they said that when shireen was killed.diately the israelis said she was killed by palestinian fire. it is amazing the church -- they immediately set -- everything biden hears he parrots. the israelis have a spin machine and they're good at it because they spend billions on it. and we just have people who are people of conscience, people who know what is happening, were standing cap now and exposing all these lies. how come the u.n. has the same numbers? how come the u.s. used the same numbers? now you say, i don't believe them because you don't want to believe any -- israel is guilty of slaughter, of massacre, ethnic cleansing come of genocide. these are the reality that is happening before your eyes, mr. biden. i would like you to see our children as human beings, the women as people under the rubble, who died under the rubble because we don't have the machines to get them out. because the first responders have been killed because ambulances have been destroyed, because there are no roads to get to them, and because peopl

responsibility in crimes against palestinians, including the murder of palestinian-american journalist shireen abu akleh last year, which it initially blamed on palestinians. israel apologized a year after her death. as biden meets with israeli officials, palestinians condemned u.s. support for israel's genocide. this is a resident of khan younis in gaza. >> to president biden and his administration, history will be recorded that it was your administration, your billions of dollars, your support with weapons of mass destruction to the israeli defense forces which has caused what is happening right now in gaza. amy: on tuesday, israeli strikes hit other civilian targets in gaza, including a u.n. school where thousands were taking refuge. at least 24 u.n. installations have been hit in the past week, killing at least 14 u.n. staffers. israeli forces have killed at least 3300 palestinians over the last 12 days. around a third of those killed were children. gazans continue to suffer from a lack of all basic necessities, including water. turkey has said it is in talks with hamas to release hostages

joined by sharif abdel kouddous, who won the george polk award for his documentary "the killing of shireen his latest piece for the guardian is "israel's endgame is to push palestinians into egypt -- and the west is cheering it on." welcome back to democracy now! can you talk about all that is taking place right now around the rafah border crossing and explain who it is controlled by and explain what israel is calling on egypt to do. >> thank you, amy. first of all, egypt is the only country other than israel to share a border crossing with gaza. what we have seen since october 7 is a lot of negotiations around what is going to happen at this border crossing. as it stands right now, egypt has insisted on allowing humanitarian aid into gaza and has allowed multiple countries to deliver aid to northern sinai , countries like jordan, turkey, the uae have delivered thousands of tons of humanitarian aid that are kind of in these trucks at the border. so far since saturday, something like 75 or 80 trucks have been allowed in -- about 20 trucks a day after a lot of negotiation are allowed in by i

before changing their stories many times, a very good example of that was their denial of killing shireen abu akleh the journalist and changing their story four times. today they changed their story three times but the world doesn't notice that. the first time they said that the strike the hospital because there were militants, hamas militants hiding there. then they said that hamas is taking palestinian civilians as shields, human shields, then they said it was jihad and it was a rocket of jihad. i do not believe any of this nonsense because there are many facts here. one fact is that 57 strikes have already taken place against health facilities, hospitals and clinics in gaza. this cannot be denied. another fact is that they warned the hospital, this was run by the anglican church and warned them to leave and evacuate and they couldn't do that because they couldn't leave their patients to die. they also attacked and killed no less than 18 palestinian first aid providers. they also destroyed 23 ambulances with air strikes and most important, the israeli air strikes have already demolished

numerous cases have been filed since then, including the killing of al jazeera reporter, shireen abukleh, who was killed by israeli soldiers in 2022. but so far no progress has been announced, let alone arrest warrants issued. this is in contrast with what happened after russia invaded ukraine. five days later the prosecutor announced that he will start a formal investigation. and since then, an arrest warrant against platted -- against vladimir putin has been issued. if a blockade of gaza is considered a war crime and possible genocide according to international law experts. the icc has denied a request for an interview. james: let's bring in our guests. in london we have geoffrey robertson, founder of doughty street chambers and former of the war crimes court in sierra leone. geoffrey was appointed by the unsc stink jurist member on its justice council. we have sawsan zaher, human rights lawyer and legal advisor for the civil society coalition for emergency in arab society. and in new york we have marc, military advisor of the dutch and bl pax for peace. marc was in gaza during the

where a where civilians were killed and it was shocking, like the killing of al jazeera reporter shireen akleh , our reporter shireen abu akleh, our colleague in dear friend in the beginning, israel claimed it was palestinian fire that killed her. and then they changed that story and then they changed it again until they couldn't. >> no, i understand. >> no, i understand. >> i understand that these arguments rage back and forth and it goes on all the time. i would simply asking about what happened on october the 7th with that incursion into israel. but when hamas act and do what they do , are they legitimate, do, are they legitimate, represent the lives of the palestinian people? >> well, no , no. one group is >> well, no, no. one group is a representative of the palestinian people, just like no one party is a represents of all the british people. right so this is one group of many in palestine. they have a following and we have to explain also to put in context that hamas is not just a military group. it is also a political group as a social and political agenda. and those two those two

where a where civilians were killed and it was shocking, like the killing of al jazeera reporter shireen akleh , our reporter shireen abu akleh, our colleague in dear friend in the beginning, israel claimed it was palestinian fire that killed her. and then they changed that story and then they changed it again until they couldn't. >> no, i understand. >> no, i understand. >> i understand that these arguments rage back and forth and it goes on all the time. i would simply asking about what happened on october the 7th with that incursion into israel. but when hamas act and do what they do , are they legitimate, do, are they legitimate, represent the lives of the palestinian people? >> well, no , no. one group is >> well, no, no. one group is a representative of the palestinian people, just like no one party is a represents of all the british people. right so this is one group of many in palestine. they have a following and we have to explain also to put in context that hamas is not just a military group. it is also a political group as a social and political agenda. and those two those two

that's why this project is so significant and i want to really appreciate shireen mcspadden for all of her hard work in not just working with the mayor's office of housing. and eric shaw is here today and trying to deal with the work necessary to apply for the state funding to deal with the tax credits, to provide the long term subsidy that the city has to give to help make sure that we have staff in these particular facilities. all of that work in addition to the vouchers that we've received, as i mentioned from the hud, from the housing and urban development, from the feds like all of the things that we're putting together here will lead to a better for san francisco and better access to affordable housing so that we can continue to move in the direction that we have in san francisco. so we were one of the only counties in the bay area to see an overall reduction in homelessness by 3.5. and a reduction in unsheltered homelessness by 15. in our last point in time count. so despite what the narrative is, san franciscans are working really hard because of organizations like episcopal fa

shireen lost her aunt. she says her family had stayed in gaza through successive wars.is is our route, this is where we were born," and all these kinds of, you know, commitment to the land. but this time, they don't know if they want to stay — that is if they actually survive. just months ago in gaza, during the orthodox easter, saint porphyrius was packed with worshippers. christians here are deeply connected to their church. gaza is one of the oldest christian communities in the entire world. and of course we're concerned about every human lives, but after all is done, one of our biggest concerns and fears is that this long, long tradition of christian presence in gaza might come to an end. since the war, foreign pilgrims have deserted bethlehem, and decades of violence and occupation have already seen many christians leaving the holy land. now, on top of all the other human tragedies of the past three weeks, some locals here are worried that there could be yet another loss — the last remaining christian community in gaza. yolande knell, bbc news, bethlehem. i will ha

me and my wife, shireen, to be here with all of you today for what is truly a great, special gathering. i want to extend my sincere gratitude to mr. clifton truman daniel. thank you for your wonderful words, mr. alex burden and the team members of the truman presidential library and the board for organizing this event. to mark my moment in the history between, our two countries. and i want to thank all of you for joining us today. on a personal note, as was noted here, my grandfather was the first chief rabbi of the state of israel. and my father came here to was israel's first defense attache, the us, and later became israel's sixth president. both the honor of meeting truman and both were impressed and inspired by him and their stories running down and our family for generations about these meetings we are commemorating here today. the initial spark of what has become 75 years of a deep, unique bond between our two countries. this is a bond anchored in shared values interest as well as in a special affinity between peoples. i feel honored to have been invited to speak and reflect on

israeli government initially claimed that it was armed palestinian militants who killed the journalist shireen who we know is not true. so why should the world trust you now? >> because of the importance of credibility, and in the past we had our -- ourselves were fast to go to conclusions. this is why in this event we took the time. it took us more than five hours. we wanted to double-check everything, make sure we're credible. again, we wanted to double-check everything, make sure we're credible, opposed to the other events that you mentioned. now to answer your first question. i'm saying it again. what i understand the assessment is there were people in the parking lot, probably take ing refugees, whatever that came into the parking lot, staying in the parking lot, not inside the hospital itself, is what we understand. then what we understand, because the rocket's flight, due to the rocket flight, it was very, very short. because the launch has failed, the existence of propellant made a larger explosion than the warhead itself. and it caused the damage of explosion that we see of the burnin

how reminder of the situation with shireen abu akleh, the journalist with algeria, killed in the occupiednk. these really military said it was a palestinian gunmen who fired the fatal bullet, and that they, ultimately, acknowledged it was most likely an israeli soldier who killed her. i will say, the israeli military seem sure that they are pushing on every public channel on social media, and directly pressed to the israeli public. they seem sure, or are making a very strong case that they are sure, that this was a palestinian rocket. we are unable to get into gaza, the israel gaza border is shield, the each of gaza border is shield, -- sealed our teams cannot get on the ground. we're hoping for every piece of information we can, and try to understand what happens here. the president biden is going to be asked about this when he's on the ground here, and is one of the many, many uncomfortable questions he may be facing, flying into, what is, literally, a war zone here. it is just about this literal safety, we saw secretary of state blinken that would go to the bomb shelter. the it was a l

refugee camp said israeli army bulldozers destroyed a memorial for the palestinian-american journalist shireen abu akleh erected at the spot where she was fatally shot in the head by an israeli sniper in may 2022. the u.n. general assembly voted 120-to-14 friday in favor of a resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian truce and for aid access to gaza. israel and the u.s. voted against the resolution, which also calls for the release of captive civilians. 45 member states abstained, including canada. some countries, including south africa, urged the u.n. to do much more to stop the bloodshed. >> south africa urges the united nations to oppose an embargo on all parties involved in this conflict. given the nature of the death and destruction we are witnessing every day. amy: the resolution is non-binding, but holds political and symbolic weight. over the weekend, hundreds of thousands of people joined palestinian solidarity marches from london to istanbul to wellington. in the u.s., demonstrators in san francisco blocked traffic on highway 101 and held a vigil in front of congressmember nan

israel did that before with the case of shireen abu bob blank when they changed the story. each time the beginning, they said she was killed by a palestinian and gradually they said it was their crime. believe me, these lies should not be continued. the united states should immediately support an immediate cease-fire. the meeting that should have been taking place with the jordanian king and the egyptian president and the palestine president did not take place because all these three people realized mr. biden does not want to support cease-fire neatly. and they realized he is practically supporting the ethnic cleansing of palestinians from gaza into egypt. something egypt refuses and something jordan refused and something all the arab countries refused. that is the essence of what is happening now. so israel now is changing the plan a little bit by pushing all the people from the northern part of gaza and the middle of gaza into the southern part. it is already a very small area of less than 140 square miles, becoming now less than 60 square miles with 2.3 million people. t

like shireen abu akleh was killed by a palestinian, remember your colleague, thejournalist?nd when all that that doesn't work, then the victims are using children for human shields. ok, for the sake of israeli propaganda, let's assume that. let's imagine a psychopath in london takes ten children into a hospital and takes them hostage. the british authorities would go and bombard that hospital, seriously, lewis? i mean, really? the british army bombarded belfast or dublin? what is this logic that palestinian groups take their own people hostages? this is racism. the israeli government says it believes 229 hostages are still being held by hamas inside gaza. and that it is doing everything possible to bring them home. the israeli prime minister met some of the families of those being held on saturday — and they spoke to the press after that meeting. we are here, as everyone knows, 21 days, which felt like 21 years. and we have been for a long meeting with the prime minister and other people. we were very loud and clear, speaking about the situation now. we were speaking about o

. >> we've seen this with the al jazeera correspondent shireen , jazeera correspondent shireen, that the several days until it was made clear that things, however, look , this things, however, look, this isn't about taking sides here. the fact is a bomb has gone off at a hospital and children and people have been killed . people have been killed. innocent civilians have been killed . and if we're sitting killed. and if we're sitting here to blame one side or the other, we'll be here for the next few weeks. we are this is 2023. we are sitting in front of tv screens , you know, tablets tv screens, you know, tablets and mobile phones and actually witnessing and watching genocide taking place as as as as we speak to you, we're just seeing some more smoke on the skyline further south. >> this is from sderot on the israeli side, looking into gaza . israeli side, looking into gaza. we understand from james cleary , we understand from james cleary, the foreign secretary, that he's travelling back out there. later today. we assume that that the question of the hostages will be very much to th

you know, we've seen killing of shireen abu aqleh just over a year ago .ted to become a journalist in the first place to carry and commemorate the message of yasser, another palestinian journalist that was dead in the great march of return protests at the gaza border . um, you at the gaza border. um, you know, only two weeks ago, another colleague of mine was shotin another colleague of mine was shot in the hand. uh, especially like , you know, israeli soldiers like, you know, israeli soldiers are trained to literally make a media blackout in gaza, targeting , um, press people and targeting, um, press people and journalists as if they're the biggest threat to israel . um, biggest threat to israel. um, and the only thing they have is the cameras. my colleague almost lost his hand . um, and that lost his hand. um, and that means that he will never be able to report again. you know, many journalists have been disabled, killed and tortured. it's you know, it's always been happening. >> well, we should say that israel would deny that they systematically target

posted online, this video of shireen and her baby surrounded by militants.e, it was answered by - taking. when her phone was answered this time, it was answered by a - taking. when her phone was answered this time, it was answered by a man . this time, it was answered by a man speaking arabic, and he said hamas, hamas. they later heard from a neighbour of hers in the kibbutz that he had heard her crying for help and he had rushed out of his home and he had seen her surrounded by gunmen, being led away. the aftermath. _ by gunmen, being led away. the aftermath, following the reported abduction of 11 people from this home, burnt to the ground, nowjust a shell. home, burnt to the ground, now 'ust a shell. �* ., ., home, burnt to the ground, now 'ust ashell. . ., ., , ., , a shell. and one of the assumptions was that they _ a shell. and one of the assumptions was that they lit _ a shell. and one of the assumptions was that they lit the _ a shell. and one of the assumptions was that they lit the house - a shell. and one of the assumptions was that they lit the ho