juliette touma, i also _ additional challenge. juliette touma, i also want - additional challenge.ditional challenge. juliette touma, i also want to take l additional challenge. juliette touma, i also want to take a j additional challenge. juliette - touma, i also want to take a moment to talk about your staff on the ground who i working very hard, as are many other humanitarian workers but also you've lost many of your staff sadly as well, many have been killed in this ongoing war? yes. killed in this ongoing war? yes, thanks anna. _ killed in this ongoing war? yes, thanks anna. 59 _ killed in this ongoing war? yes, thanks anna. 59 were _ killed in this ongoing war? ye: thanks anna. 59 were killed in killed in this ongoing war? 12: thanks anna. 59 were killed in gaza during this war, many of them were teachers, some were school principals, we had a doctor, a psychologist, we had support staff, which is really the backbone of our operation. we are the largest un humanitarian actor in the gaza strip and one of the oldest, we have been on the ground since the early 19505 working for

juliette touma, director of communications at the unrwa, told me more about the dire situation civiliansare experiencing in gaza. right now, let's take a back to that press conference. this is benjamin netanyahu, and he is making and direct —— and address here in tel aviv. he is speaking in hebrew, so we cannot bring it alive comments, but he has said that there are a number of palestinian gunmen still inside israel. he has also said that the air strikes against hamas in gaza urge just the the air strikes against hamas in gaza urgejust the beginning. we have seen 2a00 targeted just today. he has said that this is just the beginning. he is also called an parliamentary opposition to form a broad coalition government. this is the first sign that we are getting that these events will have political ramifications. these are some of the comments that the israeli prime minister has made in this address. it is in hebrew so we can give you the live feed. he has also said that israel's enemies have made a terrible mistake to attack israel. he has compared the hamas atrocities with isis. he said th

it's time for a cease-fire, not for anything else. >> juliette touma, i'm sorry to hear of the passingr colleagues. thank you so much for sharing your time and your perspective with us. >>> still ahead on "cnn news central," president biden has ordered american flags lowered to half-staff in thewake of the tragic mass shooting in maine. the latest on the mass shooting in the united states when we come back. ♪ >>> it's within congress' power to pass legislation that will make our streets safer. that will make our communities safer. that will make our schools safer. the house has a new speaker, who he said -- he said he's ready to get to work and to find common ground. now is the time. now is the time to find common ground. >> you can hear the new reaction from the white house, just hours after this string of mass shootings in maine left 18 people dead. there is an intensive manhunt under way, we should note, at this very moment for the suspected killer who is very much on the loose and on the run. let's go right to the white house, cnn's arlette saenz is with us now. arlette, what are y

joining us now is juliette touma, communications director for the u.n. ency for palestinian refugees. juliette, thanks for sharing your time with us and the knowledge of what is happening there in gaza. what are your teams seeing and hearing there inside the city? >> thanks for having me. and also for showing these shattering images. our teams on the ground continue to work around the clock to respond to immense humanitarian needs. we have sadly lost under 12 colleagues who have been killed since saturday. the needs on the ground are huge. we have running out of supplies. we do not have any access, we are not able to bring in any supplies inside the gaza strip. >> you know, just what you just said at the top right now, you've lost 12 colleagues of yours just in this week, that are trying to help people. what happened to them and what is the situation right now on the ground and we're looking at the pictures and there are still explosions going off. what is that situation like right now? >> well, these colleagues of ours that we lost, they included five te

. >> move to where and how, juliette touma, where are they even able to go?>> then within the northern part of gaza and gaza city and further south towards rafah close to the borders with egypt. >> juliette touma, police stay in touch with us as this war continues. we appreciate your voice. thank you. you might have noticed it where you live. there is more police presence everywhere. tighter security. coming up next, the impact of this crisis here in this country. welcome back, everybody. yesterday, one of the former leaders of hamas was calling for a day of solidarity with palestinians. and asking for all to support in protest for the palestinians. we are seeing one of the protests happening today in london. we are taking a live look at some of the images of this probe palestinian protest. when what i believe it's trafalgar square. we've been seeing that happen across the country and across the world in certain areas. we know the french president, emmanuel macron, essentially said that pro palestinian protests cannot happen there. if, in fact, he showed to a

earlier we spoke to juliette touma, director of communications at the un palestine refugee agency.za. as of this morning, we are very, very sad that unwra confirmed that 59 of our colleagues have been killed in the war in gaza. many of them were teachers, school principals, engineers, doctors, specialists, support staff that helped us with our huge humanitarian operation. we do know that the bombardments and air strikes continued. we are terrified for the fate of our teams on the ground in gaza. they continue to deliver, however, against all odds and with all the challenges that continue to be out there in the shelters, giving whatever assistance they can to the communities in need in line with our humanitarian mandate. just in one week we only had 80 trucks, just above 80. that's when we say it's a drop in the ocean or it's crumbs. it's not a pr stunt, it's the truth. because before the war, gaza used to get 500 trucks every day. so in one week, we had just over 80 trucks. yesterday, because of the breakdown in communications, we did not have a humanitarian convoy. and none of the

juliette touma from unrwa. fuel, but the people controlling the feel, what is the event's reply to that? unrwa needs the fuel and we need that shipment to come in like it now, now. we are running out of fuel and we need it for the resumption of our humanitarian operation across the gaza strip. unrwa needs fuel. what do you say to israel which says we cannot send fuel in because it will be diverted. what processes are in place to ensure that that feel just goes to the un, who then just gives it only to the civilians? unrwa need to feel because we have not received any shipments of fuel since the 7th of october. the fuel that we desperately need will be used by unrwa for things like un cars, un trucks and that are currently delivering the very little supplies to the people in gaza to the people in needs. we have 600,000 people in un schools and other shelters. we are giving wheat flour to bakery so people can have bread to bakery so people can have bread to eat. this is how the fuel will be used. unrwa will use i

live now to juliette touma, director of communications at unwra, who is in amman injordan.and how difficult is it for you to get in contact with them? , , , , . . them? yes, very, very difficult. we have only one _ them? yes, very, very difficult. we have only one line _ them? yes, very, very difficult. we have only one line and _ them? yes, very, very difficult. we have only one line and we - them? yes, very, very difficult. we have only one line and we have - them? yes, very, very difficult. wej have only one line and we have one line of communication open in the gaza strip but even that is patchy. we managed to get this live and we managed to re—establish with what we call area offices, teams are spread around the gaza strip, and that is good. and because of the telecommunications collapse, it has reduced some of our operations as of this morning. reduced some of our operations as of this morning-— this morning. lots of areas you touch on- _ this morning. lots of areas you touch on. just _ this morning. lots of areas you touch on. just in _ this morning. lots of areas yo

its director of communications, juliette touma, joins me now from the jordanian capital amman.o the terrible scenes that we have seen in the last 2a hours. the terrible scenes that we have seen in the last 24 hours.— the last 24 hours. the attack on the hosital the last 24 hours. the attack on the hospital was — the last 24 hours. the attack on the hospital was horrendous. _ the last 24 hours. the attack on the hospital was horrendous. our un i hospital was horrendous. our un secretary condemned it last night right after it happened. civilians should be protected, civilians are not safe anywhere in gaza. no place is safe in gaza. a few hours before that, one of our schools that is a sheltering place for families was also hit during israeli air strikes and bombardments. the loss of life continues. the loss of civilian lives continue and that has got to stop. this is why it is absolutely critical that there is a ceasefire right away so that civilians are protected, so that we don't continue to lose civilians totally unnecessarily like we have been for the past 11 days. we unneces

i'm joined from athens by juliette touma, who's the director of communications at the unrwa.re meant to speak to one of your colleagues earlier in gaza. we want able to. let us know what happened to, i hope she is safe. yes, that's right. so far she is safe but she and many other colleagues have had to take cover in one of the un bunkers in the city of gaza, in one of our offices there, so she could be with you today. the numbers of those displaced who have sought shelter in our schools has doubled overnight. we have registered nearly 140,000 people in our schools, all have fled to our school is in search of safety. it can be difficult to describe the exact situation the people are having to deal with, but can you paint a picture for us what people are going through in the shelters? from what we hear from our staff are selves, they are terrified, really very scared and worried for their safety and the safety of their children, their relatives, their families, their loved ones. for many of them this is the sixth time that they are living through an escalation of violence, so t

i spoke earlier to juliette touma.cations at the un palestine refugee agency. people in gaza are overwhelmed with fear, anna, and this is due to a very tight siege that has been ongoing for three—plus weeks, and heavy bombardment. they are also traumatised and shocked and displaced and they live in uncertainty. so, tensions are very high. and this is due to everything that has been happening over the past three—plus weeks. do you know, because again i know it's been difficult while there has been a communications blackout over the weekend, to contact your staff, but what you have left in terms of supplies inside gaza? so, there's these trucks that have been coming in, not on a regular basis and by far not enough. for example yesterday we've seen 33 trucks coming into gaza, which is already three times more than the average since those convoys have started, so that is good. however it is not good enough. and what is not good is that these trucks do not have fuel, and we need fuel for our own humanitarian operations in t

thanks very much, and we will talk again later in the programme. l live now to juliette touma from theell hole in the last two weeks. describe to us how bad it is. the situation is desperate, and desperate for 2 million people who live in the gaza strip, half of whom who have been displaced and forced to leave their homes due to the war. 0ur to leave their homes due to the war. our own staff have been impacted and i'm sad to confirm that another two staff members have been confirmed killed, which brings the total number of staff that we lost 216 this afternoon.— number of staff that we lost 216 this afternoon. so, it is taking a very personal — this afternoon. so, it is taking a very personal toll— this afternoon. so, it is taking a very personal toll for— this afternoon. so, it is taking a very personal toll for all- this afternoon. so, it is taking a very personal toll for all of - very personal toll for all of the relief workers there on the ground, despite everything they are working to in terms of trying to alleviate this. �* , , ., , to in terms of trying to alleviate this. �* ,

a short time ago we heard from juliette touma from unrwa.of fuel at unrwa. and we have started reducing some of the services, including in the health facilities and in the health areas that we support. we are appealing to all parties and those who have influence over them to bring in a shipment of fuel to support the unwra operations inside the gaza strip. what we are seeing in the gaza strip is unprecedented, unprecedented levels of suffering. two million people are being strangled, gaza is being choked with very, very little assistance that's coming from outside. with the largest humanitarian organisation on the verge of stopping its operations. we are being banned from undertaking the mandate that was entrusted to us by the general assembly. all we're asking for is to be able to do our work. it's a good start. however, they're not enough. we received just over 60 trucks, which is less than 1% of what gaza used to get on a regular basis every day before the war started. so it's a drop in the ocean of overwhelming needs. so we need much mor

their director of communications, juliette touma joins me now from amman jordan. by not give us the latest assessment as you know it in terms of what you think is actually happening there in gaza. this situation and _ happening there in gaza. ti 3 situation and anywhere is, it's horrible to describe the situation and i am running out of words and just now, we have confirmation that at least six people who are taking shelter in one of her schools, they were killed because the school received a head. air strikes and bombardments. we keep losing staff members, colleagues of mine and are on staff have been displaced and more than half a million people are now seeking shelter and facilities, or overwhelmed them were running out of supplies and we have to get supplies into the gaza strip in times of the essence here the clock is ticking as a matter of life and death. is ticking as a matter of life and death, ,., , is ticking as a matter of life and death. , ., ,, , death. somebody important issues in one answer. — death. somebody important issues in one answer. let _ de

juliette touma is from the united nations relief and works agency — or unrwa.lt it's been for the agency to keep in touch with staff in gaza. we have only one line of communications with our director who is currently in the south of the gaza strip, but even that is a bit patchy. however, in the past few minutes, while i was waiting to go on this live, we managed to re—establish some contacts with what we call area officers, this is our teams who are spread around the gaza strip, so that is good. and we have had of course, because of the telecommunications collapse, to reduce some of our operations as of this morning. lots of areas you touch on. just in terms of what those staff members have been telling you, what they have gone through, what it is like overnight and this morning, because you have already lost so many staff on the ground over the last three weeks, give me an idea, a picture of what they are describing to you. so yes, you are right. unrwa has lost 53 of our colleagues and they were killed inside the gaza strip, since the 7th of october, and the n

. >> juliette touma, thank you very much. thanks for your report being. >> breaking news.se force is confirming that their forces have been on the ground in gaza in limited raids during the last 24 hours. in a statement, they say they conducted raids in the territory of the gaza strip in an effort to eliminate the threat of terrorists and weapons in the area and to locate hostages. joining us now is the director of policy and research, and a former cia officer. collin, you told "usa today" that hamas was -- has managed to make itself bigger and more powerful than it really is by posting videos and images of its attacks online. let's talk about that but also the fact that the idea of confirming they have been in there, maybe not surprisingly, to try to find where the hostages are. isn't that job one? >> yeah. so, we're entering the next phase of this conflict which we've been anticipating, and that's going to be urban warfare. we know there's a network of subterranean tunnels that hamas is likely to use, and hostages are going to further complicate the idf response. there w

. >> juliette touma, i thank you so much for being with us.ppreciate your time. >> thank you. >> joining us now is the senior adviser with international security program at the center for strategic and international studies. thank you for being with us. four u.s. officials tell nbc news that the biden administration is advising israel to delay its ground invasion to give more time for hostage negotiations and for humanitarian aid that we just heard fromjuliette is so fundamentally needed right now in gaza. what impact do you think this delay could have on israel's ability to go after its targets? >> i don't think it's going to hurt israeli ability to strike. they're using air strikes very extensively. they're using special operations forces. the extra time also gives them what they need to get all of these reservists up to speed. they've taken 300,000 reservists. they need to be equipped. they need to be trained. they need to be moved, and then they need to be briefed on what it is they're expected to do. so israel can use this extra time to e