change in mahmoud abbas's position on the i.c.c. so far he has been reluctant in driving the effort into this direction, and i.c.c. to the very last end. now changing his position and calling hamas into this... >> how much of a change is this. we talked about joining the i.c.c. he said he want to take time. how much persuading does it take for the factions to, as you said, join ranks, is it what happened in gaza over the six weeks. we had wars here before. what has been the turning point, the straw that broke the camel's back. >> the issue of asking the palestinian factions to sign on this is not more than tactical, first of all mahmoud abbas has not been known for democratic credentials. if he believed in it, he would have done it without asking his own party to sign on this. i think he was reluctant and wanted to gauge and test the water with other parties, especially the u.s. at this moment his mind is changing. he thinks he could put the two things together. the i.c.c. and this is the proposal for peace. not only to have a truce

the day after, politically, everywhere is on bored, and mahmoud abbas, when -- on board, and mahmoud abbas, when he announced the next step, changing the status quo, he palestinians. >> let me ask you this. he said he can't give you more detail, but there was a meeting and a plan saying no more status quo. some are saying mahmoud abbas may go to the international criminal court. war crime allegations against israel. you have been negotiating. the head negotiator. your name is probably more well-known to the world than mahmoud abbases. we have seen you for more than two decades. what do you think comes of that. the united states will never back the idea, that israel gets tried for war crimes. what are you aiming to get out of that. >> it is a worry, of course, and those that worry about the criminal courts should stop committing crimes. we are not fond of going to court. but when you look at gaza, 12,000 people killed and wounded, mostly women and children. when you look at a third, when you look at the targetting of electricity and water, deliberately. putting gaza back 500 years. it

mahmoud abbas came to power with two objectives. one was to unify all palestinian factions and bring them under one umbrella of the plo which arafat had neglected to do. you have free agent groups outside the context of the plo. he had the foresight to understand this was a bad idea. 2005, para declaration, the first palestinian -- intra-palestinian agreement to bring one set of political decision-making, which is essential to any nation or government. his second goal was to reach a conflict ending deal with israel. both of those were dashed. they are interconnected. yes, palestinians have agency. there have been a number of decisions that are highly questionable by both the palestinian authority and by hamas. one of which is firing rockets when you know the response that is going to come. from hamas' standpoint, they are dead either way. rather than go quietly into the night, they might as well go out with a bang. this is how i interpret their rationale. they at least were able to reassert their relevance -- cynical, terrible, yes.

you have the president of the palestinian authority, mahmoud abbas. he went to qatar, where he spoke to the head of hamas. he's in egypt. you have activity at the u.n. security council to work on what the europeans were trying to come up with. the have the qataris and the turks doing mediation, and the most dramatic thing is the move today by hamas to say that it has supported the palestinian bid to join the - to take the emotion to the international criminal court. and to perhaps have the i.c.c. look into the war crimes allegations against israel. all these things were happening at the same time. the americans and the israelis have peace negotiations going on, because they try to figure out what they can do without consulting anyone else. that has not worked well this time. this is what is different to before. >> excuse me jumping in, it's not a picture of what needs to be done. everyone has the idea. there's nothing taken for it, that all parties agree on. >> they are getting closer. they agreed on a lot of basic points, opening up the blockade betw

coming from mahmoud abbas, and from the palestinian authority. what we are hearing is hamas and islamic jihad would be willing to sign up and throw support behind that. the reason why that is significant is so far they have not given support to that because if you sign up, technically you are potentially going to be investigated yourself. now, of course, this potential membership of the i.c.c. has been something that aggravated israel enormously. technically the palestinians could be able to claim or ask for a child-led investigation into war crimes, and this is, of course, increasingly sensitive right now, considering over 2,000 have been killed in the past six weeks in the gaza strip. the fact that hamas and islamic jihad have thrown support behind it shows that they are prepared for the possibility that they, too, could be investigated for war crimes, such as indiscriminate rocket fire. yesterday, on friday, did very see the 18 people by factions that have gotten together, and accused them of being collaborators. they are incidents where the f

i have to say mahmoud abbas is not an important player in this conflict. he runs the palestinian authority in the west bank, but has little influence over hamas, the hamas commanders, who are engaged in the fighting against israel. you are right to point out that there has been a particularly bloody past 24 hours. and in many ways that makes it more difficult for either side to see a kind of end strategy here. they seem to have engaged in the fighting without any clear outward route. the ace railize in particular, they are under a lot of pressure from public opinion to bring security to those communities living close to the gaza strip. and they are quite angry that dispute weeks of fighting mortars and rockets are land, and they were encouraged to return to the home. having returned to the home. they are returned to the firing line again. . >> mahmoud abbas is not a real player, what about the pledge to join the international criminal court. what would that many? >> well, he has, for some time, wished to join the international criminal court. the significa

it was going to drive hamas into the peace camp or drive mahmoud abbas into hamas' position. >> weren't there some who saw the reconciliation agreement, to some extent, hamas joining abbas in a weaker position. where do the two sit today, what is the power differential? how can abbas keep the upper hand? >> hamas went into this very much out of the junior partner, which is unlike where we were years ago. they come out of this as equal partners, at least. one of the positives, probably the only positive out of this, is the motivation of palestinian unity. -- consolidation of palestinian unity. in fact, you have a unified palestinian leadership negotiating in cairo. as a practical matter, not a matter of show or expediency. it is a practical matter. hamas needs fatah as much as fatah needs hamas. hamas understands their is no chance to open the border in gaza without a role for the palestinian authority. at the same time, the palestinian has been desperately keen for a role in gaza and mahmoud abbas has been trying to reassert his relevance in things related to gaza. there is a win-win si

yesterday in announcing the ceasefire mahmoud abbas asked what's next?a has witnessed three wars in the last six years and asked how long this can last. i want to get specifics if i can. there's been talk in the last 24 hours about a new initiative that you guys are posing that would bypass the american brokered negotiations, that would call for a u.n. resolution demanding a deadline to the israeli occupation. what detail can you give me about that? >> ali, yes, last night there was a very important crucial meeting for palestinian leadership, the joint leaders of the palestine committee and fatah, and president abbas and his excellency the emir of qatar, and the political bureau on the situation the day after, all i can tell you at this stage ali is that a decision was voted upon last night, passed unanimously that business as usual no more. a status quo no more. we don't want to busy ourselves with all the important needs that we have in gaza. with all we call upon all the international community, i met with the u.n. people today, i spoke with them to t

request of thet president of palestine, mahmoud abbas, to seek u.n. protection from israeli aggression, continued occupation, and violation of international law itsn particular bombardments of the civilian population in gaza. this is in effect going back to system. trusteeship watch was to -- which was to -- [indiscernible] after world war ii. that was the main purpose of the council. the trusteeship was also created by the secretary-general and carrying out its functions according to the charter. also important -- this is the receive -- to to achieve full independence in 1994. without members and we're the only ones here. what is the object under the charter? further international peace and security and promote advancement of its inhabitants. it is to protect human rights. i am not going to go through them. it is very clear in the charter. one other point briefly about going back to the trusteeship totem, or something similar what it was like under the mandate system. first of all, the legal challenge would be to look on these questions, what state i

if it's true that the people have, in fact, authorised mahmoud abbas to speak on their behalf. it's possible for his rail to negotiate directly. prime minister binyamin netanyahu, and president mahmoud abbas could meet tomorrow or over the next three or four days and come to an agreement. and they will accept that agreement. >> i know you have argued that this is what israel should do. what about reports that hamas is divided. that michelle in qatar has different pps, differences of opinion with hamas leaders in gaza? >> i think it could be. there are a lot of internal arguments, power struggles within hamas, differences of opinion not only between the hamas leadership outside orred in, but within the hamas leadership inside. nonetheless, hamas had a difficult complex decision-making process. it seems to me that the war is in the phase of wait and see with a 5-day ceasefire, that the leadership came above ground, military fighters emerged and seen the damage in gaza, and the people on the streets are telling hamas enough is enough. and the message is driven home, who could dire

i think in the process of this it's very, very important for israel to find ways to reposition mahmoud abbasation and they have not been engaged in that franchise building effort on behalf of abbas for a couple of years. >> steve clemons, eight hours until this cease-fire ends. we'll see what happens. thank you. >> thank you, chris. >>> voting drama unfolds tomorrow in baltimore thanks to a heated race to replace not a politician, but outgoing baseball commissioner bud selig. back room dealings and even a third party candidate could disrupt this vote like never before. we'll have details before. >>> first, our tdr soup of the day in mobile, alabama. they're serving up cream of crab soup. i would eat that. we'll be right back. you know.... there's a more enjoyable way to get your fiber. try phillips fiber good gummies. they're delicious and an excellent source of fiber to help support regularity. mmmm. these are good! the tasty side of fiber. from phillips while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, this can be difficu

mahmoud abbas came to power with two objectives. one was to unify all palestinian factions and bring them under one umbrella of the plo, which arafat had neglected to do. you have free agent groups outside the context of the plo. he had the foresight to understand this was a bad idea. 2005, cairo declaration, the first intra-palestinian agreement to bring one set of political decision-making, which is essential to any nation or government. his second goal was to reach a conflict ending deal with israel. both of those were dashed. they are interconnected. yes, palestinians have agency. there have been a number of decisions that are highly questionable by both the palestinian authority and by hamas. one of which is firing rockets when you know the response that is going to come. from hamas' standpoint, they are dead either way. rather than go quietly into the night, they might as well go out with a bang. this is how i interpret their rationale. they at least were able to reassert their relevance -- cynical, terrible, yes. on the other

the line for a moment because we will take a quick look at what press -- palestinian president mahmoud abbas had to say. he may play a role in any new border deal for gaza. >> we hope that this cease-fire will be respected so it is possible to revive for the needs of our family and gaza. to be able to deliver them the necessary food and medical supplies and begin rebuilding what the attacks that destroyed. i appeal to the international community and to the united nations to provide all those materials as soon as possible. >> palestinian president mahmoud abbas, mentioning rebuilding their. -- there. we have seen almost continuous war since july. what do gazans need now? >> there are many things that are needed. the destruction is tremendous. whole neighborhoods destroyed, especially the east and northern parts of the outskirts of gaza city. there is an estimate of 18,000 houses have been destroyed and people have nowhere to go to and do not know how to rebuild. the rebuilding issue is very important and that construction material is needed, but the border is controlled by israel. there needs

under the leadership of president mahmoud abbas, if we empower this government we will be able to move gradually from the situation of confrontation and fighting into the situation of lifting this tragedy and blockade against our people in gaza. it is a tramming di that has -- tragedy that has prompted protest over the world, including this one, a large demonstration in protest of the rising civilian casualties in gaza. >>> well, some parts of gaza are quiet, but israeli bombardment continues in rafah and other areas. israel's offensive entered its 28th day, and the human cost continues to rise. 64 israeli soldiers have been killed, along with three civilians, one a thai national. a number of fatalities is higher. 1,817 men, women and children have been killed. 80% are civilians. more than 9,400 gazans have been injured, including 2,700 children. more than a quarter of a million people are taking refuge in u.n. shelters. >> now, activists say syrian government forces have attacked several areas near the capital, killing dozens of people. on the outskirts of damascus, they were hardest

president mahmoud abbas and louing us to have more strength in the gaza strip and giving our people an instead of the continuation of fighting, an alternative moving in the direction of peace. and, of course, we have to put an end to the occupation so that the independent state of palestine to become independent and to actualize the dream of two state solution. >> ambassador mansour, thank you very much. i appreciate you for being here. >> thank you for having me. >>> polls show that the majority of americans are sympathetic toward israel, but yesterday thousands of people protested in support of the palestinians near the white house, and the harrowing pictures of palestinian suffering being beamed out of gaza have provoked an outcry and prompted protests across the world. our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell assesses whether israel may achieve military victory but lose the battle of wider world opinion. >> reporter: as the violence continues with civilians trapped in the middle, israel's strategy of self-defense is becoming less defensivible in world opinion. in ber

with respect to mahmoud abbas it's a slightly different problem. in some ways he's too strong, mahmoud abbas is too weak to bring them together and make the bold decisions that seb at or regan or rab een were willing to make. >> do you agree, and should the u.s. make a bold move and bring the parties to washington as some predesassessors have done? >> binyamin netanyahu's problem is not, in my judgment, that he is strong or weak. the reality is idea logically his self-image seems to preclude him from making the decisions, particularly initial refugees or the jerusalem issue, let alone trying to figure out what june '66 borders means in practice. he never saw himself in that rolt. it's a huge transition for him to make. so i'm not sure that the president - it's an artful description, but i'm not sure that the president has this right. the reality is mahmoud abbas has the willingness to do a deal, but not the capacity. binyamin netanyahu has the capacity, but because of his way, the way he concedes of himself, doesn't have the willingness. and in ord

president mahmoud abbas announced on saturday he had persuaded gaza's armed factions to support this. he, too, can be investigated for war crimes. factions are made aware, and sign a concept to signing the statutes, before signing a treaty with consequences. it will be respected is borne by the political parties. authorities in the street will be guilty of collaborating with israel. at time of war actions are justified, all of that is... people are executed. because of war, they are maybe they kill them in the streets. >>> people here hope that negotiations can restarts in the coming days. as all parties know, the only way to stop the war crimes by either side is to end the conflict. >>> joining me now is human rights lawyer and former appeals judge, jeffrey robinson. can you talk about the process of filing an application to the international criminal court. how soon? >> it's very quick. you can be a member almost immediately. they can file the application tomorrow. and it would date back until november 2012 when they were acknowledged as a state. the united nations accepted them as

mahmoud abbas into power with two objectives.on groups operating outside of the context. so you had the foresight to understand this is a bad idea. 2005 cairo declaration was the first palestinian agreement designed to bring not just one gun, but one set of political decision-making, which is essential for ending the neck of a nation or government. so the second goal was to reach a common and named india with israel. both of those were dashed and i think they are interconnected. yes, palestinians and there have been a number of decisions that are highly personable by both the palestinian authority and hamas, one of which is firing rockets when you know the sort of response that it is going to have. but from hamas' standpoint, i think they are dead either way. so rather than go quietly into the night, this is how i interpret their rationale. they at least were able to reassert their bellavance. but on the other side of the equation, if somebody is hiding and are completely reckless, you have other options. you have many choices. a

comes to the two separate agendas of a peaceful negotiation or conflict resolution track with mahmoud abbas violence on the part of hamas primarily on the other. and the paradox is that when there is calm and quiet in the occupied territories, the israelis tend to become complacent and the americans as well and so palestinians are ignored. >> right. >> and the occupation continues, the status quo continues. it is only when violence occurs, unfortunately, that people stand up and say, ah, yes there is a block indicated, ah, yes there is an occupation that needs to be addressed. >> is it a true narrative in your judgment that the palestinians in gaza missed an opportunity to build a positive relationship. >> how can you have an opportunity when you live in an open-air prison? what opportunities? i don't see any opportunities when you force 1.8 million people to stay locked up in an open-air prison but to force them to block them from all sides where there is no trade, no aid. >> rose: this was true from the very beginning? >> from the very, very beginning. it has been eight years that gaza ha

i think the only answer can be a palestinian unity government that brings mahmoud abbas back into gaza and allows for elections that are legitimate among all the palestinians, including in gaza. >> what do you say to that, alan dershowitz? >> well, elections are wonderful if they produce the right results. but the last time there was a palestinian wide election, hamas won. and then pulled off a coup d'etat and killed the other palestinians. i want to congratulate john kerry pulling off this deal, even if it's temporary. and i think it also vindicates israel's turning down the initial qatari deal because israel got a better deal now. they can continue to destroy the tunnels which pose enormous threats to israel. i agree with peter about one thing. i do think this would be a very good time for israel to sit down with the palestinian authority and try to renew negotiations about a two-state solution. they have weakened hamas. they have, i think abbas has strengthened himself by playing a role here. this may be a good time to move to a two-state solution. >> alan? >> if we can end the bloc

strange situation that israel a mood abbas,ke the leader of the plo, the , they want authority mahmoud abbas to help israel against hamas. this delegation which is now conducting negotiations in cairo for the palestinian people, is led by mahmoud abbas. swing, full reversal of israeli policy -- >> we have to break but we are going to come back to the discussion with you. we want to also ask you about that moment in 1982, when you crossed lines and you were the first israeli yasser arafat government, when you met -- first israeli yasser arafat ever met. irgunarted in the ea when he was a teenager, left and they're concerned about terrorist activity, ultimately founded one of the first peace groups in israel. he was a member of the knesset and met with yasser arafat. we will talk all about that when we come back. ,"re on "democracy now! democracy now dot org, the war and peace report. amy goodman come here with juan gonzalez. >> as a youth, our guest joined paramilitary group, which he quit to become a leading peace activist in israel. in 1950 he founded a news magazine and 15 years later he w

believe if we allow for peace to take place, negotiation to take place, under the leadership of mahmoud abbaswho is bringing all political elements in the palestin side, including hamas you said his wing, international consensus government. if we empower this government, we will be able to move gradually from the situation of confrontation and fighting into the situation of this tragedy and blocking it against our people in gaza, giving the people there hope. 50% of the population in gaza are under 18. if you put them in a continuous situation of fighting and resentment and hate, this is an excellent atmosphere for radicalism. but if you give them hope. you open the borders, let them go to schools, let them get good jobs, let them look for moderation, then we'll succeed in allowing all those who want to have peace between us and israelis to have the upper hand. >> a lot of people listening would find that compelling, the palestinian authority could provide better leadership than hamas. i want to try more on this. do you think hamas is helping or hurting palestinians right now? >> hamas is par

we are sorry about all the accusations against mahmoud abbas.f somebody thinks that he is a partner, how it can be that our main partner in negotiations accused israel of crimes against humanity, war crimes, et cetera. if we're really trying to achieve comprehensive solution, we have only one way, to negotiate, to sit around the table and not to place pressure on your partners and to use your automatic majority in international forum. i think it's the wrong way, the wrong direction and we hope that at the end of the day we will see from the palestinian side reasonable and real reliable partners. >> mr. foreign minister, thank you so much for joining us. hope we can do it next time in person. >>> when we come back, go ahead, take a break. relax. i will explain to you why working less is good for you and for the overall economy. get a $1,000 turbocharged reward card with a new volkswagen turbo. why are we so obsessed with turbo? because we like giving you power, but we also like giving you fuel efficiency. like the sporty jetta. and the turbocharg

by the way, nears not moderates like the ploar mahmoud abbas, and shimon peres and others, that werealled men of piece. these are fundamentalists extremists. hamas is the i.s.i.s. of gaza. they are committed to the genocide of infidels. "the new yorker" ran a superb piece, and the yazidi stuck in the mountains. in one day they called 2,000 yazidi, and the world says save gaza. all of a sudden the world discovered i.s.i.s. where was the outrage over the past few weeks? >> let me ask you something. 436 palestinian children have died in this last offensive. the last offensive, israel said, is about the tunnels. how is 436 children consistent with the issue of the tunnels. >> it's appalling. i'm disgusted with the killing of civilians in gaza. i'll say two things about that. first of all, it shows you the cynicism of hamas in being prepared to use violence to achieve a better deal out of the ceasefire deal. that's what they did, walking out of ceasefire negotiations that they agreed to to attack is ril to extract -- israel to extract concessions. >> i'm asking about the actions of israel

you had said that netanyahu should speak with mahmoud abbas. >> doesn't seem like it's going to happen is there. any arab nation that could step up and make a difference and do what israel has been able to do in the past that -- i'm sorry. he script has been able to do in the past but doesn't have the same stature that it used to? >> actually, the only -- the only power that can talk to israel at this stage is egypt. jordan has a peace agreement with israel, but it does not have the leverage that egypt has. he script, you know, 90 million people until israel, an american ally has signed a peace agreement with israel since 1979. all of those factors makes egypt an asset and strategic ally to israel and the united states saudi arabia has the same leverage and influence but not the peace agreement with israel. >> that's the difference between saudi arabia and egypt at this stage. thus, we see that egypt always is asked to intervene whenever there is a conflict or there is a difficulty between the palestinians and the israelis. yes see the egyptians are taking the israel's side against ham

mahmoud abbas, the palestinian authority president, has been wanting a cease-fire. there are some indications the palestinian authority would get increased control over what's going on in gaza and hamas would step back. is that part of this deal? >> well, we don't have the exact details at this point regarding the deal, but there have been suggestions that the palestinian presidential guard that answers to mahmoud abbas in ramallah would be deployed along the -- rather, at the crossing in rafah between egypt and gaza. that would certainly bolster the role of the palestinian authority in ramallah, in gaza itself, but we saw in the weeks following the formation of that government between hamas and fatah, before all of this, that there were tensions between fatah and hamas, and there's no guarantee those tensions couldn't flare up again, as ramallah tries to re-establish some sort of presence, some sort of authority within the gaza strip. wolf. >> i want you to stand by. we'll have more on the breaking news. a cease-fire that we're now told by egyptian state media will

palestinian president mahmoud abbas is trying to bring the two sides back to the table. he met with hamas leader in qatar's capital, doha and met in cairo with egyptian president. egyptian mediators brokered previous rounds of negotiations. israeli forces launched their offensive in july and since then more than 2f 100 people have been killed. >> all three of the major indices rose. the s&p 500 had the 2,000 for the first time ever. in the middle of the financial crisis, it sank to a low of 66 of. that was in march, 200. so in just five years, the index has grown threefold. as for monday, the s&p did give up some of the gains during the day but still managed to close at a record. and the dow jones industrial aver rang also rose closing at 17 17,000 for the third day in a row. >> we're seeing a little bit of hesitation, actually, here, for tokyo stocks at the open. following those gains on wall street, a little bit of a fullback for the nikkei for the august 26th. have a look at that. the nikkei is marginally in the negative. but the broader topix, marginally in the posit

now nabil shaath, the key adviser to the palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas. nabil, i guess one of the main points we just heard the prime minister make is if hamas would have accepted the cease-fire that israel accepted, the one egypt put forward three weeks ago that the palestinian authority accepted, if hamas would have accepted it then, he said 90% of the casualties in gaza would not have occurred. what's your reaction to that? >> well, thanks, god, we are now in a cease-fire. the spilling of blood is over. the killing of civilians, women and children, is over. and i hope this will really last. but hamas' rejection at the beginning and its present acceptance really has no justification for netanyahu to have done the massacre he has done in gaza. entering into gaza and destroying 25,000 buildings and killing 2,000 civilians and injuring about 30,000 is really far more than what is reasonably expected from an invading army like that of mr. netanyahu, to do in a highly densely populated area like gaza, when the result is catastrophic. the people who have done

mahmoud abbas is expected to play a key role.will discuss easing restrictions for the disarming of hamas. a rolex watch was the center of attention in the trial of the virginia and r of his wife. testimony was he expressed strong reservation about the t. it was aring purchased by jonnie williams and given to the governor as a gift wife maureen. his scheduler monica block will former firstor the lady quoting here she didn't now the difference between donors and friends and she had a blind spot for williams. as bob mcdonnell left that courtroom he said he wants to tell the story and truth about rolex will come out. >> what about the questions about the financial disclosures and row loolrolex? be time to talk about it when i testify. >> you are ready to do that. i think we had another great day and i was delighted to have my sisters with me and i remarkable support from my loving family as i have had hroughout there ordeal and looking forward to at this point to get the truth out. >> the trial resumes tomorrow at we will bring you u

again, we just had the representative of mahmoud abbas here.ent of the coalition government there. it seems that certainly there are at least independent operatives on the ground, whether it's fatah or the anyhood or islamist jihad organization or the military wing of hamas. do you believe that right now you don't have enough sense of who's in control on that side of the conflict to negotiate anything? >> well, chris, these questions about the command and control structure of hamas had been raised before. the fact of the matter is, we are dealing with both the palestinian political leadership, but also other regional partners that have influence over the military wing of hamas. so we do have a wide variety of voices at the table to make sure that everybody understands what everybody's agreeing to. and the fact of the matter is, there was a humanitarian cease-fire that was in place, that would have allowed the citizens of gaza, who have been caught in the cross-fire to emerge from their hiding places, to meet the needs of their families, to bury

. >>> now to the crisis in the middle east, palestinian president mahmoud abbas wants the internationalommune to the set a deadline for israel to end its occupation of the lands captured in the 1967 mideast warm. this comes as fighting beguns in the gaza strip. hundreds of palestinians gather in northern gaza sunday to mourn some of the victims of israeli air strikes. reports say eight people were killed in gaza yesterday. meantime, hamas militants continue to fire rockets into israel. ten of those were launched sunday. >>> and a 4-year-old israeli boy was laid to rest over the weekend. he's the first israeli child to be killed in the current conflict. more than 2,000 palestinians including a number of children have been killed. >>> isis militants are in control of a government air base in syria. the air base was the final stronghold of government forces in the province. this comes after days of fighting that left hundreds of people dead. video posted online claims to show people celebrating the military vehicle by honking their horns. nbc news cannot independently verify the authentici

on saturday mahmoud abbas met with egyptian president abdul fatah al-sisi. >> what concerns us at the moment is to put an end to the blood shed or any act of sacrifice. once that happens the humanitarian relief aid and rebuilding must start. >> after weeks of blood shed and mass instruction, many want to see an end to the violence, but only if israel agrees to lift a blockade, which strangled the economy. >> in the background of renewed violence and calls for a ceasefire, are signs palestinian officials may be inclined to join the criminal court. that allows them to call for an investigation in relation to war crimes. joining the i.c.c. means they, too, could face the same scrutiny. >>> a rocket fired from lebanon struck a house in northern israel. this shows security forces searching the damaged building. no one has yet claimed responsibility. israel says five rockets fired from syria landed in the disputed golan heights. since the concept began in july '68, israelis killed, a thai national was killed. 2,105 palestinians have been killed in the violence, and more than 10,600 people h

--ay we saw prell palestinian president mahmoud abbas in qatar. we're seeing the involvement of a front channel that perhaps could lead to something. it is another player, another involvement. on the ground we see heartache, rockets coming into israel, including one into jerusalem, and continuing airstrikes on the gaza strip. airstrikes have launched fresher strikes against islamic state militants in iraq despite threats from the group to kill a second american captive. u.s. fighters and drones provided air force is to kurdish and iraqi forces. tuesday, a video showing the beheading of journalist james foley was posted online. the militants threatened to kill another american reporter. the u.s. attorney general said the criminal investigation into fully's -- into james foley's death will begin. tributes have been flooding in from around the world. of james foleyg has prompted widespread horror. among the reactions, a former print cost -- a former french hostage that was held with james fully in syria. determined to stay optimistic, to keep his spi

. >> if we allow for peace to take place, negotiation to take place, under the leadership of mahmoud abbas, if we empower this government. we'll be able to move gradually from the situation of confrontation and fighting into the situation of lifting have tragedy and blockade. >> it is a tragedy that prompted protests over the world, including this one, saturday, in washington. the largest net in protest of rising casualties in palestine. >> some analysts are saying that washington could put pressure on israel to stop the campaign in gaza by threatening to cut back on military funding. we have been speaking to the boston-based analyst justin johnson. . the united states has never had difficulty issues tough talks. none of it manifests itself in changes in economic and military relationships between the united states and israel. what is would take, and what would have a huge impact is for the president to do something historic. to step up and pull back the military founding that the united states gives to israel. >> israel has no incentive to come up with truly peace of the negotiations and

. >> palestinian president mahmoud abbas will feel the fall out after the war and the cairo talks. one former palestinian official believes hamas is the powerful voice on the streets, not only in gaza, but the west bank. the war has the effects of marginalizing the pl oo. leadership to hamas and other factions in gaza. it's difficult to avoid the conclusion that this war ended by increasing the political power and the political popularity of hamas among palestinians. hamas can lose in the negotiations. during the conflict it lost fighters and military facilities. israel is pushing for demilitari demilitarization. gaza erupted in conflict three times in the last six years. >> no one is talking about those talks restarting. >> a court has found the two remaining leaders of cambodia's khmer rouge guilty of crimes against humanity. a u.n.-backed tribunal sentenced the minister and former head of state to life in prison. up to 2 million people are thought to have been killed. rob mcbride was at the courthouse and has more from the cambodian capital. >> a historic day in pong and an emot

i asked an adviser to palestinian president mahmoud abbas today for his reaction to that video. here is the exchange. >> that area that that video was shot, that was packed with civilians. hamas turned a neighborhood into a target. as a palestinian, that must bother you. >> what bothers me is really the killing of innocent people. remember one important thing. gaza is very crowded area. about 1.9 million palestinians live in only 370 square kilometers. so wherever you go in gaza, it's very crowded, whether here or there. >> not true. >> obviously, gaza is densely populated. but that's not to say that rockets have to be fired from a populated neighborhood. reza, what is your reaction to that ndtv clip and mohammed shtaya? >> there is no question that hamas fights in residential areas, that it launches attacks against israel from residential areas. that's an empirical fact. it's a direct violation of the geneva accords and international law. it is also a direct violation of the geneva accords and international law for israel to haphazardly target civilian areas when there is a dis