Woman architect. Bee keeper. Mentor. A Raymond JamesFinancial Advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. Life well planned. Narrator funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. And by judy and Peter Blum Kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs. Announcer and now, bbc news. Im Helena Humphrey in washington, d. C. And this is bbc world news america. The u. N. Says the humanitarian situation in gaza is growing increasingly desperate. Egyptian state media reports it is crossing into gaza and trucks are loaded with supplies but they rate they remain stuck at the border and rocket strikes continue both from israel and hamas, nearly two weeks into the war. Welcome to world news america. Aid agencies are issuing warnings about a worsening humanitarian situation in the gaza strip. The u. N. Says gaza is on the brink with over 100 trucks needed every day to support the palestinians. Egyptian state media is reporting crossing into gaza will be open for several hours friday to allow the delivery of some aid. Trucks have been lining up for days waiting to be let in. Israel has a revised upwards the number of hostages they say are being held in gaza. 203. The defense minister says they will soon see gaza from the inside. Both sides continue exchanging strikes. This is the situation now. Go, go. In southern israel, our correspondent was sent running for cover. And President Biden is expected to make his case for more aid to israel after the ongoing in the ongoing war in ukraine. In israel, visits as the war goes on. Jeremy bowen the sent this update from southern israel. Reporter britains Prime Minister came, he said, because israel faces its darkest hour. Israel is welcoming their allies. It will need their support in the next few weeks. Waiting in jerusalem was benjamin netanyahu, one day after welcoming joe biden. We absolutely support israels right to defend itself and go after hamas and take back hostages and deter further incursion and strengthen your security longterm. I know you are taking every precaution to avoid harming civilians, indirect contrast to the terrorists of hamas, which seek to put civilians in harms way. One force is an axis of evil that want to bring back the middle east of the middle ages to an age of bondage and war and slavery and violation. The other force is the force of progress and humanity that want to push the middle east into a world of peace and prosperity. Reporter in southern gaza, u. N. Workers were among the wounded. More than one million palestinians have fled south on israels instructions. Gaza civilians, sealed off by the world sealed off from the world by israels siege, face catastrophe. Eight has been waiting for days on the egyptian side. Joe biden persuaded israel to allow 20 lorries to cross the border tomorrow. I have been told they need more. Strong comments after civilians sheltering in a school were killed. Is there a safe place for anyone in gaza . There is no safe place. There is no where population feels safe. The [indiscernible] needs to be predictable. We need at least 100 trucks a day. We are now in a situation where there is a total siege of the gaza strip. More than one Million People are displaced. This amounts to collective punishment, which is a violation of international law. Reporter do you have any sympathy for the israeli perspective . That hamas used people as human shields . Israel has gone through a horrific massacre and i condemn it. But it still does not justify war being conducted without any restraint. Reporter he says the war has left the middle east on the edge of an abyss. The United Nations has called for a humanitarian ceasefire. Joining us is barbara. In the u. S. We have been hearing that josh paul resigned tuesday because of President Bidens handling of the israelhamas war. He was the head of an agency that oversees weapon sales and felt he could not support the fact that the u. S. Was continuing to sell arms to israel while this siege in gaza is going on. Gaza is governed by hamas so the blockade on food, medicine, electricity. He thought these things violated u. S. Legal provisions meant to restrict arms sales to countries that broke International Humanitarian law or violated human rights and other ways. He i said to him during his tenure the u. S. Government approved arms sales to other middle Eastern Companies with poor human rights records like saudi arabia and he said in those cases there was robust debate within the administration and lengthy pushback from congress and in this case there was no debate, just a rush to get the weapons through. State department has not responded to the criticism. They say they do not comment on personnel matters. Matthew miller says that administration is not concerned about possibly being implicated in war crimes. In the wake of the hospital blast in gaza we have seen propalestinian protesters in jordan and lebanon and the u. S. And we have not had final confirmation as to who was behind the blast but what does it mean for israel and u. S. Support for it . Barbara it complicates it because israel had been establishing relationships with some arab countries recently. Some of them openly hostile to hamas but given the response by israel, they had already been pulling back on the hospital explosion magnified that because people in arab countries are outraged and they did not believe israel was not behind it. The u. S. Strong support for israel, especially joe bidens visit, has further tied america to whatever israel does in gaza. That does not mean President Biden cannot work with arab states. He negotiated with egypt. And it does not mean arab states do not want the security that the u. S. Can provide with their aircraft carriers but it does make diplomacy and working with the arab countries more complicated. Good to have you with us. Thanks as always. The wait for humanitarian aid continues for the 2 Million People in gaza. Israel has cut food, medicine, water, electricity. Conditions are dire. A warning, this report contains distressing details. Reporter this morning, a funeral for fatima. She never knew life. Stillborn, he said, after her mother was killed with two of her other daughters, ages 10 and 14. They were sleeping peacefully, a relative says, when israel bombed the neighbors house after the family had fled from the north. The u. N. Says there are 50,000 pregnant women in gaza with more than 5000 do to give birth in the next month. Medicines are in short supply and people are being asked to donate blood. The border is still closed to foreign aid. Volunteers are cooking on wood fires. Fuel is scarce. There is food, but it is running out. Most to get one meal a day, or sometimes every other day, this man tells us. Nearby, and he who fled their homes are now in makeshift camps. This womans daughter died when the house collapsed on top of them. We are living in tents, humiliated. We do not have water, food, or anything. We fled with the clothes on her back, she says. The United Nations says more than one million gazans have been displaced with hundreds of thousands moving to the south. And in the north, you can see why. John donnison, bbc news. Egyptian state media reports the crossing will open into gaza for several hours on friday and hundreds of vehicles continue waiting along the border with desperately needed aid. During his visit wednesday, biden secured an agreement with egypt to allow 20 trucks filled with aid to enter the territory. 1 5 of what is needed each day to support the more than one million civilians. Officials say there is little to no water or fuel. Civilians in gaza desperately needed supplies. We need humanitarian access. Food, water, medicine, fuel now. We need it at scale and to be sustained. A sustained effort to deliver humanitarian aid to the people of gaza is required. 200 hostages were taken by hamas. A 12yearold who loved harry potter was found dead along with her grandfather and a father of two was killed in the hamas attack. Our correspondent Lucy Williams has spoken to one family who was still waiting on word of their loved ones. A warning, this report is distressing. Reporter this area is full of silence and noise. They are still finding bodies in the community is and fields. This woman was pulled out yesterday naked and bound with metal wire. More than 20 children were found nearby, tied together and burned. Deaths like this are enough to break the living. Hamas gunmen attacked early with the drills to loot and guns to kill. Survivors say one in four people are dead or missing. Among them, a british man and his stepfather. Jenny darlington was born in manchester. A neighbor identified his body. There is still no confirmation that he is dead. His stepfather used across regular to regularly into gaza to drive Sick Children to israeli hospitals. He has just been listed as a hostage. This door held out against the first group of militants but they came back a second time. By that time, someone was hiding behind this couch and decided the door would not hold and offered himself up. A second group burst in, less disciplined, more destructive. Door to the safe room was open. Dark inside, they did not bother to look. Danny was not meant to be in the kibbutz this morning. He stayed on an extra night and sent a text to his halfbrother. The family is in limbo and feels out of sink with israels national mood. Revenge is a very strong emotion. Which a lot of people have. But lets not talk about revenge. We lost the first act. Before winning the war, let us gather the remains and do whatever we can to get out of this hostage situation. Israel is looking at the next stage in the conflict, a major offensive in gaza, aimed at destroying hamas while the families of those still missing stay frozen in the hours after the attack. Lucy williamson, bbc news. Joining us now is david shafer, former u. S. Ambassador at large for war crimes. Welcome, thank you for being with us. I want to begin with the blast in the hospital in gaza. Is there the possibility of an independent investigation into it and what would that look like . There could be such a possibility if the parties would agree to permit independent investigators onto the site that we have to await that type of agreement. That investigation could clearly involve independent experts, particularly on military blasts, munitions, and what that kind of evidence looks like on the ground once it is actually used. But we would have to wait to see if the parties would agree to that kind of independent inquiry. I want to point out the u. S. And israel are not parties to the icc. Could that cause issues . It might. On the other hand, the International Criminal court does not have to wait for the approval of israel and the United States for such an investigation on territory of the state of palestine, which is a state party to the icc. I think the critical point would be if the icc were to pursue such an investigation, can they get the permission of the Palestinian Authoritys to go in with their own investigators to undertake that task . I am not aware that that permission has been granted yet. One thing i want to touch on, there have been repeated reminders in this conflict that even wars have laws, with special attention being paid to distinguishing between civilians and combatants. How concerned are you about the potential for war crimes here and do you think any are being sufficiently documented . There certainly have been war crimes committed that commenced october 7 when hamas militants entered israeli territory and killed more than 1400 people and committed atrocities that created many more casualties, destruction of an enormous amount of property, etc. As for war crimes on the territory of the gaza strip, that also is an issue that merits full scrutiny, monitoring, investigation when necessary, so this is a massive crime scene now that merits investigation and monitoring every day. And to the credit of israeli authorities, they are certainly representing that they want to undertake action that is in accordance with International Humanitarian law. The issue is does it stack up to that representation on a daytoday basis . Is every airstrike that takes place in the gaza strip undertaken in accordance with those very fundamental principles found in International Humanitarian law. So Going Forward ahead of an anticipated ground offensive, are you concerned that it could be difficult for the Israeli Military to avoid further civilian casualties given the population density . Extremely difficult, if not impossible. Israel has the right of defense by in exercising that, they have to go into a scenario of urban warfare that creates every hour of every day a critical reign of weather out whether or not seeking out hamas and military will cancel out extremely difficult. And yet we do not want to have a situation where we say because it is so difficult, israel is essentially stripped of the right of selfdefense, of ending the threat from hamas. But the calculus for doing so will be extremely difficult and merits monitoring and examination each day as the conflict proceeds. David, really important to get your perspective, thanks so much. Large protests continue around the world following tuesdays hospital strike in gaza and in paris hundreds of demonstrators have taken to the streets in support of palestinians after frances highest Administrative Court ruled probe palestinian propalestinian protests could only be banned on a casebycase basis. For the latest on this war, we bring in jeremy bowen. We have been hearing reports that airstrikes have continued. What can you tell us . They have been constant. Out of gaza there are reports a small Christian Church has been hit and there were many sheltering inside. Casualties are unclear. I have seen pictures of wounded people but those are the only details we have. Many are worried about the war spreading and will be looking at other aspects as well with concern. The u. S. Navy and pentagon have announced they intercepted and shot down a number of cruise missiles that were fired out of yemen and headed up the red sea to targets that might have been in israel. Also there are gun battles on the west bank. Israeli security was killed and a number of palestinians have been killed apparently in a drone attack. On top of that on the border with lebanon there has been more trouble and more People Killed so you can see the temperature rising gradually. And meanwhile israels defense minister has told troops gather near gaza to be ready ahead of an expected ground offensive. Are we any clearer as to knowing when that could be . We are not but the tone of the remarks seem very eve of battle. Now that various vips are in town, President Biden, Prime Minister rishi sunak, it could be that they have squared it all away with the allies and they are going ahead of it with it but we have thought that before in the last 10 days so lets wait and see. We have about 30 seconds. How concerning is the humanitarian situation in gaza right now . It is catastrophic. I spoke today to the head of one of the biggest u. N. Agencies that work there and he said there is no safe place and while he has great sympathy for israel and the National Trauma they have gone through, the fact that they have sealed off the gaza strips collective punishment against International Humanitarian law so altogether, a very serious situation. Jeremy bowen, thanks so much. Im Helena Humphrey in washington. Thank you so much for your company here on world news america. Goodbye for now. Narrator funding for this presentation of this program is provided by. Narrator Financial Services firm, Raymond James. Narrator funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. And by judy and Peter Blum Kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs. Amna good evening. Geoff on the news hour tonight is really airstrikes hammer gaza including back uh in areas as the death toll rises and hamas continues to hold hostages. Amna