more than three years that washington has closed its diplomatic outpost in libya. secretary of state john kerry talked about this situation earlier. he said that the u.s. is remov