he said, i hope that something happens that there is some intermediatary before there is a ground war. that is the expectation here, that there will be a ground war, and there is hope among many that they will avert it. >> michael: based on the statement you just read, what hope would anyone have that hamas is willing to stop their bombings? >> reporter: well, since netanyahu spoke we saw smoke on the horizon. that's the answer toe that question. they have not stopped. they're not likely to stop through the morning. both sides are talking about unilaterally ending the conflict. there would have to be some kind of intermediateaire, president obama and the u.s. has offered to play that role. likely the u.s. would have to sponsor a process in which another country perhaps egypt would be the intermediatary as has happened in the past. >> michael: live from gaza. >>> well, in terms of fire power this is a lopsided conflict. gaza is massively outgunned. israel has used gun, drones to fire into gaza and tanks and 20,000 troops near the border of israel and gaza. israeli warships have been fi

so there is a notion that in cairo, which is the intermediatary, that officials from hamas, the american officials certainly israeli delegation that is through will over the last day or so, those negotiations are ongoing. as we discussed earlier the israeli military has made a decision to go in. even if the politicians, even if the diplomats are discussing some kind of cease-fire, the fact that the military is here. the fact that the language is so specific about demilitarizing gaza taking away, quote, once and for all the an ability to fire rockets at gaza, right now the military is doing the diplomacy on the ground. that means that even if you were to start having progress about a cease-fire, it wouldn't be about the opening or pause, it is required to actually stop the fighting. the fight something going to increase. the diplomacy is going to increase, and really it depends on how far the israeli military is going to go to pursue it's goals. >> everyone knows that what hamas has been doing, firing rockets in to israel is deplorable, illegal, i'm wondering what life is going to be like

there were intermediataries but this caused a lot of controversy. israel doing business indirectly with kurdistan. kurdistan says that it has to trade and there is a lot of background to this. we spoke the head of the energy committee for the kurdish regional government's parliament. he said legally, kurdistan isable to do this, that there was a federal supreme court decision back in june which said, quite categorically, that direct oil exports from kurdistan werepermissible. however, that is not the view of the central government. they see this as a major weakening of an already unstable position for the central government and baghdad has responded already back in january by with holding the 17% funding, amounting to $20,000,000,000 many are saying we have no other option. the question is what this court action will mean internationally, not just in the u.s. and how far it will go. i think it is expected to go beyond al district court. >> thank you, andrew simmons in erbil. >>> thousands of it refugees are being treated in neighboring countries for

somewhere israeli leaders and palestinian leaders from hamas are talking ceasefire through egyptian intermediatariesmeanwhile, israel has am forces on the gaza border, tanks, art i willery and troops. >> has raised tension to a level here perhaps not seen since the conflict of 2008 and 2012. these demonstrators, however, are not speaking with rockets. they are speaking with voices and with numbers. they are speaking out against the murder of a palestinian boy on the west bank, against israeli arrests and home dem lists that have occurred since the rise of tensions. tension continues to rise here on the west bank. nobody knows how this is going to end. both sides say they want to see an end to this conflict. neither side seems willing to back down. >> iraq's kurds are one step closer to full independence. their president has asked parliament to prepare for a referendum on their future. ma side. >> dana hoda sent this report. >> reporter: those who are traveling from erbil to kirkuk have to cross this checkpoint guarded by the iraqi police. there are two authorities here it has been this way for years

officials along with counterparts from italy, germany and france have been talking with the intermediatariesth hamas. >> that's turkey and qatar trying to get both sides to agree on some kind of cease-fire. hamas asking, insisting, on some kind of assurance by the west that their demands would be met during a cease-fire. what are those demands? opening up the border and lifting the israel siege. they say it's not so much with hamas but with israel's government. the israeli cap natural rejected john kerry's cell phone propose -- cease-fire proposal. you see them talking about continuing the operation inside of gaza until all of the tunnels, all of the tunnels fighters use to get from gaza to israel are eliminated. u.s. officials say israel doesn't seem very interested in the cease-fire proposal. >> israel has said this is about the tunnels. >> that's what these military operations are about. have they given any type of timeline of when they think they are going to accomplish what they say they set out to do? >> well, of course, they are not predicting or at least not telling us what kind of t

allowed to by law because they say that hamas is a terrorist organization and so there have been intermediataries in the past between hamas and israel, namely egypt in the past, but it's clear right now according to hamas statements that they don't really trust the e job descriptions to be an intermediatiary. right now, qatar and turkey might be other possibilities for some kind of intermediatiary. israel is saying that there is no cease-fire planned on the table and if we take them for their word, it does seem the diplomatic arena, if you will, or any attempts to try and actually facilitate this ceasefire is not really going to work. >> a very good point to make. nick schifrin reporting live from israel near the gaza border where a ground invasion could be imminent. the fighting in the middle east took center stage today at the united nations. u.n. secretary ban ki-moon told an emergency security council meeting that it is urgent for both size to agree to a ceasefire. james bays has more from the u.n. >> ban ki-moon asked for the meeting of the security counsel and he used it to call for an imme