now inside gaza, hamas is in charge. israel, they got elected in 2006. this is laila hadan, a native gazan, journalist and author of "the gaza kitchen." >> the catches are not as big as they used to be and that's primarily because the fishermen can't go beyond three or fix nautical miles. >> if you go beyond, what happens? >> they'll shoot at the fishermen, destroy their boats, cut their fishing nets, they'll detain them. it's obviously really risky business. nine nautical miles, that's where that deep sea channel is where you're going to get the really good catches. gaza is the last palestinian area with access to the coast. that's really important to remember. you have the west bank just an hour away, but many of the palestinians there have never seen the sea, have never been to the sea. >> the family owns a small farm in the eastern gaza strip. she and her husband are unusual in that they cook together. this is not typical in this part of the world or in this culture. they use their own fresh-killed chickens to make t

now inside gaza, hamas is in charge.dered a terrorist organization by both the united states and israel, they got elected in 2006. this is laila hadan, a native gazan, journalist and author of "the gaza kitchen." >> they're not as big as they used to be, that's primarily because the fishermen can't go beyond three to six nautical miles. >> if you go beyond, what happens? >> they'll shoot at the fishermen, destroy their boats, cut their fishing nets, they'll detain them. it's obviously really risky business. nine nautical miles, that's where that deep sea channel is where you're going to get the really good catches. gaza is the last palestinian area with access to the coast. that's really important to remember. you have the west bank just an hour away, but many of the palestinians, they have never seen the sea, have never been to the sea. >> the family owns a small farm in the eastern gaza strip. she and her husband are unusual in that they cook together. this is not typical in this part of the world or in this culture. t

now inside gaza, hamas is in charge.orist organization by both the united states and israel, they got elected in 2006. this is laila hadan, a native gazan, journalist and author of "the gaza kitchen." >> the catches are not as big as they used to be and that's primarily because the fishermen can't go beyond three or fix nautical miles. >> if you go beyond, what happens? >> they'll shoot at the fishermen, destroy their boats, cut their fishing nets, they'll detain them. it's obviously really risky business. nine nautical miles, that's where that deep sea channel is where you're going to get the really good catches. gaza is the last palestinian area with access to the coast. that's really important to remember. you have the west bank just an hour away, but many of the palestinians there have never seen the sea, have never been to the sea. >> the family owns a small farm in the eastern gaza strip. she and her husband are unusual in that they cook together. this is not typical in this part of the world or in this culture. th

>> it's native to southern gaza.esert areas. >> all the food i've had so far in gaza has been very different than anything else i've had in the arab world. it's a different flavor spectrum. >> yeah, totally. it's kind of its own little gast -- gastronomical bubble. i find that the food has more flavor, i get a better sensory experience. even children, they like to eat with their hands. he's saying god gave us hands to eat with, not spoons. [knock] no one was at home, but on the kitchen table sat three insurance policies. the first had lots of coverage. the second, only a little. but the third was... just right! bear: hi! yeah, we love visitors. that's why we moved to a secluded house in the middle of the wilderness. just the right coverage at just the right price. coverage checker from progressive. this is the creamy chicken corn chowder. i mean, look at it. so indulgent. did i tell you i am on the... [ both ] chicken pot pie diet! me too! [ male announcer ] so indulgent, you'll never believe they're light. 100-calor

this is kind of a specialty of southern gaza, but also sinai.lusively by men, as i was told here. they begin, they're fire roasting the baby watermelons. they cover them with aluminum foil, in addition, they put them through wire, like a rustic skewer, and then yeah, they throw them in there. and then the idea is, they take the pulp out so that's what's going on. hey, mama. come here. yeah, and then what they do while that's fire roasting is they knead an unleavened dough over there with whole wheat, barley, plenty of really rich extra virgin olive oil. and then they throw that into the pit as well or they dig a bit in the sand and that's fire baked. >> right in the coals? >> yeah, and they mix it all together. so it's interesting because right now, we're about, what, 35 minutes away from gaza city? ask anyone in gaza city if they've heard of this dish, and no. even in the area as small as gaza, you see this wide variation. they're going to clean it up. >> many, if not most of these guys, are not too sympathetic to my country or my ethnicity, i'

is there cuisine in gaza? >> there's a glorious and fascinating cuisine in gaza that's very different from that in the west bank. remember, a lot of people in gaza are from elsewhere. they were relocated and they brought with them various dishes. it's a spicier, more coastal cuisine. the food is fascinating but again there is nothing more political than food. it's not just what people are eating but what they're not eating and what's coming in gaza and what's allowed into gaza and what's allowed out. you know, these are big issues. we were very close to being able to -- you can order fried chicken apparently from gaza from egypt and they smuggle it in. they send a guy to egypt through the tunnels that they use to smuggle arms and other contraband and it was a chicken delivery service and you could call egypt and they would smuggle in your kfc. >> israel is now like an advanced european country. does the cuisine reflect that? i think of sushi and things like that. >> tel aviv feels very much like southern calif

. >> the next day david and i separated so that i could go alone into gaza. along with the west bank, gaza is one of the two areas that have been taken by israel in 1967 and has been an occupied territory ever since. >> when i was in gaza david attended an israeli right wing rally in jerusalem. a large movement of religious israelis believe that rather than returning this land, it should be annexed by the state of israel. these people, called settlers, were creating villages in the occupied territories in order to create this reality. the rally was one of many demonstrations held by the settlers to convince the israeli government not to withdraw from the occupied territory. >> you have not seen an earthquake. >> the devastation of an earthquake. all you have to do is go to -- >> the water here is salty. so the government set up desalination plabts. they cannot just get pressure water. looks like somebody's handy candy. in fact, it's their daily routine. there are hundreds of thousands of people who don't want to get out of gaza. they want to keep them in gaza

with regime change there one of gaza's vital supply lines seems to be changing. egyptian officials say the tunnels will not reopen. even the crossing for people has slowed for people. gaza's fuel is double the price and the israeli government is still reluctant to relax the issue, ordinary palestinians will suffer for other people's politics. simon macgregor wod, gaza (p) being held by the muslim separatist, muslim brotherhood. the military arrested 5 mls brother hood. >> between the philippine government forces and national liberation front fighters. the city remains in lock down, the airport ask still in fact closed. over 180 civilians still remain hostage by mnlf fighters here in the city. it is becoming increase beingly a humanitarian concern. as more and more families remain trapped in the area where fighting is concentrated. they are unable to get food and help and it's unknown exactly what the situation is like in there. now it's unsure also whether negotiations are even underway. monday afternoon the mlnf actually made two demands that they be able to go

. >> and in gaza the fuel pumps are running low again.ut this time the reason could be more serious, and it could last a lot longer. >> and in london the latest from europe, including an u.n. official's damning report on bedroom tax. >>> and hundreds of critics pushing for spain's independence. >> we begin with syria, and some of the world's most powerful nations are scrambling to resolve its issues overwhelm weapons. the russians have a plan. the u.s. has a different plan and we do know that differences between the united states, y.y. russia and france will meet soon. we're at the u.n. james, do we know any more? >> yes, this is a meeting of the permanent five members of the u.n. security council. 15 members on the security council, but these are the five that always sit on the council, and the five that have that all-important veto, which means if there is something that they don't like a resolution that they don't like, they can stop it. that's why these are the key players that need to meet, as you say the russians have a plan. the fr

now four people in gaza, shortages are a part of life. over the past few weeks they have had something new to worry about. fuel supplies are running seriously low. >> waiting for fuel is now a daily ritual. but there's hardly any to be had, and prices have increased statutely. >> working to buy for my family, i'm working just to buy fuel. >> it's the same with gaza's only power station, it could shut down, powers cuts are a way of life. this time, the cause is here. just across the border in egypt. for weeks the egyptian army has been destroying dozens of smuggling tunnels can have become a lifeline. 80 pest of its fuel used to come through tunnels. but the military back government in cairo is cracking down on armed groups in sinai, it says they are getting help from gaza. that's why it is destroying the tunnels. relations with hamas have never been worse. >> what they say in the media, and the media campaigns saying that palestinians and ha mas. involved itself in what happened with the muslim brotherhood, we say no, it is all fake and i

and i think i like to think we showed a side of the palestinian people in gaza and the west bank that's been missing from a lot of reporting. i had a good time. a very deeply confusing time. it's easily one of the most contentious areas of the world but i find there's real value in asking the simple questions. i'm always surprised by the answers i get. >> anthony, one of the unique things you did, you spent time with an arab and israeli couple who own a restaurant. you actually had an experience with the cuisine that seems to be a fusion of the two cultures. yes? >> the cuisines are very, very similar. and in fact, you know, this is a part of the world where even a

he was trying to enter the gaza strip last month. the border crossing has been partially reopened since yesterday, but only partially. that had been well shot after the ouster of mohamed morsi by the army backed authorities. at this point, we were talking a moment ago about sinai and about the situation at the border with -- and you can see those images of the crossing from wednesday. again, you get a sense when you look at this that we are back -- is as if time has rolled back to where it was before. >> i think, sure. military rulers in cairo want to make sure sinai stays as calm as possible, especially given that gaza is such a flashpoint with israel. egypt, historically, since the camp david agreement has been deeply involved in any and all efforts to try to keep things calm on the front. i should also mention that one of the other vital interest in terms of sinai is the suez canal, which of course is important not only to egypt as a revenue earner, but also to the u.s. and other countries that regularly use it. i think what you s

the one hand let me be very clear about this we do not support a policy of a sustained blockade on gaza because it ends up. with palestinian suffering the average palestinian in gets the suffers from the blockades and the shortages and so on and so forth so morally and politically we cannot sustain that position the same time we cannot allow especially with our security situation today. for extra legal systems in other words networks that work outside of the legal system including as one example the tunnels once you do that you develop relationships that go beyond the traditional authority and it ends up leading into organized crime and so on and so forth irrespective of whether hamas is part of that or not thirdly i mean be very very clear here we will not accept any interference in our internal affairs by anybody including hamas if and when that's the case and it's proved and they should be very very clear about that so we're balancing all three of these we will close the tunnels. i wish it was hamas will be completely above board and transparent we will deal with them on that basis a

they would take me to gaza, yes, and much writing about the pal stein-israel impasse. to the west bank, to india, to all kind of amazing places. like for instance, petra in jordan. who knew? i would find myself raising a nation of chickens in between travel and visits to holy people in wood acre, and darmsalla. my cushion, fountain of peace, because of my attention to some of the deep suffering in the world sometimes seemed if far away. i felt torn, a condition i do not like and do not recommend. and, then, in a dream, it came to me, there was a long asphalt highway, like the one that passed by my grandparents place when i lived with them as an eight and nine-year-old. my grandfather and i would sit on the porch in the still georgia heat and count the cars as they whizzed by. he would choose red cars. i would choose blue or black. it was a sitting on cushions of sorts i suppose, for the two of us because hours could go by and we were perfectly content. perhaps that is why in the dream the solution to my quandary was available. there in the middle of the long, perfectly

received these burns when an israeli round slammed into her home in beit lahiya in northern gaza around that shows all the signs of containing white phosphorous it completely burned the children recall. from head to toe the house was inflamed us her husband in for a virtual dran died in the attack so while the small bomb is called then for strike in israel a wait i forgot the apartheid state and human rights abuse are israel ok us is closest ally can do no wrong and speaking of white phosphorous turns out that the us a liberal a drop this chemical incendiary in iraq during its occupation this is a chemical that burns to the bone but it's not nearly as lethal as the printed uranium otherwise known as you another chemical weapon used gratuitously during the iraq war justified as a protective shell casing for ammunition the use of duis undoubtedly left thousands of iraqi babies with birth defects even years after u.s. soldiers have left the country. have to do a quarter rates of cancer leukemia and birth defects rose dramatically now and chop off the areas affected by fighting so the bigge

. >> he's also making a stop in jerusalem, gaza and the west bank. >> they're old cities divided intoer, there's a jewish quarter. there is a christian quarter and there's an armenian quarter. each one functions independently, but people that live in the certain areas are all from that religion. >> right. >>> so bourdain describes the situation in the region as extraordinarily complex. i asked him what did he learn from his stop. >> i don't know that i ever come out of places any smarter than i went in, but i -- look, i think there's always value in you know going to places where there are often hard news stories and asking simple questions about how people live. and i think we -- you know, there's a basic humanity that i think is denied people sometimes in hard stories. and i think i like to think we showed a side of the palestinian people in gaza and the west bank that's been missing from a lot of reporting. i had a good time. a very deeply confusing time. it's easily one of the most contentious areas of the world but i find there's real value in asking the simple questions. i'm alw

israeli people have soured relations in the gaza war in 2008 and those who control the strip does notarticipate in negotiations and we can speak to ali in jeresulum and welcome to al jazeera and i will ask you first what has the oslo accord achieved? >> i think they achieved the fact whenever you sit and talk you come back to the same perimeters, the problem is that we don't often talk and the last four years or five years we hardly met each other but now when the sides are talking it's the same principles and that is the main achievement. >> so nothing in effect apart from the fact they are vaguely talking and john kerry wanted to push talks forward but whatever happens at the talks won't go anywhere unless somebody has a big stick beating both sides. >> i think when you look at the public attention in israel at the moment, it's 90% syria, 10% egypt, 0 on the palestinians. this is not an atmosphere of peace. you need this big stick and you need somebody to push the positions of both sides especially of the israeli side, very hard, the united states is busy, the u.s. is busy, the rest

gaza, yemen, 19 years old. so, it's very difficult to get to a democratic transition with such a young population, and when you add that in with poverty levels, egypt, 40% before the revolution, below $2 a day, syria 32%. gaza, yemen, much higher rights. tunisia is the best case scenario and most optimistic, it's a country that might make it through a democratic transition throughout this arab spring, it's most likely to. here we are struggling against we'll see. it's in the balance right now. >> the problem is that symbolically, tunisia is important, but has 11,000 people. egypt is the cornerstone of the middle east, so really how goes egypt, so goes the middle east in many respects. >> there is a little tradition of democracy in that part of the world. egypt had a monarchy. >> unlike the early days of egyptian monarchic democracy, good way of describing it. egypt was weirdly cut off from everything. tourists came, but basically it was cut off. now everybody in egypt, poor, rich, educated, uneducated, they're

changing the demographic conditions particularly by extending of cope of activities in jerusalem the gaza strip, and changing its status quo and demographics all this cannot be accepted as normal. this is not because such actions create flagrant violation of the united nations government, but the historical injustice inflicted upon the palestinian people should end. international organizations were established on the basis of granting the right of accepting termination in the aftermath of two world wars. it is israel should know that coercion and defect of policies do not bring peace. it is wrong for it to establish a state which seize peace and susubjugating other people and denying rights and making subjugation over peace. there is no security in peace. true peace comes from cooperation people for all. the peace we desire is built on dignity and justice jesus the u.n. resolutions and >> the experiences of different nations and peoples confirm that under settlements do not endure that they were pre-text for new conflicts. it would not make the issue disappear. it actually transforms befo

gaza yemen, 19 years old. it's very difficult to get to a democratic transition with such i don't think people. syria was about 32%, gaza, yemen much higher rate. now tunisia is the best case scenario and it's the most optimistic. it's a country that might make it to a democratic transition throughout this arab spring. it's most likely to. eerie struggling with it's in the balance now. >> symbolically, tunisia is very important. it doesn't have much weight, it is 11 million people. but syria has 85 million people. how goes syria goes the middle east, in fact. >> egypt had a monarchic democracy the first half of the 20th century but is that one of the issues here that with everything that joshua just said? >> you know the thing i would come back to that i think is really important is that unlike the early days of egypt monarc monarchic democracy, good way to describe it, everybody has a sense of the outside world, i moved to egypt 25 years ago and i lived there for six years. it was weirdly cut off, there were

it also said that in the last 24 hours it had found explosives on the gaza border under a watch tower, blaming those saying that the device would have been on the palestine side of the boarder, and weapons with palestine markings, the military side. it's not the first time the egyptian military blames groups inside gaza for contributing to the instability in sign jid. dozens of palestinians in that area have been arrested over the next few weeks. >> how important is an area. why has the military launched a massive crack down on the area. >> it's an important and strategic reason, area for a number of reasons. one has to do with israel. not only does egypt find it important, israel wants to see the area calm and under control. it doesn't want to see groups based in the signi launching attacks. we have seen that over the last 12 months. it's an important area to keep under control because of the agreement between egypt and israel. egypt has to try and keep the signi as much under control as it can. it hasn't been very successful over the years, and particularly over the last few months.

residents of gaza know what they want out of the negotiations. >> a palestinian state, with jerusalems its capital, not giving up on the return of refugees, and determining our future. this is what we ask of the president. >> abbas last made a push for full statement two years ago, at that floundered after the u.s. promised to veto the bid at the observer council. he hopes to build on his victory, but if the mood is upbeat, skepticism reigns on the streets of the west bank. >> abbas is doing what he can, but all the negotiations are futile. in the past 20 years, what have they achieved? israeli jeeps do what they like, without anyone saying a thing. >> the same sentiment in gaza city. >> we are facing an enemy who knows that talks a palestinians and arabs, and nothing more. >> the u.s. secretary of state says this time, the goal of the talks is to reach a definitive conclusion, not another interim agreement. almost two weeks after the u.s. and russia struck a deal on the distraction of serious chemical stockpiles, diplomats say that agreement has been reached on a u.n. resolution on t

the plan called for the withdrawal of israeli troops from parts of the gaza strip in west bank.reasons for hope that have faded over the years. one of the architects over the agreement recently wrote that the public wants he's more than their leaders do. >> nearly 70% on either side are prepared to accept the recognized solutions. a similar percentage believes the chances of reaching a solution are no -- no. >> the latest talks are stalling again over the issue of settlements. many wonder if the political will still exist. >> let's cross to our middle east correspondent in jerusalem. great pictures of the celebrations back then, but not so much two decades on, i imagine. >> exactly. if is virtually no interest, very little enthusiasm. 20 years since the signing of the historic oslo agreement. on the israeli side of the media, you see a tiny picture of the historic and check on the front page of "the jerusalem post." on the most widely distribute it daily in israel, another anniversary is being terminated, 40 years since the -- celebrated, -- commemorated, 40 years since the yom

that's a luxury that people in gaza just do not have. it be like for you having, living under those circumstances? >> reporter: before syrian children found themselves under those circumstances, she was all about helping them. she established charities, worked on literacy programs, since the war started she's not been seen as much in public. how much influence does she have over him? >> i think she has some influence in terms of pointing out some of the basic problems in the country and particularly these issues about reform but politically she's not accepted by the people around the regime's core. >> reporter: she is sunni. the daughter of a syrian cardiologist. born in london and raised in this home, educated at the best schools in england, her trajectory was impressive. she worked for two investment banks after graduating, closed lucrative deals but since marriage, her knack for sense of style led to pushback. some photos were obtained by cnn, "the guardian" and others. e-mails revealed one point as her country was being torn apart by

they say they are on their way to gaza for humanitarian work and were detained after filming the rallies and helping wounded protestors. their families have mounted a campaign, demanding their freedom, including a dedicated web page with a petition over 140,000 signatures. during its crack down on the sentence in july an estimated 2,000 people have been arrested and held without charge. supporters of grayson and lobani have held rallies in the past calling for their release. for now they remain behind bars, along with so many others, without due process. being jerald tan, al jazeera. >>> a new alliance has formed. calling them the islam army. it leaves the free syrian army more isolated than ever. it calls for those a secular syria. >> regulation cuers have eunted but not on the banner of the free syrian army. it includes 40 groups mainly seen as religiously moderate. a military commander appears here saying the army will be more organized. he also calls on other rebel groups to join the new army. this isn't the only setback for the free syrian army. only a few weeks ago, lewahid, the mo

if you look at home group, people who sit and look at a computer and images from places like gaza, iraq, afghanistan, those kids are inspired by emotion, to say i want to do something about that. now they have an ideaology they attach themselves to and that is called al qaeda. >> stephen: should the cia have boots on the ground or physical intelligence in places or should they be more watching youtube to see what's inspiring these kids. >> look f you want to understand the way a human being thinks, you need a human informant next to them. you can find out information from the internet, you can find out information from telephone intercepts from e-mails but in the history of time and that history hasn't changed in 2013, you can't beat a human informant. >> stephen: did you ever meet that girl from homeland? (laughter) >> i have-- . >> stephen: stay away from her, she's crazy. have you watched that show. >> i have not seen the show. >> stephen: you haven't? it's so good. >> i gather it's quite goodment i don't own a tv so i don't watch that stuff. >> stephen: do you know that our tvs are

this is a missile defense system that became very popular during the war in november with gaza.successfully stopped the majority of the rockets flying in from the gaza strip towards israel, blasting them in the air. the israelis last week erected these iron-dome batteries throughout israel just in case. we saw at least one of the batteries being dismantled. it shows the israelis are on a lower state of alert, really. they don't expect the u.s. to strike syria. if they do, not until after congress is in session on monday. the israelis really hoping for a quiet weekend. tomorrow is the start of the jewish new year. they want to spend that time with their families, but it's not to say the last several days, the last week thousands have been standing in line for gas masks for hours on end in the steaming heat here in tel aviv and throughout the country. they want to be prepared just in case syria or their allies decide to retaliate on israel, which would be the closest target allied to the u.s. >> and speaking of, let's go to ali in tehran. are you there? >> yes, i am. >> we know th