Elect a speaker and keeps congressional business at a standstill. Amna and the murder of a six year old muslim boy in illinois leaves arab and muslim communities on edge, in the wake of the war in the middle east. Weve seen a week of horrific antimuslim, antipalestinian rhetoric and it has culminated in the loss of this young boys life. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions, and friends of the newshour, including leonard and norma klorfine, and koo and patricia yuan. Actually, you dont need vision to do most things in life. Yes, i am legally blind and yes, i am responsible for the user interface. Data visualization. If i can see it and understand it quickly, anyone can. It is exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward, i think thats the most rewarding thing. People who know, know bdo. The william and flora hewlett foundation. For more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. At hewlett. Org. And with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Amna welcome to the newshour. Another night of israeli airstrikes in gaza, and hamas rocket fire into israel, as its massive invasion force sits on the border, poised to strike. At the far southern end of gaza, the main Border Crossing with egypt remains closed as aid waits to go in to help support palestinians and to allow foreigners in gaza to leave. Geoff meantime, the combined death toll is now nearly 4100, with almost 2800 palestinians killed and more than 1400 israelis killed, mostly in the october 7 hamas terror attacks. And the newshour can confirm that 2000 u. S. Troops have been to told to be ready to deploy in response to the war. Leila molanaallen again begins our coverage tonight. Leila packing up and shipping out. Israel continues calling up Army Reservists by the hundreds of thousands to fight what it promises will be a devastating retaliatory war against hamas. Since yesterday weve seen preparations for this conflict start to roll out on a massive scale, tanks and artillery rolling down the highway, on civilian trailers commandeered by the army, in their thousands. Theyre going to amass on the Southern Gaza border, putting on a huge show of force as they prepare for an almighty battle. All those vehicles, and soldiers, need fuel to run on. Yaarit usually manages this gas station on the southern highway. It has been closed since the attacks, like other shops and restaurants across the country, with all its staff called up to fight. Theres no one to work. So shes come to staff the checkout counter and keep it open. Several of yaarits friends were murdered in the attacks. As her country mourns and plans its vengeance, she says she wants to do her part. Yaarit its like they came into my house and shot me. Thats really how it feels. I came here to provide service for soldiers and people in spite of my fear and worries. Leila like so many others here, yaarit is determined to fight back, but terrified of what that fight may bring. Yaarit this is a war of uncertainty. We wont be the same after it. Theres the life we lived before, and the life that we live now after what happened. Leila as bus after bus of soldiers rolls past on its way to the front line, they steel themselves for what awaits. Having beaten back hundreds of hamas fighters after a long, brutal fight on the border with gaza, as Israeli Soldiers carried out the grim job of clearing victims homes, they found a new source of terror. In the villages that were attacked by hamas on saturday, the Israel Defense force found a huge cache of weaponry, thousands of pieces, and they suspect that hamas planned a much longer fight. Scattered amidst the carnage hand grenades; antitank mines; artillery rounds; north koreanmanufactured rocket propelled grenades; improvised rocket launchers. And, vitally, iranianmade mortar rounds, the first material evidence that iran is directly supplying weaponry to hamas in this fight. This is made in iran, no doubt about it. We knew they had mortars, but these iranian mortars, this is the first time weve seen them in this battle. Leila its taken bomb squads more than a week to safely disarm all these munitions. And now here they sit, deep in an israeli base, a testament to the sheer scale of the firepower hamas has stockpiled. As israel plans its attack on the mileslong network of hamas tunnels that lie beneath gaza, its soldiers can only imagine how much more awaits them there. But sitting above those weaponstacked tunnels are defenseless civilians. For days, crowds of palestinian dual nationals have waited anxiously at the rafah Border Crossing with egypt. With gaza under constant bombardment and under siege, this is their only escape route. Journalist qassem alkatharna holds american citizenship. Qassem this is war in gaza, this is war in the people, the people who are suffering, not the military. You have to leave your mother, your sisters your neighbors its the worst travel in my life, to leave right now. Leila mahmoud and his daughter hold swedish nationality. Theyve been trying to get out of gaza since saturday. Mahmoud my daughter saw people die, saw children die. We have been sleeping here at the crossing point. There is shelling from every side and every corner. Leila the rafah Border Crossing in Southern Gaza is controlled by egypt. Its a vital link between gaza and the rest of the world. But it was shut down nearly a week ago after being hit by an israeli air strike. Since then, no one has been allowed to leave, and desperately needed humanitarian aid has stopped trickling in. U. S. Officials hoped the crossing would open today for a few hours, but talks with israel and egypt to reopen rafah have so far failed. Sameh shoukry is egypts foreign minister. Min. Shoukry the Israeli Government has not taken a decision that leads to the possibility of opening the rafah Border Crossing from gazas side. Leila a few miles north of rafah, in the city of khan younis, there is no let up in the israeli bombardment. Before the war the city was home to about 400,000 palestinians. Now more than 1 million after israel ordered people to evacuate south. With hundreds of thousands displaced, a fastgrowing humanitarian crisis has erupted. These men do what they can to feed fellow civilians. With no fuel left thanks to the blockade, they cook with firewood. Mohammed there is no stove, and we barely can find firewood. I kept telling people they have to wait to eat. Leila against this backdrop, secretary of state Antony Blinken was back in israel today after meeting with leaders across the middle east to try and stop the conflict spreading through the region. But speaking to israels defense minister yoav gallant today, he emphasized u. S. Support was rocksolid. Sec. Blinken you know our deep commitment to israels right and indeed its obligation to defend itself and to defend its people. Leila tensions are high on the Israeli Border with lebanon. The militant Group Hezbollah released video of themselves destroying israeli surveillance cameras. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the Israeli Parliament today. Pm netanyahu i have message to iran and hezbollah dont test us on northern border. Dont get back to the mistake that you did once. Because today the price that you will pay will be more expensive. Leila as violence escalates, the state department has began evacuating american citizens from israel by sea. That violence is escalating fast. Today saw hundreds more rockets fall on both sides of the gaza border and exchanges of fire across the northern border with lebanon even as iran warned the country might retaliate against israel even before an invasion of gaza. Geoff you were near gaza today, give us an idea of what the preparations for the Israeli Ground invasions look like. Leila a Staggering Amount of armor and artillery shipped. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers called up, walking down the highway with packs, jumping into jeeps, shipped two different border posts. Also evacuations because these areas have already been hit with so many rockets and now there will be a fullscale war and they need to get people out. Some people willing to go, some people desperate to stay, saying where will i go . Geoff what are the options for gaza and the people trying to escape . Leila there are two issues here, the first is what to do right now with the humanitarian Crisis Brewing in the south of gaza. People were told they had to move to the south of gaza, thats where they would be safe. Even as they started to move a couple days ago, convoys were hit on the road as families try to flee. They were told to go to the south and that there would be a humanitarian zone. They approached it and there was a strike on the rafah crossing. Now the hospital there has taken has been told to evacuate. The biggest city is being struck every day though hundreds of thousands have evacuated there. This is not sustainable, they need to find a way to make these people safe and find somewhere they can go and stay there. The next issue is what happens if there is a full Ground Invasion . Currently egyptians say no way they will open the crossing for everyone, only for nationals. Only for foreign nationals. That hasnt happened yet. If they can get palestinians with foreign passports out that would be a significant reduction, thousands could get to safety. Can they build a huge refugee camp around the crossing . Egypt would have to agree, the un would have to get involved. Great concern. They are ready already million palestinians living in 1. 5 million refugee camps and they dont want another one. Finally, the existential issue, people are concerned this will be a version of ethnic cleansing that if people leave gaza, they , will never be allowed to come back and they will lose their land and they are terrified. Geoff leila, thank you. Vanessa im vanessa ruiz with newshour west. Stephanie sy is on assignment. An update now to our top story tonight. President biden will travel to israel on wednesday in a show of support for the u. S. Ally. Biden will also meet with arab leaders in jordan to discuss humanitarian aid. A 6yearold palestinianamerican boy was laid to rest in illinois after police say he was fatally stabbed by his landlord. His mother was also seriously injured, but is expected to survive. Police believe the man targeted his tenants because of their muslim faith, in the wake of the israelhamas war. The Justice Department has opened a federal hate crime investigation. The Biden Administration has reached a settlement with migrant families separated the border under a policy under President Trump. If agreed by a judge, they will have temporary legal status and prevent similar policies for eight years. The Homeland Security secretary said this will ensure the prior practice of separating families does not happen again. Brussels under its highest level terror alert tonight after two swedes were fatally shot in the belgian capital. Police sealed off the neighborhood. The gunman is still at large. The shootings happened about three miles from a stadium where thousands of soccer fans were attending a match between belgium and sweden. Polands opposition parties appear to be on the verge of ousting the countrys ruling conservatives. Turnout in sundays election was at an alltime high after eight years of divisive policies. The centrist opposition celebrated as the preliminary results came in in their favor. Final results are expected tomorrow. Meanwhile, voters in ecuador have chosen centerright candidate daniel noboa to be their next president. The 35yearold heir to a banana empire will be the countrys youngest leader ever. Supporters celebrated on top of cars after sundays runoff and waved flags in the streets of guayaquil. In his victory speech, noboa vowed to rebuild ecuadors economy amid a surge of drugrelated violence. Mr. Noboa i want to thank all the people who have been part of a new, young, unlikely political project, whose goal was to give the country back its smile. To provide education to the youth and provide jobs to the people. Tomorrow we start work for this new ecuador, we start working to rebuild a country seriously battered by violence, by corruption and by hate. Vanessa the u. S. Supreme court reinstated biden adminstration regulations on ghost guns selfmade firearms that are difficult to trace. Todays temporary order reverses Lower Court Rulings that exempted two internet sellers of gun parts from the rules. The regulations will remain in effect while legal challenges continue. And, a passing of note actress Suzanne Somers died sunday at her home in california after a 23year battle with breast cancer. Somers was best known as the effervescent chrissy snow on the sitcom threes company. Later, she became a spokeswoman for thighmaster, and wrote dozens of books on health and wellness. Suzanne somers was 76 years old. Still to come on the newshour the war between israel and hamas raises major questions about diplomacy in the region. Tamara keith and amy walter break down the latest political headlines. A new translation of the iliad into modern language reinforces its relevance, and much more. This is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington, and in the west from the Walter Cronkite school of journalism at Arizona State university. Geoff the house of representatives is entering a third week with no fulltime speaker for the first time in our countrys history. The republican majority is set to meet again tonight. There speaker nominee jim jordan of ohio will look to sway dozens of colleagues who just voted against him last week. Congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins is at the capitol. House republicans are planning a floor vote tomorrow afternoon. How close is congressman jim jordan to securing the votes he needs . Lisa he has a ways to go, but the meeting tonight could be critical in determining what happens for him. House republicans went home exhausted by their own indecision last week and have returned with a little more rest. The ones i have seen have a little more spunk in their step but they still arent saying much different than last week. There was a time when mr. Jordan spoke to reporters earlier today. Mr. Jordan the best way we can help the American People is get the house open. We cant do that until we get a speaker. So, lets get a speaker tomorrow and get back to work for the American People and help our our dear, and closest friend, the state of israel. Are you preparing for this to go multiple rounds tomorrow . Mr. Jordan were preparing to get a speaker tomorrow. Lisa that was my colleague rachel scott from abc news. Lets look at the math problem. This is what it comes down to. What mr. Jordan needs to become speaker is about 217 votes in his favor. If he gets that, he would win. That is plan a, but plan b was how mr. Mccarthy became speaker, he needs 213 votes but with opponts voting present. Not voting for someone else but voting present. How many votes does mr. Jordan have now . End of last week, 152. The news today is one by one, jim jordan has been able to reverse some of his opponents, getting some support today. Thats something Steve Scalise was not able to do. An example, ann wagoner of missouri is a diehard steve scully supporter but she came out with a Statement Today saying jim jordan allayed her concerns about keeping government open with a conservative number for the budget. Jim jordan was one of the architects of the Government Shutdown idea. Geoff if the congressman cant get to 217 votes, what happens . Lisa he could withdraw, but i think its more likely he would try to keep going as Kevin Mccarthy did. At some point it could become intractable. Some are saying it is time to vote in for more powers for speaker pro tem patrick mchenry, and theres discussions about whether democrats and moderates will get together. I dont think there is momentum around the Republican Party for that yet. Geoff thanks as always. Lisa you are welcome. Geoff a federal judge in washington imposed a narrow gag order on former President Donald Trump in the election subversion case against him. It bars mr. Trump from targeting special counsel jack smith and his team, as well as court staff and potential witnesses. It does not prevent him from criticizing the Justice Department. Npr justice correspondent Carrie Johnson was in the courtroom today and is with us. This partial gag order, how does it work and what does it cover . Carrie it covers some of what the Justice Department asked for but not all of it. As you mentioned, former President Trump on the campaign trail and free to criticize current President Joe Biden and the Justice Department, and free to say things about washington, d. C. , where he is scheduled to go on trial in 2024. But former President Trump will not be allowed to attack the special counsel or any member of his team. He will not be allowed to attack any courthouse staffers or workers and he will not be allowed to attack potential witnesses in the case. People like former attorney general bill barr and former joint chiefs chairman mark milley among others. Trump can attack the judge, and he has continued to do so. Even after the gag.