Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC 20240703 : vimarsana.com

BBCNEWS BBC July 3, 2024

From gaza on saturday. Efforts are under way to recover the bodies of those killed by the attacks. The death toll in israel has reached 1,000. President joe biden has described the attack on israel as an act of sheer evil. He confirmed 14 americans were killed and pledged full us support to israel. Meanwhile, the Health Ministry in gaza says that 900 palestinians have now been killed during israels recent airstrikes with around half of these women and children. And were keeping an eye on the skyline over gaza city, where israeli airstrikes have been continuing each night since the initial incursion by hamas. Lets go on the ground now, to kfar aza, israel, where the bbc� Sjeremy Bowen has been reporting on the carnage some Israeli Forces are confronting there. A warning you may find some of the images in his report distressing. The first few days of war at this small Israeli Community called kfar aza are a microcosm of israels trauma and a glimpse of what might come next. Israeli troops only seized back full control of the kibbutz this morning. Its one of a series of small israeli villages along the gaza wire. When we arrived they were still firing on houses across on the gaza side. Israeli soldiers started their fightback here at around six oclock on saturday evening, around 12 hours after hamas attacked. During that day, hamas carried out a massacre. Decomposing hamas gunmen are still lying where they were killed. The everyday is they stormed through the kibbutz, killing families, including babies. 0nly families, including babies. Only this morning could israeli troops finish recovering all the civilians that hamas killed. Without weapons, without nothing. Just normal citizens who want to take their breakfast, thats all. They cut some of their heads. Its an aggressive thing to see. Its very difficult to see it. We must remember who is the enemy and what our mission our mission is thejustice, were on the right side, and all the world needs to be behind us. A woman under cover was decapitated, he said they killed her in herfront garden. Even for experienced soldiers, fighting their way back in against a determined enemy was hard going. How difficult was the fighting . You cannot imagine. Have you ever had to do anything like this before as a soldier . No, not like this. What do you do next . What does israel do next . I dont know. I do worry. I hope that we will go inside. Into gaza . That will be tough fighting. We are ready for it. The bodies will have to be identified. Their murder was without Doubt A War Crime but what about the Palestinian Civilians israel is killing in attacks on hamas . All armies have obligations under the laws of war to protect civilian life, even in war zones. Are you doing this, with this level of air strikes and any Ground Operation that might happen . We fight for our values and our culture all our life. You keep your value in the same time, and i know that we will be very aggressive and very strong, but we keep our morals and our values. We are israeli, we arejewish and war is a very difficult problem. People that stay in the battlefield suffer a lot. You can see what happened here. But we come to kill the enemy, not the civilians. But in only a few days, israel has inflicted immense damage in gaza. They have cut off supplies of food, water and power and killed hundreds of civilians. Palestinian suffering, israel says, is the responsibility of hamas. Israel has already been accused of breaking the laws of war and that will get louder as more Palestinian Civilians are wounded and killed. At kfar aza israeli troops are thinking of what is next, perhaps a Ground Invasion of gaza. It was tough enough for the israelis to come in to recapture this area, these small border communities. It is a different order of Military Challenge to cross the wire, to get into gaza, potentially to fight house to house at a time when hamas will have made its plans and will be waiting. Some of these men are moving north in case war starts with hezbollah, The Powerful Lebanese militia backed by iran. What happened here is why israel is shaken to its core, why it insists it must break hamas and it points to the danger and uncertainty ahead. Jeremy bowen, bbc news, kfar aza. Moving now to gaza, where the bbc has a rare insight into the situation on the ground with our correspondent rushdi abu alouf. Hes lived there his entire life and has reported on the conflict for decades. He gave us this update. Very quickly, if we can see the scale of destruction in this neighbourhood. Its called rimal neighbourhood. Its the economic hub for gaza that has been completely targeted yesterday. Many buildings were destroyed. Behind me is the Ii Storey Building that was knocked down very quickly, if we can see the scale of destruction two days ago, but the destruction in this area has been targeted quite recently, last night. Israel has said they carried out 200 air strikes, targeting the hamas infrastructure. In fact, they hit many buildings, government buildings, belonging to the hamas run authority, but look to the scale of destruction in the area and how civilian homes were completely affected and some of them were completely destroyed. Translation i lost everything. My house, my shop has been destroyed completely. Where do we go . We have become homeless. This gentleman just told us we have to leave the area, because it seems the israelis are warning residents of the areas that they should leave, they are going to target another building in the area. But look at the scale of destruction. This is happening overnight, with israelis targeting houses, shops, ministries, mosques, everything. The whole neighbourhood was levelled to zero. This is one of the most important economic hubs for gaza, where, as you can see, most of the shops were damaged, houses were damaged, the infrastructure, the street. This is the street that leads to the southern part of the city. Its completely blocked. Back here in washington, President Biden has described the mass killing of israeli civilians by hamas as an act of sheer evil. After speaking to israels Prime Minister benjamin netanyahu, mr biden said he would make sure the country got everything it needed. We know that american citizens and among those being held by hamas, ive directed my team to share intelligence and deploy additional experts from across the United States government to consult with and advise israeli counterparts on Hostage Recovery and recovery efforts. Because as president , i have no higher priority than the safety of americans being held hostage around the world. Meanwhile, the State Department announced Secretary Of State Antony Blinken will travel to israel on wednesday. He will also visitjordan. This comes as the uss Gerald R Ford Carrier Strike group has now arrived in the eastern mediterraean. The Israeli Military also says that the first plane carrying american ammunition has arrived in the country. Earlier, my colleague Sumi Somaskanda spoke with White House National security spokesmanjohn kirby about us support for israel. Admiral, great to have you back on bbc news. I want to start with a phone call between us President Joe Biden and benjamin netanyahu. Can you tell us what the us is hoping that support will do . First and foremost we want to make sure that support will better help them defend themselves and to go after these Hamas Terrorists where they are, and to affect their ability to continue to conduct Terrorist Attacks. So that is the main purposes. Obviously giving israel the capabilities they need to better defend their citizens. Can you tell us more about what the israeli Prime Minister has asked the us president for . I dont want to get into the specifics of the conversation that President Biden and Prime Minister netanyahu had too specifically. I think it should be obvious, based on the president s remarks, that we made it clear to Prime Minister netanyahu that we would continue to provide them the necessary Military Support as they prosecute this fight against hamas, and already one tranche, the First Tranche of military aid is on its way to israel, it will be there soon. I fully expect there will be more. It was important for President Biden to make it clear to Prime Minister netanyahu that we stand with them and that extra support will be forthcoming. President biden also confirmed that us citizens are among those being held hostage. What is the us doing right now to work to secure their release . The first thing weve done is offer support to israel, with respect to the expertise that we have in the Law Enforcement community, in the military community here in the United States, even in the intelligence community. Weve got Hostage Recovery experts in, we have offered their expertise to israeli officials, as they think through how they might want to go about recovering hostages. We now know, and it is a recent development, literallyjust within the last hour or so now, we have been able to confirm that at least some number of those hostages are americans. So obviously we want to do whatever we can to help israel in these efforts. We have also had reports of explosions in southern we know the Israel Defence minister has called for a full siege, now food, no fuel, no gas. The eus Foreign Policy chief says that israel does have the right to defend itself, but it has to be done according to international law. He says some things are not according to international law, cutting electricity and food. Is the us concerned about this . Hamas is responsible for the civilian life lost here. The innocent butchery of innocent civilians. 0ne innocent butchery of innocent civilians. One of the great things the president talked about this in his speech, we heard great things about the relationship between us and israel, were two vibrant democracies and we respect human life. We respect the rule of law and we respect the need to absorb the law of wars specifically. The president talked about that. Again, we dont want to see any more innocent life taken. We recognise what has been visited upon the israeli people isjust horrific. The numbers are now approaching, what, 1,000. Thatsjust dead, let approaching, what, 1,000. Thats just dead, let alone the thousands more that have been wounded by this butchery and we know theyre going to be prosecuting this aggressively. We understand, given the circumstances, their desire to do that. We obviously dont want to see any more innocent life taken here. I want to see any more innocent life taken here. Life taken here. I want to follow up life taken here. I want to follow up on life taken here. I want to follow up on the life taken here. I want to follow up on the point i life taken here. I want to i follow up on the point about respect for democracy. We have a fellow at the centre for middle east policy. He told us this. A, middle east policy. He told us this. �. ,. , middle east policy. He told us this. ,. , ~. , this. A lot of people like to say that this. A lot of people like to say that israel this. A lot of people like to say that israel takes this. A lot of people like to say that israel takes greatl say that israel takes great caution to prevent all limit civilian casualties, but that simply hasnt been born out by the facts. Not in this conflict and not in previous ones. Mai; and not in previous ones. May is our and not in previous ones. May is your response and not in previous ones. May is your response to and not in previous ones. May is your response to that . Again, i leave it to what i said before. No one wants to see more innocent life taken here. One of the great things about our relationship with israel is as two democracies, we really do respect the rule of law and the law of war specifically. I of law and the law of war specifically. Of law and the law of war secificall. ,. , ~ specifically. I would also like to ask you specifically. I would also like to ask you about specifically. I would also like to ask you about something | specifically. I would also like i to ask you about something we heard from President Biden, a warning to other countries in the region to not get involved in this conflict. Is that something the us is acutely concerned about right now . Absolutely we are. Theres no question about it. A Bit Driving Force for why we move that Carrier Strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean is to send a strong signal, any nation who wants to take advantage of the situation in israel to escalate this conflict, to make it more than just the Israeli Defence forces against hamas needs to think again. The United States will take very seriously any threat our challenge to our National Security interests in the region. We have a wide set of Security Interests in the region. We dont want to see any new fronts opened up. You said despite any new fronts opened up. You said despite what any new fronts opened up. You said despite what were seeing happening at the moment, the Biden Administration remains committed to a 2 state solution. Do you still see that as possible . As possible . The president Still Believes as possible . The president Still Believes in as possible . The president Still Believes in the as possible . The president | Still Believes in the promise of a 2 state solution. It requires leadership on all sides. We understand so far its been elusive but it doesnt mean its not worth pursuing. As you and i are talking right here, today, theres a stronger focus on making sure that israel can defend itself against these Terrorist Attacks and hamas is a terrorist organisation, make no mistake about it. They dont speak this goes to your question they dont speak for the vast majority of the palestinian people. In their Terrorist Attacks, not only of course are they butchering innocent israeli life, theyre making life harder on the palestinians in gaza as well, using them as human shields, and not representing fairly their aspirations for an independent state and peace and security for them and for their children. Around the world and across the uk. This is bbc news. Lets look at some other stories making news. Us prosecutors have announced 23 new Criminal Charges against congressman george santos. They relate to allegations thta he stole the identities of donors and used their credit cards for his personal gain. The new indictment replaces an earlier one, to which mr santos pleaded not guilty in may. So far, mr santos has resisted all calls to resign. Officials at Luton Airport in the uk say that all flights have been suspended, following a fire in a parking garage. Footage shared to social media shows flamesjumping from the roof of the structure. Firefighters said the building had suffered a significant structural collapse. Five people have been taken to hospital with smoke inhalation. French troops have begun withdrawing from niger. This is video of Military Convoys arriving in the countrys Capital Niamey after departing from bases in south west niger. The west african countrys junta began demanding for French Forces to leave after a july coup. French president Emmanuel Macron agreed to the withdrawl in september. Youre live with bbc news. Lets return to the situation in israel, and we have an update to the death toll in israel. State media now says 1,200 people have died, most of them civilians. Well, some of the first reports of saturdays attack came from eyewitnesses at a Music Festival in southern israel. Hamas gunmen killed at least 260 people there, and took hostages. Lucy williamson reports. Bodies and debris still line the route into this festival site. Police have told us this vehicle was used by hamas militants. You can still see the ground here is covered with the remains of weapons, the uniforms they used. Days on from this attack, families all across this area are still trying to trace exactly what happened to their loved ones. Four members of one family listed among the hostages kidnapped by militants. Among them his nephews, 12 and 16 years old. The boys phoned their mother as gunmen took them from a nearby house. And then they said they heard someone breaking into the door and walking in the house. About ten minutes later i heard people speaking in arabic outside the door. The door opened and i could hear my youngest say, dont take me, im too young. That was the last i heard from them. Tho

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