and benjamin netenyahu spoke out today upset about this agreement. instead of moving into peace with israel, he is moving in to peace with hamas. he has to choose does he want peace with hamas or peace with israel? you can have one but not the other. this gives the israelis basically the ammunition to end the peace talks and then in the end point the finger at the palestinians. again, a crucial time for talks, but also a big step if this does come ahead. >> indeed. thanks very much for that. ♪ >>> now, let's get more on the conflict raging in syria, a factor that is becoming worrying as the number of foreign nationals taking part in the conflict. the french government says it is cracking down on its citizens who go to syria to fight. it is estimated there are approximately 500 french fighters there. the greatest number of foreign fighters come from north after that and asia. but in europe it is estimated that at least 1200 muslims are now involved, and. the numbers continue to rise. initial estimates from 2011 were between 3 and 5,000. now the number

. >> the government of netenyahu gave us no chance, gave secretary kerry no chance.hey were determined from day one to undermiep these talks and efforts, and finally they used the pretext of con sill lags as a pretext to suspend negotiations in the most short-sided decision i have ever seen. >> israel said it left talks because of that attempt of reconciliation. fattah controls the west bank, hamas controls gaza. the problem is that hamas does not recognize israel's right to exist and in fact promises to destroy israel. until the reconciliation attempts between fattah and hamas end, there can be no talks. >> we suspended talks because of the unity pact when hamas and fattah. hamas denies my country's very right to exist. this is an organization that says that israel should be liquidated and every israeli civilian, man, woman, and child is a legitimate target for terror attacks. so we said clearly, you can have peace with hamas or peace with israel, but you can't have them both. >> and remember, del, kerry put his personal prestige on these talks. he met with both sid

fourth and final round of prisoner releases, some of the most controversial prisoners, and benjamin netenyahu declined to release the prisoners. he said he wasn't going to do that while the negotiations were going forward, and that is what has brought us to this very dark point. >> and what will it mean going forward if these negotiations fall through. >> it is a critical moment, because they are reaching that dead line, and this was the fourth of the scheduled releases of these prisoners. he was just trying to keep moving forward. nobody needs to be reminded about how difficult all of this is, secretary kerry saying to the leader of morocco in effect, i have better things to do here. we have the ongoing humanitarian and disaster concerning the syrian war. >> mike viqueira for us as always at the white house. thank you very much. speaking of ukraine that country's prime minister says his country will never recognize the annexation of crimea. meanwhile crimea continues its transition to russia unabated. as jonah hall reports the winner of that election has to battle ramp ent corruption. >> rep

>> this is a deal coming outover two conversations between john kerry and benjamin netenyahu, and theirllies. the first and most important is the release of jonathan pal sh -- pollard. and the talks are extended into 2015. also some 400 at least prisoners released by israel. including the group that was supposed to be released last weekend. and israel promising restraint, but no real freeze in east jerusalem. a lot of people on the palestinian side telling me they feel like they are being forced to accept this deal that they feel doesn't give them a lot, but they are considering it huge pressure by kerry. >> and why is pollard's release so crucial. >> for the last 25 years, successive cia chiefs, secretaries of defense, and some of their most senior officials have all said that they would resign if jonathan pollard was released. and it goes to show -- as one u.s. official i spoke to said -- how desperate kerry is. it seems like the u.s. wants this peace more than the israelis and the palestinians. if the u.s. is giving up a huge bargaining chip from white house's point of view. they fee

benjamin netenyahu said instead of moving into peace with israel, he is moving in to peace with hamasreferring to the palestinian president. i hope he chooses peace. so far he hasn't done so. but for the palestinians this is what they have wanted. they have wanted this for years. they have been asking their leaders -- leaders that they have been so disappointed in, they have be asking for reunification, because they say then they will be able to negotiate with the israelis on a level that is almost to the level that the israelis get to stand on right now. del? >> thank you very much. again, israel's president saying hamas or peace, but not both. coming up on al jazeera america, they call it home, but authorities in islamabad say these slums have to be torn down. >>> the pakistani government is cracking down on people living in the slums of its capitol, as a result thousands of residents could be left homeless. the residents say the government just wants their land. >> reporter: this is the only home this man has ever known. his parents first moved here shortly after islamabad was esta

netenyahu said about us having to choose between hamas and peace is one way of misleading the public,ause we all know he is the one that is refusing peace and rejecting it, by insisting on building settlements illegally, and preventing palestinians from becoming a state. there is no leader that can represent all palestinians, and we are telling them there are leaders who can come together, but he does not want peace. >> rosiland jordan is here to give the reaction from america. america is not going to like the fact that these two groups could soon be back in main stream palestinian politics. >> that's exactly right, david. senior administration official tells al jazeera that the u.s. is closely watching this reconciliation deal, and any palestinian government that the u.s. would engage with would have to renounce violence, and be committed to the on going effort to broker a peace deal between the palestinians and israelis. it's a very difficult situation because the u.s. typically does not engage with people or organizations that it has put on its list of terrorists or list of states

secretary of state john kerry has met benjamin netenyahu for a second time in 12 hours.s part of an effort to resuscitate talks between the israelis and the palestinians. stephanie decker joins us in jerusalem. are they close to any deals, steph? >> well, i think it's clear that it is very difficult, but we are being told that there is a deal on the table at the moment being negotiated between israel and the united states which involves the release of this last batch of prisoners. that should be done first. another 400 palestinian prisoners should be released up to israel, also a partial settlement freeze in the west bank not here in east jerusalem as you mentioned. there is a deal that we're hearing they aredy cussing, but the palestinians need to aggress to this. and the palestinians say we are not discussing anything until you release this last batch of prisoners, which we agreed before these talks started. they are not happy, but also i any all of this needs to be put into context and to forget to tell you that what israel is getting in return is apparently the relea

the government of netenyahu gave us no chance, gave secretary kerry no chance.were determined from day one to undermine these talks and efforts. and finely they use the pretext of reconciliation as a pretext to [ inaudible ] in the most short-sided decision i have ever seen. >> the u.s. secretary of state has backed off from saying that israel risks from becoming an apartheid state. he regrets his choice of words saying . . . >>> foreign activists in gaza say a boat they were building has been sabotaged. an explosion caused the boat to partially sink. it was hoping to export goods to sea this may. >>> the brain child of the new prime minister. jackie why are these cuts likely to be made? >> well, the prime minister who hasn't only been on the job for less than a month is really in a difficult position. he has the left wing of his own socialist party who are firmly against anything that looks austerity. on the other side he's under pressure from the opposition and the european union to meet targets for reducing deficits. he said he is going to do so without intro

you have prime minister netenyahu who has been in office knife years now, and three years in the late90s, he has never made a big push on the peace front. as you mentioned the two-headed palestinian leadership in the west bank in gaza there needs to be some united palestinian front before you can do a big deal. doing the big full settlement, i think will require unified palestinian front as well. >> now is there any interest on both of israelis and palestinian part to push this off? do they both benefit in some ways stringing the u.s. along? >> i think the scat us the quo works pretty well. the economy is going well, israel has not suffered any major attacks or major violence in recent years. life is not -- not so bad and i think that sort of status quo works pretty well for many israelis. the palestinians i think are very frustrated. we are seeing the leader feeling pressure. he has taken a move to sign up or to push for palestinian membership in 15 international organizations. and so i think there's a real divide there in terms of a sense of urgency on the palestinian side and much

netenyahu tells ministers to stop high-level talks with palestinians.nd virtual campaigning, the new frontier in indian elections. >>> hello, i'm robin adams with all of the latest sports including meet the come-back kings, chelsea reaches the semifinals of the champions league. i'll have all of the details later for you. ♪ >>> ukraine's interior minister has issued a 48-hour deadline to pro-russian activists occupying state buildings in the east. he warned they must join talks to find a political solution or face force. >> translator: i am sure that both political and force options are available, but it seems like another option will be taken up, which is something in between. for those who want dialogue, we propose talks and a political solution. for the minority who want conflict, they will get a forceful answer from the ukrainian authorities. >> pro-russian demonstrators continue to occupy government buildings in ukraine. activists remain in control of the city's security building. some demonstrators say they are still armed and have erected barrica

netenyahu tells ministers to stop high-level talks with palestinians. and virtual campaigning, the