there s rocketing all over gaza. the israelis say go into the urban areas, into the center of the town, which is an indication that israel is not intending to send its army there. mostly, they re sheltering in schools run by the united nations. there s about 21 schools overflowing with palestinian refugees. also, they probably go to the homes of friends and family, in particular family. the bottom line is, in a tiny, enclosed space like gaza under attack from the israelis by air, sea, and land, it s not safe anywhere. that s for sure, joy. indeed, martin fletcher. stay safe. appreciate it. reporter: thank you. the israeli ground invasion of gaza happens as the world celebrates international mandela day, a day approved unanimously by the u.n. five years ago, both to remember civil rights leader nelson mandela and to follow in his footsteps of making the world a better place. with me is the grandson of nelson mandela, one of the participants at the global citizen festival, which is
msnbc as part of the effort to stamp out extreme poverty worldwide by 2030. thank you so much for being here. i really appreciate it. thank you for having me, joy. i want to talk about one aspect of your grandfather s life and advocacy that doesn t get mentioned all that much, all that often. it was very important to him. that was his support for the palestinian people. what do you think he would make of the situation that we do see now, an incredibly impoverished gaza strip, hamas recalcitrant and continuing to launch rockets into israel, and we re no closer to peace between the palestinians and israelis than we were when your father was alive your grandfather was alive. i think he, you know, would strongly feel there needs to be a new set of dialogue ultimately. that s the only way there s going to be a breakthrough in that crisis. i know in south africa, he d spent time with the muslim population and the jewish population on, you know, how they could strengthen that dialogue
oppre oppressed. statemen at the same time, he acknowledged the fact the israeli state was essentially being bombarded at the same time. so you re a part of the global citizen initiative. this initiative to stamp out world poverty. gaza is a very unique case. it s one of the most densely populated places on earth. in 2012, the u.n. reported that the projected population growth would be up to 2.1 million people in 2020, up from 1.6 million people now living in an area about the size of philadelphia. also in that same 2012 report by the united nations, it found gazans were worse off than they were in the 1990 with a per capita gdp that was $13,027 a year in 1994 and that s projected to go down to $12,073. when you look at situations like that, that also include
possibility that this military effort may widen in the coming days. nbc s martin fletcher joins me now live from tel aviv. martin, can you give us a lay of what s going on there right now? reporter: yes, joy. it s almost exactly 24 hours after the first israeli troops crossed the border into gaza. their main objective in the short-term, anyway, the prime minister said is to find and destroy that network of secret tunnels the islamic militants have built leading from gaza inside israel to attack israeli civilians and soldiers inside israel. the army says it s found about 21 what they call exits of the tunnels. it doesn t necessarily mean 21 tunnels. each tunnel could have several exits. but that s quite an achievement in this short time. now, the israeli army says it could take about 10 to 14 days to find all those tunnels. that s a long time for the operation to escalate and for the fighting to get out of control. of course, that s the danger. at the same time, as they re operating a
i finally understand it. thank you very much. appreciate it. up next, how people are using social media to make sense of the tragedy of the downed plane. then president obama weighs in on the escalating crisis in gaza. the united states and our friends and allies are deeply concerned about the risks of further escalation and the loss of more innocent life. in the nation, the safest feature in your car is you. add vanishing deductible from nationwide insurance and get $100 off for every year of safe driving. which for you, shouldn t be a problem. just another way we put members first, because we don t have shareholders. join the nation. nationwide is on your side. that s a good thing, but it doesn t cover everything.