Death toll climbs. Even in the sky we get an up close look at the militarys Drone Program and talk to the man making splitsecond life and death decisions. And president obama, hes about to make a major statement on the situation, the relationship with russia. Were standing by to bring you that live when it happens. It will happen in the next few minutes. We the to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer reporting tonight from jerusalem. Youre in swoet the situation room. This is cnn breaking news. And the breaking news, very significant breaking news. The United Nations proposing whats being described as a limited humanitarian truce between israel and hamas. This is the situation room special report. The brink of war. Gaza grief, four children killed on the beach as Israeli Military fires the Palestinian Death toll continues to mount. The goal of this temporary truce would be to allow what theyre calling a humanitarian pause to allow relief supplies to enter gaza safely. Israeli officials tell cnn theyre willing to sign on to the plan and tonight theres no official word yet from hamas, but in a few moments ill ask the organizations spokesman if they will accept this United Nations proposal. This will be the First Official hamas reaction to this u. N. Plan. Without a ceasefire theres been no let up in the nineday air war. We saw rockets from gaza intercepted today by israels missiles. The death toll continues, continues to climb. Palestinian Health Officials say 221 people in gaza have died and almost 1600 have been injured. One israeli also is dead. Among todays fatalities, four boys killed on a gaza beach by israeli fire. We are breaking it down with the correspondents across the region and representing both sides with the kind of analysis you wont find. Correspondent ben wiedman is joining us from gaza city. Israel says its investigating the killing of these four boys on the gaza beach. Hamas says its a war crime. Tell us what happened. Reporter what we understand is that this happened at about 4 00 in the afternoon, but before i get to that, wolf, were hearing that more phone calls have been received by those areas that had received phone calls from the Israeli Military yesterday ordering them to leave those neighborhoods and go to gaza city because shelling was a growing possibility there, but as these four boys found out, even gaza city is not safe. They were killed on the beach wednesday afternoon when the Israeli Military targeted gazas harbor. The four boyses,is mail, zakaria, ahmed and mohammed were cousins from the extended family ranging in age from 9 to 11. They were rushed to gaza citys shiva hospital, but it was too late. A Spokesman Says theis dent is being carefully investigated and that preliminary results indicate, quote, the target of the strike was hamas terrorist operatives, end quote. In just over an hour after their death, hundreds turned out for their funeral. Behind the angry chants, there is real grief. [ chanting ] 11yearold mohammeds mother convulsed with shattered disbelief. Why did he go to the beach and play for them to take him away from me, she cries . His blind father is equally devastated. I felt as if the world had come to an end when i heard the news, he tells me. I wish id died before hearing he was dead. Of the more than 200 People Killed in the last ten days of israeli bombardment, over 70 have been civilians according to the United Nations. Around 40 of the dead are children. Were those four small boys firing rockets, a relative asks . They went to the beach to play football. The boys died on the sands of gas and in the sands of gaza they were buried. And that fivehour respite provided by the u. N. Pause tomorrow is only five hours. The expectation is that after that comes to an end, wolf, there could be an Israeli Ground invasion. Ben wiedman in gaza for us. Well get back to you. Lets get the official reaction to this United Nations proposal. Osama hamdan is joining us on the phone and hes a top spokesman for hamas. Mr. Hamdan, the israelis say they will accept this temporary truce that the United Nations has put forward for humanitarian reasons. Will hamas accept it, as well . I have to say that the United Nations was initiated and we are still waiting for some answers to give the final answer about that. We are welcoming all of the efforts to provide the humanitarian aid for the palestinians, but as you have said a few moments ago, we have to be sure that the israelis will not use that as a chance to prepare for the Ground Invasion which they are just trying to have happen as soon as they can. So, basically what youre saying is youre not yet ready to give an official response whether you accept it, you dont accept it, you want more information. Specifically, mr. Hamdan, what are you looking for . What questions do you need answered to agree starting 10 00 a. M. Local time tomorrow morning to have this temporary humanitarian pause, stop the fighting between both sides . That there will not be an israeli attack. We are at war with israeli against the palestinians. It is normal to ask some questions and to have some information about what may happen and what is going to happen. That doesnt mean the Palestinian Resistance will reject or not. It means that we are asking some questions to make the proper decision. We have to help the palestinians and to be for the benefit of the palestinians. This is the basic principle that we are working on. We want it to be helpful for the palestinians and give the Palestinian People a good chance to be to have the benefits of such initiated. We did not answer yet. It doesnt mean that we dont have the right to ask some questions before the initiative time. All right. So you want the questions answered. Youre leaving open the possibility. You will accept it. I spoke earlier today to the Palestinian Authority adviser nabil shaf. He is a man you know and he was in ramallah and we had this exchange about your earlier rejection of the ceasefire proposal. Listen to this exchange with nabil shah. Did hamas make a major blunder in accepting the egypti egyptianproposed ceasefire. We think hamas should have accepted. We are supporting the Egyptian Initiative and we want to get a stop to the spilling of blood and to the horrible, tragic war that is being waged on gaza. Did you make a mistake in not accepting that egyptian ceasefire proposal, mr. Hamdan . Well, its very strange to me from shaath because today the declaration saying that even abu mazen has no information or clue even about the initiative and it was published today, as you know that this initiative was to be between [ indiscernible ] the arrangements were not enforced and they were not asked and not even the resistance and even abu mazen himself has no information about that so it is normal to say we did not receive it that and we didnt know about it and how do we accept an initiative by the media. I think saying something which was not by any palestinian . Because, as you know, abu mazen, the Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas also known as abu mazen, hes been in egypt all day today. Hes been meeting with the new egyptian president al sissi and they seem to be pretty much on the same page if you listen to abu mazens advisers including saeb erekat who ive been speaking with in the last few day, he wanted you to accept that ceasefire, as well. Everyone wants the ceasefire. No one is talking against having a ceasefire, but we want to protect our own people for a long time, to protect them from the Israeli Military attacks, from the siege, from arrests, with hard conditions. We want the ceasefire which can give the the Palestinian People a chance to live peacefully and with dignity. Mr. Hamdan, well check back with you tomorrow. Lets see what happens if your leadership decides to go ahead and accept this temporary, temporary humanitarian ceasefire thats supposed to go in effect thursday morning 10 00 a. M. Local time here in the middle east. Osama hamdan is the spokesman for hamas. Coming up, our live coverage continues. Were here in jerusalem. Ill speak to the spokesman of Benjamin Netanyahu about the temporary ceasefire and more breaking news. President obama is about to announce new u. S. Sanctions against russia. Hes about to go into the White House Briefing room with a major statement. Well have live coverage coming up. 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Hes expected to go in there farely so fairly soon and announce new sanksa, genst russia if he takes questions from reporters. You will hear it as well so weve got a lot of news coming up and lets bring in mark regev. Thanks very much for joining us. My pleasure. Youve accepted this temporary sixhour ceasefire, this humanitarian pause as its being called put forward by the United Nations and its supposed to start at 10 00 a. M. Thursday morning israel time. Is that right . Thats correct. The United Nations approached us and weve agreed to their proposal ultimately and it must be clear the people of gaza are not our enemy. Our problem is with the terrorists, with hamas and the others who shoot these rockets into israel trying to kill our people. The people of gaza are not our enemy and if we can help the United Nations facilitate distribution and food staff, medicine and so forth, we are open to that. You just heard hamdan, theyre still studying it and they have questions that need to be answered and one of the questions they have is they dont want to give you six hours from 10 00 a. M. Until local time, the sixhour truce for you to regroup and get ready for a Ground Invasion of gaza. Your response . Thats ridiculous. And i think it just shows what hamas is all about. Here the United Nations wants to help the the the palestinian population of gaza israel is willing to facilitate that and hamas which claims to have the palestinians people interest at heart are saying no and raising questions if theyre willing to cooperate with the United Nations. Just like yesterday that would have ended all of the conflict and would have ended all of the violence and would have allowed us to deescalate and get together for some sort of talks with the egyptians. When hamas claims to speak for the Palestinian People, people have to see it for what it is. Hamas is a brute Extremist Organization that is on the altar of its radical agenda. We saw the horrible pictures and the horrible pictures on a beach in gaza city. Israeli fire came ask killed these four little boys. What happened . We dont know exactly and were checking it out because we dont target civilians. We dont target children. There has obviously been a mistake and the army is investigating itself and its appointed a general to conduct the investigation and we want to find out what went wrong . Is this gun fire from a ship offshore . Is that what happened . Its not clear exactly, and our rules of engagement are very clear and i cannot believe if it was an israeli Army Personnel that they knew that they were targeting civilians. I cannot believe that it must have been some sort of mistake and thats the ultimate difference between us because hamas randomly shoots into israeli cities and trying to kill as many civilians and you see it with the leaflets to keep civilians out of combat zones to make sure youre not caught in the cross fire. You see many civilians have been killed in these strikes. We dont want to see it and we make a maximum effort to avoid that and the truth is the primary effort on the palestinian toll is hamas that said no to the ceasefire. What do you say to the family of those four little boys who were killed today . We say we didnt want this conflict in the first place. I mean, we share with them their grief. We understand that because weve had grief on our side as well, but we didnt want this conflict. This conflict came because hamas kept shooting rockets and we are forced to defend our people from those rockets. If this sixhour temporary ceasefire holds, are you open to letting it breathe a little bit longer and start those negotiations, to keep a permanent ceasefire open up gas, for example, to greater access to israel, to egypt, ease their restrictions in the mediterranean and the blockade, if you will, speak about those prisoners who you retook who you were freed in the shalit swap and the israeli soldier who was held by hamas for five years, are you open to engaging in these discussions with hamas . If tomorrows humanitarian corridor is successful, and if hamas doesnt stifle it. The six hours. The six hours. If that works and the u. N. Comes up with more proposals like that im sure we will consider them favorably because the people of gaza are not our enemies. As to moving forward, ultimately israel would like a very dint relationship with gaza. We pulled out of gaza a few years ago. You were here and we reported the story and we pulled back to the International Frontier and signed an agreement with Condoleezza Rice to have trade and cooperation and friendship. Hamas spoiled all of that. Hamas came to power in gaza and instead of investing in schools and in the betterment in the life and people of gaza has invested in rockets and missiles and hatred. If gaza was to change, if gaza was to want to on live with israel in peace and coexistence we would be very happy to have a Good Relationship with gaza. To be precise at 10 00 a. M. Local time here in israel, 10 00 a. M. You stop firing. Lets say they stop for the time being, but maybe theres an Islamic Jihad and how patient will you be before you resume your attacks . Weve committed to this sixhour time out. Obviously, well be watching the situation very closely. If hamas makes the timeout impossible through military actions, i mean, thats a bad thing. We dont want them to do it. What will will you do . Without prejudging the situation we cant allow hamas to exploit the time out, to attack us. They say that youre going to exploit that. Thats just not true. Thats ridiculous. Weve committed to the u. N. And we want this humanitarian mission to succeed. You are speaking to hamas and saying dont fire anything through the proposed ceasefires. Weve said to the United Nations this we will facilitate a successful sixhour period for humanitarian support and we hope hamas doesnt disrupt this. You hope it goes on locker if after the six hours no shelling into am that as and no israeli air strikes assuming its quiet during the six hours does it start again . I think well have to wait and see, but hamas yesterday showed us who they are when they rejected a ceasefire and you couldnt get a straight answer. Lets wait and see what hamas does before we start putting the cart before the horse. At least they didnt reject it completely as they did the initial ceasefire proposal. They called it a joke on our program. I remember. This time hamdan is saying they want to study it and they want more questions answered and well find out in the coming hours. Dont forget, wolf, theyre under a lot of pressure because when they opposed the ceasefire. They just opposed, the United Nations supported the proposal and the arab league, theyre very isolated today and theyve got a problem. Mark regev, the spokesman for Benjamin Netanyahu. My pleasure. President obama new u. S. Sanctions being leveled against russia. Hes getting ready to go into the White House Briefing room. Plus, well have a rare look inside israel a drone operations. Ill talk to the man making some splitsecond life and death decisions. Stay with us. Youre in the situation room. We are live from jerusalem. train horn vo wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. Norfolk southern. One line, infinite possibilities. Thats a good thing, but it doesnt cover everything. 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Stand by for that. In the meantime, here in jerusalem we saw more rocket fire today first hand as we were heading to the israeli city of ash callon less than ten miles from the gaza border. All right. Were going to get out. You can can hear the sirens. [ sirens ] you can hear those sirens now. We are waiting for the all clear. After we went and we saw the site where the rocket landed and it was only about a hundred yards or so from where we were. Luckily, those fragments from that rocket landed in an open filed, but it was very close to a major intersection leading into ashkelon. Diana magnate is here with me. And you spent time in ashkelon, give me a sense of what the israelis really want the government to do . Stop the fighting or simply send troops on the ground and launch a Ground Invasion . Reporter they definitely want this bombardment to stop. So when Benjamin Netanyahu the Prime Ministers says we want a demille tarization of gaza, but when you say do you want Ground Troops to go in they always say we dont want our soldiers to die. So the air strikes work for them for now. They dont want soldiers to go in. They dont want a kidnap situation like shalit again where he could be used as a bargaining chip. The soldier who was held by hamas for five years. And his release was a very complicated negotiations and dealt with hamas on that front. People are very, very uncertain about a Ground Invasion because they know that effectively it will be a bloodbath. Ive been here for almost a week and no matter where you go, when you least expect it you can hear that siren. Youll hear that boom. You will hear the israeli iron dome antiMissile System. Youve been here. Walk us through what really goes on. Reporter well, when you see all of those intercepts above you, you feel pretty glad that the iron dome is in place. The u. S. Has pumped hundreds of millions and i think congress is about to give it a whole lot more, but the radars basically see where the missile is coming from and where the rocket is coming from and they manage to intercept it. The idea is its 90 effective and weve seen that. The only casualty so far on the israeli side was a volunteer up at the top of the gaza strip was hit by a mortar shell. No one inside the big cities has been hurt by rockets, and ive been in those major cities and ive seen so many intercepts it does give you a sense that its keeping you safe. There have been some injuries but no one except this one individual was killed. We went to ashkelon today and the girl said i went down to the safe room when i heard the siren and thank god i did because it hit my house. I think its interesting when crowe see real discipline on the part of the israelis that they do when they hear that siren, they do go to shelters. They do go to safe rooms and the siren is also very effective at keeping people safe as much as iron dome. Diana magnay, youll be back with us. Diana has been doing an excellent job in israel. Coming up, were live from jerusalem, splitsecond life and death decisions. We are about to get a rier look at an israeli dren program thats used to try to prevent civilian casualties. Wera also standing by to hear the president of the United States. Hes about to walk into the White House Briefing room and make a major announcement against sanctions when that happens. Well see if the president takes questions as well. Stay with us. Well be right back. t jump at d of the opening bell, because were trying to make the school bell. Corner booth beats Corner Office any day. We make the most of our time. And our money. The 2014 malibu. Highest ranked midsize car in initial quality the car for the richest guys on earth. For over 19 million people. [ mom ] with life insurance, were not just insuring our lives. Were helping protect his. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. Transamerica. Transform tomorrow. Breaking news live from jerusalem. A possible ceasefire only hour away. Israel has accepted a pause to allow for relief supplies to get into gaza. Hamas said it needs more information. We are also standing by to hear from the president of the United States. President obama, hes about to go into the White House Briefing room. Hes expected to make a major news statement on u. S. Sanctions against russia. Well see if he answers reporters questions, and questions coming up about the situation here and gaza. Lets get more now on whats going on. Joining us our cnn middle east analyst, former israeli ambassador to the United States and joining us from tel aviv and our chief National Correspondent jim sciutto joining us from washington. Those four young little boys killed playing soccer or football on the beach in gaza city. We heard mark regev, the supposeman for the Prime Minister citying the israelis have launched a Major Investigation and a general is leading that investigation. You served for many years in the Israeli Military, what do you suspect happened . What happened . That there was some miss take in coordinates or a hamas unit was fires in the vicinity. This happened during the previous rounds of fighting. Israel is dealing with an enemy who hides behind the civilian population and they want to create a situation where israel is firing and causes civilian casualties. Hamas doesnt really have a military strategy as much as it has a media strategy, wolf. They know they cant destroy israel with their rockets, but they know they can destroy israels legitimacy in the world where israel inflicts civilian casualties and that leads to delegitimization in the media and organizations. But as you know, you may not know this that weve interviewed several International Journalists and eye witnesses who were staying in a hotel right there, right near the beach. They didnt see any shooting come from the hamas side and they didnt know of any hamas mortars or any launchers that were in the area. They say the kids were just playing on a beach in gaza city and they got themselves killed, these young little boys. Hold on for a moment, mr. Ambassador before i let you respond to that. Jim acosta is with us, jim, the president is about to walk into the Briefing Room and increasing sanctions against russia and give us a quick preview of what were expecting . Sure. Earlier this afternoon Senior Administration o firms saying the theyre imposing sanks not on whole sectors, and this will be targeted at key portions of the sectors of the russian economy, the banking and defense sectors of the economy and that the white house has been saying we expect the president to say that russia has missed these opportunities to take a better path forward, to deescalate this crisis and because of that these sanctions are coming down the pike. The president has many other Foreign Policy crises, the violence in gaza and whether there will be a lasting ceasefire there and theres been this question about iran and its nuclear program, major world powers have been working with iran to form a c comprehensive agreement within days from now. The white house says there are gaps with that agreement and theres the disagreement between the white house and germany over spying allegations and we may hear the president talk about that, as well. Keep in mind, hes been meeting with House Democrats all afternoon about the border crisis with respect to those kids coming across the border. A lot on his plate and well see what he talks about. Jim schutto, two of the biggest banks, gazprom bank, thats the largest gas company in russia with the largest gas reserves in the world, they came just to give you a measure of that, the current Prime Minister of rush a dmet ri medvedev used to be chairman of the board of gazprom and these companies all blocked from the u. S. Financial system. That has Major Economic costs for these companies. The one weakness here is that europe is not onboard for these sanctions. Thats something that the white house wanted. So the president will make the statement. There are questions to answer at this point and a lot of critics are saying. Here he comes. Here ate president. I want to discuss the important afrngzs taken today in support of ukraine. Before i do, i want to take a few minutes to update on pressing challenges that i reviewed with secretary kerry this afternoon. First of all, i thanked secretary kerry and our outstanding civilian and military leaders in afghanistan for their success in helping to break the impasse over the president ial election there. Thanks to their efforts and of course, thanks to the afghans and the courage of the two candidates, both of whom i spoke to last week, the candidates have agreed to abide by the results of a comprehensive and internationally supervised audit that will review all of the ballots and to form a unity government. If they keep their commitments, afghanistan will witness the first democratic transfer of power in the history of that nation. Progress will honor both candidates who have put the interests of a united afghanistan first. The millions of afghans who defied threats in order to vote and the service of our troops and civilians who sacrificed so much. This progress reminds us that even as our combat mission in afghanistan ends this year, americas commitment to a sovereign, united and democratic afghanistan will endure along with our determination that americans are never again threatened by terrorists inside of afghanistan. Second, john updated me on the negotiations with iran over its nuclear program. Over the last six months iran has met its commitments under the interim deal we reached last year, halting the progress of its nuclear program, allowing more inspections and rolling back its most dangerous stockpile of nuclear material. Meanwhile, we are working with our b5 plus one partners to reach a com pro hencive agreement that assures us that irans program will, in fact, be peaceful and they wont obtain a nuclear weapon. Based on consultations with secretary kerrie and my National Security team its clear that weve made Real Progress in several areases and that we have a credible way forward, but as we approach a deadline under the interim deal, there is still significant gaps between the International Community and e ran and we have more work to do. So over the next few days well continue consulting with congress and our team will continue discussions with iran and our partners as we determine whether additional time is necessary to extend our negotiations. Third, we continue to support diplomatic efforts to end the violence between israel and hamas. As ive said repeatedly, israel has a right to defend itself from rocket attacks that terrorize the israeli people. Theres no country on earth that can be expected to live under a daily barrage of rockets, and im proud that the iron dome system that americans helped israel developed and fund has saved many israeli lives, but over the past two weeks weve all been heart broken by the violence especially the death and injury of so many innocent civilians in gaza. Men, women and children who are caught in the cross fire. Thats why we have been working with our partners in the region to pursue a ceasefire to protect civilians on both sides. Yesterday israel did agree to a ceasefire, unfortunately, hamas continued to fire rockets at civilians thereby prolonging the conflict, but the israel i people and the Palestinian People dont want to live like this. They deserve to live in peace and security free from fear. Thats why were going to continue to encourage diplomatic efforts to restore the ceasefire and we support egypts continued efforts to bring this about. Over the next 24 hours well continue to stay in close contact with our friends and parties in the region and we will use all of our diplomatic resources and relationships to support efforts of closing a deal on a ceasefire. In the meantime, we will continue to stress the need to protect civilians in gaza and in israel and to avoid further escalation. Finally, given its continued provocations in ukraine, today i have approved a new set of sanctions on some of russias Largest Companies and financial institutions. Along with our allies with whom ive been coordinating closely in the last several days and weeks ive repeatedly made it clear that russia must halt the flow of weapons and fighters across the border into ukraine. That russia must urge separatists to release hostages and support a ceasefire that russia needses to pursue internationally mediated talks and agree to meaningful monitors on the border. Ive made this clear directly to mr. Putin, many of our European Partners have made this clear directly to mr. Putin. We have emphasized our preference to resolve this issue diplomatically, but that we have to see concrete actions and not just words that russia, in fact, is committed to trying to end this conflict along the russiaukraine border. So far, russia has failed to take any of the steps that i mentioned. In fact, russias support for the separatists and violations of ukraines sovereignty has continued. On top of the sanctions weve already imposed we are therefore, designating sectors of the russian economy for sanctions. Y woo are freezing the sanctions of several Russian Defense companies and we are blocking new financing of some of russias most important banks and energy companies. These sanctions are significant and also targeting while limiting any spillover effects on American Companies and those and what we are expecting is that the russian leadership will see once again that its actions in ukraine have consequences including a weakening russian economy and increasing diplomatic isolation. Meanwhile were going to continue to stand with the ukrainian people as they seek to determine their own future. Even in the midst of this crisis, they have made remarkable progress. They have held democratic elections. They elected a new president. They are pursuing new reforms and signed a new agreement with the european union. The United States will continue to offer our strong support to ukraine to help stabilize its economy and defend its territorial sbintegrity. Because like anything else, ukraine deserves their own destiny. Ill point out the obvious. We live in a complex world and at a challenging time. None of these challenges lend themselves to quick or easy solutions, but all of them require American Leadership and as commanderinchief im confident if we stay patient and determined, that we will, in fact, meet these challenges. Thanks very much. Theres the president of of the United States with an important statement on four Foreign Policy, major Foreign Policy issues. The situation in afghanistan, iran, nuclear talks, israel and hamas and ukraine. Jim sciutto, what did you think as far as the news value of what the president had to say . The understatement of the year shs the president calling it a complex world with all these crises hes dealing with. One, on the iran talks underway with a looming deadline on saturday, july 20th, the president , in fact, telegraphing what they are talking about is not a longterm deal, but how long they extend the negotiations. He said whether additional time is necessary to talk. Thats what we have been hearing as well. The president seeming to confirm that. On ukraine, we were looking back. It was on june 5th that the president said russia had weeks, not months, to change its behavior in ukraine. Thats about six weeks ago. Russia has fail ed in his words to take any of the steps to deescalate there. Escalating in many ways and now the president following through with system of these sectorial sanctions. Thats news worthy. The president underlying his support for a diplomatic solution for whats happening in gaza. Hes dispatched secretary of state john kerry really in frenetic activity. Secretary kerry speaking with the Foreign Ministers of egypt, qatar, the israelis as well, working on what he says he wants to be a lasting cease fire. Stand by for a moment, jim. Jim acosta is our white house correspondent. Take us behind the scenes now. The motivation, its not every day that the president of the United States decides on these four major Foreign Policy issues to go in and make a major statement along these lines. Take us behind the scenes. I can tell you that this is a president who i think wanted to take questions, but perhaps was thinking maybe he shouldnt take any questions because hes essentially watching several pots of boiling water all raging at the same time. The crises that jim mentioned with respect to whats happening in gaza and the kpcomplicated issues of dealing with iran and russia. The president really ticking off those crises one by one in a way that you might expect him to take independently by taking questions from reporters. This is a president whose Foreign Policy is under siege. Hes taking it on all fronts. You have heard the president say time and again that perhaps more cautious approach is the approach to take with respect to these crises. Thats why you heard the president indicate there might be some kind of acceptance on his part to perhaps allow iran to have more time to work out a comprehensive nuclear agreement. I think you also heard at the end the president s remarks that this is a complicated world that hes dealing with and i think that was a response that the president was trying to give to an anticipated e question about all these crises blowing up basically at the same time on his watch, wolf. He mentioned four, but there are a whole lot more. This whole middle east region basically is a flame right now. Our Foreign Affairs reporter, can we anticipate the secretary of state john kerry heading towards where i am, the middle east, to get involved in stopping the fighting between israel and hamas . The secretary has been preparing a trip talking with the ministers in egypt and qatar, in particular, both of whom have the relationship with a mass. They want to give israel the assurances that if there is a cease fire that as the Prime Minister has said it will be lasting. It wont give hamas a time out to rearm and attack israel. This is what secretary kerry is going to be doing right now. It this isnt about dealing with israel. Israel says its e ready to stand down. Thanks very much. Lets take a quick break. We have much more of the breaking news right after this. In new york state, were changing the way we do business, with startup ny. Weve created tax free zones throughout the state. And startup ny companies will be investing hundreds of millions of dollars in jobs and infrastructure. Thanks to startup ny, businesses can operate tax free for 10 years. No property tax. No business tax. And no sales tax. Which means more growth for your business, and more jobs. Its not just business as usual. See how new york can help your business grow, at startup. Ny. Gov ive got a nice long life ahead. Big plans. 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We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer live from jerusal jerusal jerusalem. Israels guns may soon fall sile silent. Israel has agreed to a temporary cease fire that could begin within a matter of hours. The United Nations asked for a pause in activities to allow hiemtarian aid to gaza. Hamas has not signed up for this agreement and says it needs more information about the proposal. Only moments ago president obama spoke out promising the United States will continue to encourage moves towards a full scale cease fire u. He also announced expanded sanctions against russia saying moscow has failed to deescalate the crisis in ukraine. Our correspondents are standing by in israel and gaza with the latest on the middle east conflict. But first, a look at the other breaking development this is hour including the deaths of four palestinian children. Medics race along a gaza beach with a childs body on a stretcher. Four palestinian boys were culled by Israeli Military fire. They were between 9 and is 1 years old, all from the same family. The children who were taken to the hospital after being carried through the lobby of the hotel used by western journalists. They were buried hours later. Military Officials Say they are investiga investigating. They are doing everything they can to avoid civilian casualties. They have been dropping leaflets urging families to evacuate and they say those boys would be alive if hamas had accepted the cease fire that israel did. The Palestinian Death toll keeps rising. Local Officials Say its now over 200. There are funerals in gaza every day. The first israeli to die in the conflict also was buried today. A man who was killed by mortar fire while distribute iing food israeli soldiers. This is the danger israelis are living with. We had to take cover twice today while reporting near the gaza border at a shopping center. You heard the sirens go off. Were sort of protected a little bit here, but there were several rockets that came in. You saw the israeli Missile System working. While we were driving were going to get out. You can hear the sirens. We could see the smokey remains of a rocket just off the road. The Israeli Military says 1, 200 rockets have been fired in the past nine days by hamas and Islamic Jihad. They have ramped up targets in gaza after hamas rejected the cease fire and kept firing rockets at israel. Lets go to gaza now. More on the children killed on that beach today. Our senior interNational Correspondent ben wedeman is joining us. You were there. You saw the funeral for those boys. Im trying to get a little sense the palestinians there, i assume they are very angry at israel, but are they also angry at hamas for rejecting that cease fire yesterday because the israelis make the point that those boys would be alive if hamas had accepted the cease fire. Reporter most people at this point dont really blame hamas because people realize that after more than 200 dead here, after hundreds of homes destroyed, after this huge disruption of the last ten days that they want not just a cease fire that will return to the status quo before of this began. They want to see a fundamental solution to the situation in gaza. They would like to see, for instance, the return of the ability of palestinian workers to go to israel. You recall in 2000 that tens of thousands of palestinians made a living in israel every day. Since then they have seen sort of their world shrink and shrink. Before you could take a taxi from gaza city to damascus. You cant do that anymore. And they would like to be able to travel to egypt more easily. One of the demands of hamas is to extend the area of the sea where fishermen can operate to allow palestinian farmers to farm closer to the barrier between gaza and israel. So people you talk to say, look, we live in a prison and we want the doors of this prison to be open. So, yes, there is frustration with hamas because of this, but people see beyond that and understand that if there is some change to the situation here that maybe it will all be worth it. Hamas is insisting that they are not going to sign up simply for a cease fire. They want a solution to gazas problem. Most people would actually agree with the need to change the fundamental situation here. Now as far as tomorrows pause, we just heard from one of the spokesman for hamas saying they are currently considering this proposal, its only going to be five or six hours, but it would give an opportunity to people certainly to just breathe a little more easily here in gaza. Wolf . In the the last hour, i spoke with the other hamas spokesman and he said they have questions they want to be answered. They havent rejected the temporary pause, they havent accept accepted it. Theyll get back to us. Lets bring in colonel peter lerner, spokesman for the Defense Forces. Thank you for joining us. What happened on that beach . We have opened our investigation in order to understand exactly the circumstances. Clearly its a tragedy and we have to get to the bottom of the occurrences. Do you know if there was a legitimate hamas target that the israelis were going for . Have they just made a mistake . Was it a patrol boat, ship, air . From the preliminary information that i have to date, there was a hamas target that we were following. But the outcome is clearly a tragedy. We have to see what exactly were the circumstances that led to this. The spokesman for the Prime Minister says an israeli general has been ordered to investigate this tragedy. We have a policy to investigate all civilian deaths. Civilian deaths in this conflict are a tragedy. Israel has voiced that over the last ten days. Its not something that we want. It does not serve our military objectives. Hamas celebrate israeli deaths. The hamas spokesman in beirut that we spoke to in the last hour says they are considering the temporary u. N. Cease fire for six hours from 10 00 a. M. Local to 4 00 p. M. Local time tomorrow, but they want questions answered. Specifically, they dont want to give israel to give the opportunity to regroup to make it easier for them to launch a full scale Ground Invasion of gaza. Thats what he told us. In the last ten days, tomorrow will be the third time we are holding fire. Yesterday we held fire for six hours and received a huge barrage of rockets. I hope tomorrow will be a cease fire not only on behalf of the idf because we have orders, were an organized military. I hope hamas will reciprocate with that and respond accordingly. Honestly, im not holding my breath. If theres no rocket fire coming into israel during those six hours, will you just allow it to continue . Perhaps. We have to see where it leads. Hamas has not proven themselves worthy on this over the last ten days. Every time we have reached some sort of cross roads of an opportunity to calm things down, they have done the exact opposite. If theres one or two incide incidents during the temporary pause, lets say a rocket comes in one or two, but may come from Islamic Jihad, are you willing to be patient to see what happens over the next several hours starting at 10 00 a. M. Local time . We have voiced our concern if they do not abide by the cease fire does hamas control Islamic Jihad . When they have wanted to, they can control it. Does the idf see a difference between the military wing of hamas as opposed to the political wing . Theres no difference. They are deeply intertwine d. The orders that one side gives and the other side give, they are one voice with one agenda. If its not honored that temporary cease fire tomorrow, will israel move Ground Troops into gaza . Thats an option thags on the table. We are preparing that and we will be prepared if the orders are given. How many reservists have you mobilized . About 40,000 at this time. We have an approval for another 8,000. We have a substantial force. They have already left their jobs and families, they are in the military . Thats right. Peter lerner, thanks very much for joining us. Lets hope the cease fire lasts. Coming up, more on the breaking news. Israel has accepted a temporary cease fire for humanitarian reasons. I will ask about that refusal so far to accept the plan. They are leaving it open. They want questions answered. Also this. [ sirens ] the relentless hamas rocket attacks. Well see how children are coping with the constant danger and fears. Stay with us, youre in the situation room live from jerusalem. Ey dad, who was that . Dad hes our broker. He helps looks after all our money. Kid do you pay him . Dad of course. Kid how much . Dad i dont know exactly. Kid what if youre not happy . 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I have a lifetime of experience. So i know how important that is. From jerusalem. Israel has agreed to a sixhour cease fire, but hamas militants arent on board, at least not yet. Israelis endured another barrage of rocket attacks today. Scary for adults. Even scarier for so many of the childr children. Reporter israeli town, iron dome, the defense shield is getting plenty of work as roc t rockets destroy midair. But iron dome isnt full proof. When gaza fires multiple rockets, some make it through. A few seconds after the alarm started, i hear a huge explosion and the door of the shelter is getting open and i hear a sound of broken glass. I go out of the shelter and see that almost everything is ruined and i get that its here in my house. Reporter so far in this latest round of conflict, israel suffered just one fatality thanks to iron dome, the siren alerts and the shelters. Summer camp have decamp ed to bomb shelters now where soldiers from Defense Forces oversee the kids. This family spends their days here. Theres no safe room back home and they are scared. To the hospital because grant fell down in the house and the windows broken. Its going to they are frightened to go out. Reporter she says she would take her family out if she could, but the missiles are reaching further and further. For now, she doesnt have the money to move. But most of the kids seem oblivious to the world outside. Happy in a bomb shelter as they are aboveground. This 13yearold is philosophical about the fighting. Translator rockets come from gaza and lebanon, but were also bombing them so it works out even. Reporter but war is never even. These children thankfully have no idea the suffering on the other side. Cnn, israel. Join iing us now the top Palestinian Peace negotiator, on the phone from cairo, thank you for joining us. Youre there with the palestinian president. Any significant progress youre seeing now in establishing a cease fire . Lets start with this temporary u. N. Proposal, sixhour humanitarian pause. They accepted. Hamas is not ready. They need more questions answered. What are you hearing . Well the president had a meeting today with the head of hamas. Then he met with the foreign minister and the secretary general. Tomorrow he will be meeting before he departs to turkey. All efforts are being executed. Lets have the Egyptian Initiative in place. Lets see if its implemented. I dont think anybody is against the initiative in terms of reaching a cease fire agreement, but now were talking about the cease fire and after the cease fire. The Egyptian Initiative spoke about dealing with the issues after the cease fire. They spoke to us about the needs for those deal and they were resistance. They had already guaranteed. And the second thing is they want to make sure that for another attack like 2008, 2009. I hope that we can find the balance with trying very hard and im not saying that things arent. They are difficult. But we are determined to achieve what we came here to achieve. As i told you yesterday, failure is not an option, wolf. I hope failure is not an option. In the shortterm, the next few hours, this u. N. Broker, this u. N. Sponsored temporary pause is supposed to go into effect at 10 00 a. M. Local time here in the middle east. Did the president of the Palestinian Authority, did he get an assurance from the hamas leader with whom he met today that they would at least accept this sixhour pause . Actually it was not on the agenda for discussion, but we spoke about it later. This is a humanitarian six hours and im sure that everyone will go forward including from gaza. Thats what from talking to them. All right. So thats that. Thanks, well check back with you tomorrow. Lets hope that it cease fire does, in fact, hold. Does, in fact, succeed. One thing, if that sixhour cease fire holds tomorrow, can it still continue to maybe expand and go on and on . Thats the whole idea. See what kind of balance we can create in order to have a sustainable cease fire. Before i let you go, i want to play for you a man who you know, the former president of the United States bill clinton. You dealt with him, you negotiated with him. You got close to an agreement in 2000. Not close enough. Heres what he said today about whats going on between israel and hamas. Listen to this. Hamas was perfectly well aware what would happen if they started raining rockets into israel. They fired a thousand of them. And they have a strategy designed to force israel to kill their own civilians. So that the rest of the world would condemn them. So what do you think of that analysis by bill clinton . Well, i disagree. I think the whole key i wish that it had succeeded in finding a solution. This cycle is not a solution. This cycle is proof that the way to security and stability is going to be a twostep solution. I think president clinton was first in that. I really believe that the absence of the solution, the absence of peace will always push us towards this vicious cycle of chaos, violence and thats the truth. Do you think the president of the United States currently, president obama, we just heard from him in the white house, is on the right course right now . Do you think hes going to be successful in at least getting a start of these Peace Process negotiations off the ground once again . I can assure you, wolf, that president obamas commitment and secretary kerrys commitment two to a solution on the line is really can vouch that its the most i have seen from any in the United States. President obama and secretary kerry are determined and they both know that the key to stability and hope in this region begins with a twostep solution. Their commitment is really unwavering and their commitment to the twostep solution we respect and admire very much. Lets hope you succeed and that this cease fire that the u. N. Is proposing tomorrow morning here in the middle east that succeeds as well. Well check back with you. Just ahead, were live from jerusalem. A life and death decision. We get a rare look at the Drone Program israel is using to try to prevent civilian casualties. And one of the other big stories, a House Republican says he has what he believes is a smoking gun showing illegal activity by a Top Obama Administration official. Stay with us, youre in the situation room, live from jerusalem. Collection is here. Er during the cadillac summers best event, lease this 2014 ats for around 299 a month and make this the summer of style. Were changing the way we do business, with startup ny. Weve created tax free zones throughout the state. And startup ny companies will be investing hundreds of millions of dollars in jobs and infrastructure. Thanks to startup ny, businesses can operate tax free for 10 years. No property tax. No business tax. And no sales tax. Which means more growth for your business, and more jobs. Its not just business as usual. See how new york can help your business grow, at startup. Ny. Gov breaking news live from jerusalem, a possible cease fire. Israel has accepted a call for a humanitarian cause to allow relief supplies into gaza. Hamas needs more information before giving an official response. The air war continues and