Close to 10,000 wounded. Half a million are displaced grid 64 is merely 64 Israeli Soldiers are dead. First, an update on the humanitarian crisis in gaza. Many tens of thousands of people, in the facilities right now, probably do not have homes to go back to. Those lucky enough to have homes to go back to may have those that are no longer on the water or electricity system. Those have been badly damaged. All that and more is coming out. Welcome to democracy now. Democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The 72 hour ceasefire has entered its final 24 hours. No detail has been reached at this broadcast. Palestinian officials are in egypt, but they have not held facetoface negotiations on a lasting ceasefire. Nearly 1900 palestinians have died, most of them civilians. A total of 64 Israeli Soldiers were killed in gaza have a three civilians in israel. Un secretary general ban kimoon called for israel and the palestinians to negotiate a lasting peace. Course, we cannot rest as the suffering continues. This ceasefire has come at the price that is almost too much to bear. The massive death and instruction and data has shocked and ashamed the world. Demand forlestinian the easing of a blockade in gaza. On wednesday, president obama acknowledgedhis cannot continue indefinitely. He said that gaza cannot sustain it so permanently closed off from the world. We will have to see a shift in opportunity for the people of gaza. I have no sympathy for,. I have great sympathy for ordinary people who are struggling. Amnesty international has called for an immediate probe into israeli attacks that help professionals who have killed six medics. They have described deliberate strikes on hospitals. In northern iraq, sunni militants have reportedly captured the countrys largest christian town, forcing tens of thousands to flee. The Islamic State has advanced into qaraqosh and other northern towns as Kurdish Forces withdraw. Over the weekend, the militants seized the town of sinjar, forcing about 200,000 people to flee, many of them members of the yazidi religious minority. They called for the Un Security Council to intervene. Up to 40,000 remain trapped on a barren mountain, surrounded by rebels and slowly dying of thirst. A displaced resident described the conditions there. The mountain has no water, no electricity, no roads. \ not even a single greentree. Nothing for humans to eat. I received a call in our goal an hour ago. Theyre living dead children on the ground. The death toll from a record outbreak of ebola in west africa has topped 930. There are fears the virus has spread to saudi arabia after a man who recently returned from sierra leone died of a suspected ebola infection. A spanish priest who fell ill in liberia has been brought to madrid for treatment. In the United States, a patient in new york has tested negative, while two missionaries infected in liberia are said to be improving after receiving an experimental drug. Liberia has declared a state of emergency and closed a major hospital. The drug has not been given to hundreds of ailing africans. The assistant Health Minister there told the wall street journal dying patients are pleading for the drug used on the two americans. The population here is asking you said there was no cure for ebola, but the americans are curing it . in pakistan, a u. S. Drone strike on a home has killed at least five people. Unnamed officials have identified the dead as militants but their identities could not be confirmed. The strike took place in datta khel in the region of North Waziristan where the Pakistani Army has been conducting a major offensive. Russia has struck back against western sanctions with a new ban on Agricultural Products from the european union, United States and other countries. The oneyear ban applies to fruit, vegetables and meat and dairy products. It comes amidst fierce fighting between prorussian rebels and Security Forces in eastern ukraine, which led to a halt in the investigation at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight 17. Nsa whistleblower Edward Snowden has been granted permission to remain in russia for another three years, after his temporary asylum expired this month. Snowden has been stranded in russia after the United States revoked his passport while he was en route to latin america. In cambodia, a unbacked tribunal has sentenced the two highestranking surviving leaders of the khmer rouge regime to life in prison for crimes against humanity. The khmer rouge killed at least 1. 7 million cambodians during the late 1970s. More than three decades later, nuon chea and khieu samphan, are the first leaders to be convicted. In mexico, congress has approved an Energy Reform package to open the countrys oil and gas sector to private multinationals after decades of state control. Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto has touted the reform as part of a broader neoliberal agenda. The opening of the Energy Industry sparked mass protests when it was first approved last year, with a poll showing more than twothirds of mexicans opposed it. Bank of america has tentatively agreed to pay nearly 17 billion to settle a probe over its sale of toxic mortgagebacked securities in the leadup to the financial crisis. If finalized, it would reportedly be the largest single corporate settlement with the federal government in us history. Missouri has carried out the nations first execution since last months botched killing of a death row prisoner in arizona. Michael worthington was killed by lethal injection on wednesday for a 1995 rape and murder. In the arizona execution, joseph wood gasped for air, choked and snorted during a twohourlong ordeal that his attorneys called the most prolonged bungled execution in recent history. And new York City Police have arrested the wife of a man who filmed their fatal encounter with a father of six accused of selling loose cigarettes in staten island. Eric garner died after police placed him in a chokehold and pinned him to the ground while he repeatedly said he couldnt breathe. On friday, the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. A day later, Police Arrested ramsey orta, the man who filmed garners arrest, on a weapons charge. On tuesday, his wife was arrested and accused of assault. Chrissie ortiz told pix 11 police have been harassing her and her husband. 4 00 in the morning. We are laying down and my whole room lights up. What is that . It is a police car. They are driving by and putting spotlights in my window. What was that for . The head of the new York City Police union, patrick lynch, defended the officers involved in garners death, denying they used a chokehold, which has been banned by the nypd for decades. It was not a chokehold. He was a big man, who had to be brought to the ground to be placed under arrest, by Shorter Police officers. And those are some of the headlines this is democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers around the country. The 72hour ceasefire in gaza has entered its final 24 hours. Talks are ongoing to extend the truce but no agreement has been reached. Palestinian and israeli officials are in egypt but have not held face to face negotiations on securing a lasting ceasefire. Meanwhile gaza is in a state of devastation and ruin. Close to 1900 palestinians were killed during the 29day offensive, including at least 1,354 civilians, of whom 415 are children. More than 10,000 people have been injured. There are 373,000 children who require psychological support. Half a million palestinians have been displaced, with at least 187,000 displaced people are still living in un emergency shelters. 10,000 homes have been completely destroyed. 30,000 homes partially wrecked. Meanwhile 64 Israeli Soldiers were killed in gaza, and three civilians in israel. We go now to jerusalem. Were joined by a spokesperson for the United Nations relief agency. Can you talk about the devastation on the ground right now in gaza . It is devastation which is both physical and emotional. What were saying physically you see it on your tv set. To get site engineers into the field, before i can make in an. Determination and tell you they how many homes have been destroyed. Theres plenty of anecdotal evidence. People have been leaving our shelters, going out, and coming back. That suggests that theyre going to destroy homes. They were told to leave. These leaflets were dropped by the israeli army said. It appears that lots of those homes we estimate about 10,000 homes have been destroyed. A situation where this catastrophic human displacement crisis is morphing into something equally disturbing to us. It is a huge homelessness crisis. As far as the psychological scar, imagine being a child in gaza. If you are just five years old, three times in your short and fragile life, you would have been subjected to the extraordinarily terrifying and traumatizing bombardment that we have seen in gaza. We estimate that there are 400,000 children deep in trauma. We need to look at the physical nation of the distraction. But also, the effects could last a lot longer. What about the basic services of those who leave the uns shelters and go back to whatever is left of their homes . What is the situation there . People may have seen, about 10 days ago, pictures of the only power plant in gaza, which was hit with thick, black smoke. Already, there were on average, per household, four hours of electricity. Imagine if you were in america with four hours of electricity per day. Imagine if the main Power Generator gets hit, and that is reduced. That is what is happening. That is as far as electricity is concerned. The water system has been hit. You may remember back in the early days of the conflict. There were three or four workers who were killed in the field, as they refuse to go out. Who can blame them . There were no prepares repairs done. Where the water system has been hit, it has not been patched up. 95 of the water in gaza is undrinkable. You turn on the tap and salt water comes out. 95 water is undrinkable. Eillions of liters of sewag flow into the sea everyday. It flows north toward israel. Water and electricity, the public utilities, are decimated. We do not even know yet quite what the extent of the damage will be. There are an estimated 187,000 refugees in the uns shelters . Half a million refugees altogether, within gaza. Can you explain . Well, people were told to leave their homes. They abandoned their homes with great rapidity, terrified. Imagine being disabled. I can tell you with the streets of gaza were like. They came to uns shelters. Some went to stay with family and friends. Certainly, innuendo tears, but then they are directly hit. I am not saying it is delivered, but we need an investigation to find out. Now finding out that the army that told them to leave their homes has apparently been 10,000 people having their homes destroyed by that army. Now there are a lot of questions. Assumptionsways that the u. S. Will pick up the pieces. You did hear the secretarygeneral say we will not rebuild gaza again. If we are going to rebuild gaza, lets have the blockade lifted. It will be impossible to rebuild gaza with the restrictions that are there now. The prospect of peace is also significantly if the persists. We have moved beyond the realm of humanitarian action alone. Will they carry on carrying out bits of food . We cannot continue to do that indefinitely. The people of gaza used to have a good trade relationship with the people of israel. Whether the blockade is implemented, the complaints that we got most were from tel aviv. It was israeli businessman and businesses that were being so badly hit. Follows,ical movement where Economic Activity leads. We can show these two peoples that lifting the blockade for exports and imports can be done peacefully. Israel has perfectly legitimate execution concerns. If you look at some of the incidents that have happened that these crossings they are dangerous places. There were legitimate security concerns. There were also economic and political rights. They have to be respected in the context of the agreement. I wanted to ask you also. There have been some 10,000 or more people injured during the ceasefire period. Permittingbeen the most injured to be moved out of the country to medical facilities . Not in large numbers. The details we will have to get from the world health organization. Let me refer to those who study humanitarian law. Us isckground for all of the occupying power. The civilians just had their homes destroyed and their children are deeply traumatized. They are burying their dead. In some cases, they are still underneath the rubble. My friend said there is just unbearable stench of decay everywhere. That is the reality. We have to restore the dignity to the people of gaza. Their humanity and their dignity has been denied. There are several ways of restoring the dignity. One calls for a proper investigation. You cannot grieve and move on if you do not know what happened to your loved one. Even in death, Human Dignity must be respected. Parts of the respect for Human Dignity and death is allowing the loved ones to know what happened. We have to have an investigation. Not just as a jurisprudence exercise. But as an exercise in sigh psychotherapy. We need to look at the causes of the conflict. All of my israeli friends and the peat they cannot go through this again. It has done israel no good on the international stage, which i hope matters to israelis. As far as the people of gaza are concerned, it has led to intolerable suffering. The idea that after all of the injury and civilian death, we returned to the status quote. That must be unthinkable. Shame on any of the peacemakers who are considering that as an option. Christopher consider that as an option if you want to return. If you want to return to . To the status quo. In a situation where millions of people are terrorized. We want to thank you very much for being with us. Spokesperson for the United Nations relief and works agency. This is democracy now. When we come back, gnome jansky joins us. [music break] music by anouar brahem, the tunisian oud player and composer. This is democracy now. I am amy goodman. To talk more about the crisis in gaza we go now to boston where we are joined by noam chomsky, worldrenowned political dissident, linguist and author, Institute Professor emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of technology, where hes taught for more than 50 years. He has written extensively about the israel palestine conflict for decades. Forty years ago this year he published, peace in the middle east . Reflections on justice and nationhood. His 1983 book, the fateful triangle, is known as one of the definitive works on the israelpalestine conflict. He joins us from boston. Welcome back. Please first just comment. We have not spoken to you throughout the israeli assault on gaza. Your comments . It is hideous. It is an atrocity of sadistic carnage,us, murderous, without any credible pretext. It is another one of the periodic israeli exercises in what they delicately call mowing the lawn. That means shooting fish in the pond, to make sure that the animal stay quiet in the cage that you constructed for them, after which you go to ceasefire. Observeds that hamas the ceasefire, as israel concedees. Israel continues to violate it. Then it is broken by an israeli escalation. Hamas reacts. Then you have a period fof mowing the lawn. This one is more sadistic and vicious than the earlier ones. That theythe pretexts use to launch this attack. Could you talk about that . And what degree it had any validity . As the israeli officials had observed the previous ceasefire for 19 months. The previous episode of mowing the lawn was the november 2012 ceasefire. The ceasefire terms were that hamas would not fire rockets at the rockets. Israel would move into the blockade and stop the attacking in gaza. Hamas lived up to it. Israel concedes that. Year, and event took place that horrified the Israeli Government. A union was formed between gaza and the west bank, between hamas and fatah. Israel has been trying to prevent that from longtime. The unity agreement came. Israel was serious. Furious. They got even more upset when the u. S. More or less endorsed him. Hich enraged they launched a rampage in the west bank. I was used as a pretext for the brutal murder of three separate teenagers. That they pretense, knew they were dead. That allowed a huge of course, they blamed it right away on hamas. They have yet to produce evidence. Their own highest leading authorities pointed out right away that the killers were clan. Ly from a rogue that turns out to be true. They have been on the side of hamas for years. I gave an opportunity for a rampage in the west bank. People,g hundreds of maria arresting many who had been released rearresting many who had been released. Finally, there was a hamas response. There were rocket attacks. That gave the opportunity for mowing the lawn again. You said that israel does this periodically. Why did they do this periodically . Because they want to maintain a certain situation. There is a background. For over 20 years, israel has been dedicated with u. S. Support, to separating gaza from the west bank. That is in direct violation of the terms of the oslo accord 20 years ago, which declared that the west bank and gaza are a whose territorial entity integrity must be preserved. For rogue states, some agreements are just an invitation to do everyone. Israel, with u. S. Backing, has been committed to keeping them separate. There is a good reason for that. Look at the map. Outlet to the only the outside world for any even entity, thenian west bank is separated from gaza. The west bank is essentially a prison. Israel on one side, the dictatorship on the other. Furthermore, israel is systematically driving palestinians out of the jordan valley. There building settlements. Military zones and settlements, the usual story. That would mean th