have killed three top hamas commanders. another four palestinian children have also been killed in a separate strike. we look at the devastating impact the israeli assault has had on children. asleep.re some were watching television and others were asleep. when i woke up, i was in the ambulance and then they took me to the hospital. that is what i remember. i stayed in the hospital for four days. >> at least 467 palestinian children have died in gaza since the israeli offensive began. we will speak with pernille ironside, chief of unicef's gaza field office. all of that and more coming up. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. .'m amy goodman peaceful protest continued last night in ferguson, missouri over the fatal police shooting of unarmed african-american teenager michael brown. prosecutors have begun presenting evidence before a grand jury to determine whether the officer who shot around, darren wilson, will face crumpled charges. for now, we will -- wilson remains on paid leave. eric holder visited ferguson and met with brown's parents amidst an ongoing federal probe into possible violations of civil rights. is throughhope also the trip of making out here today and by stressing the importance of in the way in which this investigation is going, that hopefully will have a calming influence on the area. that people know a federal, throw investigation is being done. being manned by these are capable people. my hope is that will have or give people some degree of confidence that the appropriate things are being done by their federal government. >> a police officer caught on video threatening to kill peaceful protesters in ferguson has been suspended indefinitely. video from tuesday night shows the officer pointing a semiotic -- semi automatic assault rifle at protesters, telling them to "go f-yourself." ee works for the saint ann police. announces your american team reports another police officer in kinloch, missouri, next to ferguson, ordered them to leave an area where there were shooting footage and tried to "bust your head." at the time they were on a public street. we will have more on ferguson after headlines. st. louis police have released a cell phone footage of the shooting of a 25-year-old black man that appears to conflict with their description of the story. on tuesday, police shot and heled kajieme powell after was accused of stealing energy to ranks and donuts from a convenience store. police chief sam dotson said powell had been shot three or four feet from the officers after brandishing a knife in an overhand grip and refusing repeated orders to drop it. but cellphone video from the scene shows how will appears to be further away than that, and has his hands at his side. it also shows police shot powell within about 20 seconds of arriving at the scene. the shooting happened about three miles from where michael brown was killed. has continued its assault on the gaza strip following the collapse of the latest cease-fire. three senior hamas commanders have reportedly died in an airstrike on the gaza strip earlier today to the southern town of rafah. the strike came one day after a failed israeli strike targeting hamas's top leadership. the airstrike missed one big killed his young son. press, at least six palestinians, four of them children, were killed in israeli attacks overnight in the northern town of beit lahiya and in gaza city. -- anotherr israelis four palestinians died in an airstrike on a graveyard in gaza city. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu got to continue the assault on gaza. >> i will continue to operate with firmness in insistence. operation protective edge is not finished, not for a minute. we're talking about the continued campaign. than 2000 palestinians, most of them civilians and hundreds of them children, have been killed as israel began its offensive six weeks ago. 64 israeli soldiers and three simians in israel have died. protests against the israeli assault on gaza continue across the country in the world. in new york city wednesday, a massive palestinian flag was unfurled from the manhattan bridge which connects brooklyn and lower manhattan. protesters marched parallel to it along the brooklyn bridge. we will have more on gaza later in the broadcast. in liberia, residents of a neighborhood in the capital monrovia clashed with police and soldiers wednesday after all entrances to the area were sealed off the midst fears of ebola. to tens ofis home thousands of people. residents there threw rocks and stormed barricades after awakening to realize they were trapped inside. police fired live rounds and teargas. over the weekend, residents and west point stormed a school where ebola patients were being reportedly without medical treatment. 17 patients escaped, but were later found and brought to a medical center. without of doctors borders told "the new york times" all health care facilities in monrovia are basically closed as the system has virtually collapsed. of the four countries affected in west africa, liberia has been hit with the most new cases. the outbreak is cut at least than all otherre ebola outbreaks combined. in the u.s., dr. kent brantly, who received experiment will drug after contracting ebola in liberia, reportedly has covered and will be released from the hospital today. the obama administration has launched new airstrikes on islamic state militants in iraq. the strikes came after the islamic state released a video of the beheading of american journalist james foley and threatened to kill another u.s. journalist if the airstrikes don't stop. on wednesday, obama vowed to continue the fight against the militants, who are also known as isil. talks united states of america will continue to do what we must do to protect our people. we will be vigilant and relentless. when people harm americans anywhere, we do what is necessary to see that justice is isil,nd we act against standing alongside others. >> obama administration officials have revealed u.s. special operations forces tried and failed to free james foley and other hostages during a secret raid early -- earlier in syria this summer. the team of commandos battled islamic state militants, but did not find any hostages. it is the first confirmed use of u.s. ground troops in syria since the civil war began. "the new york times" reports the u.s. also refused to pay a multimillion dollar ransom for foley's release. james foley's parents spoke to reporters on wednesday after the u.s. government confirmed the validity of the video showing their son's beheading. diane foley said she is praying for the release of u.s. journalist steven sotloff, who is also shown in the video, as well as for peace. country,t believe our our great country -- he was a great american. he believed in the very best of our country. as a country we can come together and help there be peace on earth. i just pray for that. and we pray that somehow stephen and the others might be spared. >> it is unclear exactly how many american captives are being held by islamic militants in syria. sharif monster of the committee to protect journalists said over the past three years syria has consistently been the most dangerous place for journalists with 69 killed covering the conflict. >> more than 80 cases of kidnaps that we know. many of those kidnappings were not public, were hard to track. 20 thate are at least we know right now are kidnapped in syria, including foreign and local journalists, many of whom are in isis custody. nation's has launched a massive relief effort aimed at reaching half a million people displaced by the advance of islamic state militants in northern iraq. >> the needs are absolutely massive right now. we've had 1.2 money people displaced in this country since january. hundreds of thousands of the last few weeks alone. so in the next 10 days, we will be bringing in some 2500 tons of aid, sending it out to those in need. they are in need because we see it every day. people are living in churches, mosques, by the side of the road in schools, in unfinished holdings. >> the family members of 12 people killed in the u.s. drone weddingn a getting -- party in yemen last are have received condolence payments totaling more than $19. documents provided by the group reprieve to "the washington post" show the payment ostensibly came on the yemeni government, but the high amount suggests u.s. government is providing reimbursement. the documents also reportedly show the identities of those killed. yemen is facing mounting protests from a shia rebel group known as the houthis. the group has issued a friday deadline for yemen to roll back a hike in feel prices, which have impacted the poor, and to dissolve the government, which they say is corrupt. thousands have gathered at protest camps in the capital. in her roshan month, at least 39 people are dead and seven others missing following flash floods and landslides caused by torrential rain. a record of over 8.5 inches of rain fell in three hours. in egypt, leading activist and blogger has launched a hunger strike to protest his third imprisonment since the start of the 2011 revolution. alaa abd el-fattah has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in a protest. during a prior stint in prison, he missed the birth of his first child. he launched his fast monday after finding out his father is in dire health. you can see sharif abdel kouddous interview with alaa abd el-fattah at our website democracynow.org. in afghanistan, the attorney general has ordered the expulsion of "new york times" correspondent matthew rosenberg after he probably to an article on the country's political crisis. with two candidates claiming victory in the presidential race, rosenberg reported top afghan officials are considering forming an interim government, an act that would amount to a coup. rosenbergednesday, said afghan authorities first ordered him to remain in the country, then ordered him to leave. >> yesterday i was not allowed to leave the country and they put that in the media. today, i have to leave the country and they put it in the media. it is almost like a politically motivated thing. we are tried respect due process and we're simply would appreciate the same from the authorities. >> thousands rallied in dublin, ireland to protest anti-choice laws after a teenage rape victim was denied an abortion and forced to undergo a c-section. the woman said she first sought an abortion was she was eight weeks pregnant, but the state to liberally delayed her case. she reported being suicidal, went on a hunger strike, and was openly forced to deliver prematurely at 25 weeks. ireland softened its pain on abortion last are following the ,eath of savita halappanavar who died from an infection after being denied an abortion. while abortion is now allowed if a woman's life is in danger, including from suicide, critics of the new rules are complex and may be nearly impossible to navigate. argentinaay its creditors domestically and avoid the jurisdiction of a u.s. court which sent the country into default. a u.s. judge blocked argentina from making any repayments without also repaying full to refunds led by billionaire paul singer. demanded full repayment after buying argentina's debt for bargain prices after its financial crisis. the argentine government has sent commerce a bill to service the debt through its own central bank instead of through the bank of new york mellon. bank of america has agreed to pay nearly $17 billion to settle a probe over its sale of toxic or goods backed securities that fueled the financial crisis. it is the largest corporate settlement with the federal government in u.s. history. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. >> welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. peaceful protests continued last night in ferguson, missouri over the fatal police shooting of unarmed african-american teenager michael brown. weree said six arrests made last night. ericattorney general holder travel to ferguson on wednesday and told residents "change is coming." >> right here, right now to talk with the people in this area who are deserving of our attention. we want to listen. that is the main part of this trip. we want to listen. >> eric holder met with high school students in ferguson and recalled how he had repeatedly been targeted by police officers because of his race. the nation's first african-american attorney general also penned an editorial in "st. louis dispatch" in which he vowed to -- >> also on wednesday, st. louis county prosecutors began presenting evidence to a grand jury that will determine whether police officer darren wilson is charged with a crime for killing michael brown. county prosecutor bob mcculloch said the process could last through october. his team has already interviewed wilson and says he will be offered the opportunity to testify. outside the courthouse, protesters called for mcculloch to be replaced by special prosecutor. mcculloch possible, police officer, was killed by an african-american while on duty. the color responded to the calls wednesday to an interview on ktrs radio. fromsolutely no intention walking away from the duties and responsibilities entrusted in me by the people of this commodity. i have done it for 24 years. if i say so myself, i've done a very good job at that, fair and impartial in every matter that comes before us. so when others come to me and say, we want you to go away -- and i understand that. they have the ability and right to do that. but i have tried to say, listen, i'm not going to do that. i'm not walking away from this. i have been entrusted with these responsibilities. i understand having declared a state of emergency, governor nixon has the authority right now to say, mcculloch is out of this case. >> all of this comes as officer wilson remains on paid leave. meanwhile, a police officer caught on video threatening to peacefuleers -- protesters in ferguson has been suspended indefinitely. the video from tuesday night shows the officer pointing his semiautomatic assault rifle at protesters, saying he will kill them and telling them to "go f-- yourself." last that i return from ferguson, missouri. we visited the site where michael brown was killed. the road just outside the apartments. i spoke to young people who live nearby, including some of them who knew him. first, we stopped by a protest outside the ferguson police station. can you tell me your name? is this your son? >> this is my grandson. >> what is your name? >> diondre smith. >> what are you doing up here tonight? >> i was hanging with my nana [captioning made possible by democracy now!] . >> what are you here? >> we want to know the truth. we deserve to know the truth. i think the brown family deserves some justice. you have to charge this guy or something. you can't just kill a kid and think everything is going to be all right. >> tell me what your t-shirt says. >> hands up, don't shoot. >> and your sign? >> my sign says, you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. >> do you know the brown family? >> i don't know them, but i don't have to know them. we're all standing behind them. >> where are we standing right now? by thee over here ferguson police department. >> what are you protesting here? >> because this is a ferguson police officer, so we need to come here and make them understand that we want justice. we're not going to just stand around and let you keep on running over people. this young man is 10 years old. i want to see him grow. i want to see him do something. my oldest grandson grew up. do you know what he did? he is serving his country. i think the young man should of had a chance to go to school and realize a dream. >> did your son go to iraq or afghanistan? >> we are a navy family. my husband is retired. my daughter is still serving in pearl harbor and my grandson is in san diego. my other son. out and he is in college. i want these young wants to have that same chance. >> what do you want to be when you grow up? well, i just want to serve our country so i can make a difference in the world. >> my young people, i know we have been wronged. they know they have been wrong. but it only changes when we work together as one. >> tell me your name and what your sign says. >> my name is rona. pring. sign is negros the same as the arabs and the we are fighting for our civil rights, our human rights. we would like one of the end results, there ought to be a law. police officers should not be allowed to hide behind a badge if they commit a crime. they should have penalties. it is not fair. they should not be treated like extra special humans. >> it is around 10:00 at night. a gathering of several hundred people holding all sorts of to handsm negro spring up, don't shoot. they seem to beheading on down -- they seem to be heading down in front of the police station. there is a line of riot police in front of the station. we will go ask them their plans for tonight. i was wondering what the plans are for the police tonight? >> you would have to talk to the commander. >> is there a curfew? >> know, ma'am. >> of their been any charges? >> not that we are aware of. >> we leave the police station where the protesters have gathered across the street and we headed to the canceled apartments, the home of michael's grandmother. and there the middle of the road just beyond the barricade is the memorial for michael brown. , payesidents leave roses their respects, walk around and drive past. and people want to talk. can you tell me your name? >> steve. >> you live here in these apartments? >> yes, i moved here last friday -- >> august 8? >> yes. when i moved in that day, it was peaceful. the next morning, i woke up and i found the body dead in the middle of the street. they left it out for a good six to seven hours before they even tried to pick it off the street. >> this was mike brown? >> yes, in the middle of the street. his monument is right there. you want to go over there? >> so you moved here one day before he was killed. you walked outside on saturday, august nine, and you saw his body laying in the road. was anyone around his body? it was i cannot sign, all blocked off. the police blocked it all. they did not really try to pick up the body. they just left it there for the whole world to see. everybody in the neighborhood -- i guess they were trying to show a point like, don't disrespect or this might happen to you. they just left it there for a good 7, 6 hours. >> was his body covered? >> no, no, no, laying face down dead in the middle of the street for hours. >> you just lay down a rose. >> yes, to show my respect. they said they stole cegarel los from the gas station. >> what is your name? >> quinton. >> tell me what you are wearing on your face. >> the mike brown had been with the bandanna around my mouth. >> why around your mouth? >> to cover my face from the teargas. i have been tear gassed twice, two nights in a row. >> how old are you? >> 19 years old. >> where do you live? >> south county, south st. louis. >> what brought you here? >> mike brown. all of this. i came to support my city, that's all. >> are you shocked by this? >> yeah, it is very crazy. wild. i came to show peace. >> what do you see here in this monument to mike brown that is in the middle of the street were constantly cars are going by either side? >> candles and flowers and cross, pictures of him. there is still blood. his blood is still on the street underneath the cadillacs. the call for justice, to be heard. youths the away the root know how to portray it. for now, this is our crowd. >> to you live here at these apartments? >> yes. i live here in st. louis on the southside. i come out here to show my condolences. >> you knew mike brown? >> yes. it is tragedy. he is not the type of person the news for trade -- portrayed. he was a good, kindhearted person and had a good future, a good head on her shoulders. >> what is your name? >> undisclosed. thank you. >> i'm rico. i'm 22 years old. >> did you know mike brown? >> yes, ma'am, he was a good friend of mine. him and dorian. >> dorian johnson? >> yes, ma'am. >> were you around august 9? >> i came soon after mike was already pronounced dead. >> can you tell me a little bit about him? did he live here? >> he has family that lives over here in this building. and on up through northwinds. he was a good friend of mine. people from black communities, a lot of black people don't graduate and finish school. they'd rather do other stuff. gigantic parents and stuff. they have to fend for themselves. my wasn't one of them. he was one of them guys that finished school. she had parents that was on him and supported him. this is just uncalled for. it is really uncalled for. it is just not right. they want to block as in and make us feel like we're nothing. like we have no say so. we live here, pay rent here, and we have been here forever. forever. i just one justice served. i want to see mike's family happy and proud knowing this cop killer's office street and knowing by black people are not being killed by another officer, by darren wilson or whoever he is. he hurt a lot of people. my pain don't stop. i'm out here and i will continue being out here. i'm not going to stop. i will continue being out here supporting my black brothers and stuff. i want them to know i'm out here supporting and doing it for y'all. i like to see my young black people come together. we all do this for mike. i don't want to see no one else looting and doing none of that. i just want everybody to be peaceful and we do this for mike. we march and everything and do this the right way. >> is there usually this much air traffic in the sky? >> yes, this has been going on every night. d,ds getting mac, teargase rubber bullets. innocent people who live in this area -- you throw tear gas and all this stuff, and it is messing up everybody. everybody who wants to step outside and go to their cars, their breathing the stuff in the air. it is coming. i had a struggle to fight just to walk from the street over to the bridge. myself, keep going, keep going, because the teargas was breaking me down. i have asthma. >> and these apartments, you smell the teargas? >> it is all through here, in the homes and everything. they told us no curfew yesterday. by 9:00, there was teargas and everything. the police officers told us, no curfew tonight. but they lied to us. there goes again. how are we supposed to feel like these officers can be trusted and we're supposed to call them for help and stuff and at the same time, we are being abused and lied to by you officers and being killed? and being killed? it hurts. it hurts. it hurts. >> who made the sign behind you? >> this cross? >> right under the cross. >> beware, killer cop on the loose. watch out, children. i say, watch out children, because he killed a child. i have kids of my own. like i said, it hurts. >> what is your name? >> rodney. i am 26. heado you get shot in your two times and four times in your body and he had his hands up? >> if you're trying to stop someone and it is to the point you have to fire, officers are e,ained to fire at legs mac whatever. how does that all happened? >> did you know mike brown? >> i did not know him. i'm not saying him a perfect and, but i have a past history. i'm perfect,ying and i've had a past history. i don't feel this is right. to see that innocent person get killed on that matter in a do nothing to do with what happened, just because he was walking in the street and refused to get on the sidewalk, is not right. i'll not going to criminalize myself, but i did a lot more wrong. i did my time. i am a changed man. i have kids to take care of. but he did not have a chance to face his day in court. at that moment, he was not being charged with nothing. the police told him to get on the side and he refused. whatever happened from that moment, i can't really make accusations, but from what was told, he still should not have taken that man's life. he can't have kids, see his kids grow, teach them things about life. he left them behind. his family took to shave him to be this person and go to school -- like me, i did not graduate from high school. to see a man do something for himself, it ate right. >> i stay in northwinds apartment. this is not only african-american man, but a child, nonetheless, and another mother is putting her child at risk. i was very upset by because i have a 16-year-old myself and that could have been my child or anyone else's child out here. very disturbing. >> what do you tell your 16-year-old son? >> i wanted to show him this could been you and this could've been your cousins. you're not exempt from this. it only takes seconds, the wrong identity, and i could be bearing you. so many things going on in the world. so much in be in the world, i don't him to be part of it. toake sure he was learning stand up for his rights and know how to cope with the police and things of that nature and to stay away from anything that a goodo turn him from thing. as the mother said, it is hard to get young black graduate. once you get them to graduate, this is what they succumb to. >> did you see mike brown's mother on saturday? >> yes, i did. >> with his body? >> yes, i did. >> there was his head? >> this headless facing this way and his body was this way -- his head was facing this way and his body was this way. >> he was on his stomach? >> yes, on historic facing down. >> i see him walking everywhere. he did not happen. don't do nothing. he was a peaceful guy. what they did was wrong. the police said that he beat him up. to see it. we want to see everything. he did not give it up. god be the judge. god be the judge. he was an innocent man. he fell on his knees. they shot him in the eyes and a half and four times down here. >> for participating in the protests? teargas andt everything. could not breathe. hands up, don'shoot them is all i've got to say. . >> residents standing around the makeshift manorial signs, candles, stuffed animals and flowers, sitting in the middle-of-the-road when october after his last breath after in a by police officer darren wilson on august 9. grounds violating the road for more than four hours. oil is a sign that said "beware, killer cop on the loose. watch out, children." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. when we come back, we will be joined by pernille ironside. stay with us. ♪ [music break] >> she posted that online yesterday in response to the ferguson protests and the death of michael brown. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. three senior hamas commanders have reportedly died in an airstrike on the gaza strip earlier today your the southern town of rafah. the strike came one day after an israeli airstrike killed the wife and seven-month-old son of hamas's top commander mohammed deif. palestinians, four children, were killed in israeli attacks overnight in the in gaza city. another four palestinians died in an airstrike on a gaza city graveyard. palestinians have been killed since israel began its offensive six weeks ago. >> israel has lost 64 soldiers in the conflict, three siblings in israel have also been killed. in a nationwide address, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu vowed a continuous campaign against hamas. thenly the guarantee of calm and safety of israeli citizens bring an end to this operation, and therefore, i will continue to operate with firmness and insistence. operation protective edge is not finished. not for a minute. we're talking about a continued campaign. >> meanwhile in the gaza city of rafah, many residents are searching for survivors after israeli air strikes. an owner of one of the houses destroyed -- >> while we were sleeping, they struck us with the first rocket, then a second, then a third and then four consent of rockets. there was no warning or phone call, nothing at all. all of a sudden of the sudden, the house was struck. people are searching for bodies and the houses have sustained heavy damage in the situation cannot get any worse. >> we turn now to look at the impact the offensive has had on children. more than 467 palestinian children have died since july, more than the combined number of child to tell it is in the two previous conflicts in gaza. according to the world health organization, over 3000 children have an injured, of which an estimated 1000 will suffer from lifelong disabilities. >> the united nations estimates at least 373,000 children require direct and specialized psychosocial support. and based on the total number of adults killed, there may be up to 1500 children orphaned. to anchildren's right education has also been severely compromised with at least 25 schools reportedly damaged so severely that they can no loer besed. r re wspend thder irde, chief ofnif's za d office. she is here in new york for a few days before returning to gaza. welcome to democracy now! talk about the situation. you were there through the entire assault until now. >> yes. today, the future of palestinian children in gaza is extraordinarily bleak. the entire population has experienced a deep form of trauma and there isn't a single family in gaza who hasn't experienced personally death, injury, the loss of their home, extensive damage, displacement. the psychological toll that it has on a people, it just cannot be overestimated. especially on children. i have met children who have experienced extraordinary wounds , who have watched as family members were dismembered before their eyes. obliterated. shortly after that terrible incident on the beach, the furling -- the following day i met -- >> > the beach? >> across from the hotel in gaza where water children were killed -- four children were killed. i met with the surviving three boys who watched and who are just barely escaped with their lives. they were in a deep state of trauma. the impact in the type of weaponry that is being used is literally shredding and obliterating people. particularly, children, who are so small and vulnerable. all of this is coming on top of twolready deep wound from reviews conflicts. a seven-year-old child has artie had to live through that and is now exposed to having these fears and frustrations and anger and emotions and reliving loss on top of what is happening now. gaza this sense that in there is no place that is safe anymore, not even under the auspices of the united nations? could you talk about some of the attacks that have come on schools or shelters that are being run by the united nations? >> there appears to be a rollback in terms of the compliance with the norms of international humanitarian law that the a -- dictate civilians and silly and objects, including shelters that are run for relief purposes, are protected spaces at all times. there have been six attacks and strikes on you and facilities to which people have sought safety. have are people who received notifications to clear out of their neighborhoods because they were going to become military zones of operation. they fled seeking safety, believing that the united nations and his designated shelters that have been fully coordinated with the israeli officials would provide them that safety. of instead, multiple cases fatalities and injuries, including entire families in the middle of the night were impacted. so not even the sanctity of the u.n. flag right now is being respected in gaza. >> how many united nations personnel died in these attacks? >> there have been 11 colleagues who have been killed, tragically, in the last few week. are 1.8 residents, something like that, 1.8 million residents of gaza. how many of them are children? >> over half of the population of gaza is in fact children. one million children. that is children below the age of 18. when you look at individuals who use, that is the the majority of gaza. the conditions right now that are being allowed to perpetuate in gaza and are in fact being greatly exacerbated, really are dictating the future for these children. and it is extraordinarily bleak. how as a child going to cope with and have any kind of sense of optimism or sense of future possibility and the value of continuing with their studies under the conditions of the occupation with his third cycle of violence? it is our duty as the international community, to put an end to this and to provide a reason to live for these children. girl, who i met shirley before last week -- who i met shortly before last week, she is well educated, smart, comes from a good family. she told me that she preferred to have been killed under the bombardment rather than to survive and be faced with the ongoing anguish, sense of deprivation and hopelessness of the future that is gaza right now. and that sentiment is widely shared amongst many people, but especially amongst children. unicef is one agency that is trying to provide kids with the coping skills and the reason to live and believe there is a brighter future through education, through action curricular activities, to the psychosocial support we have been providing for years. isch open ultimately need peace and that requires political action. cease-fires that have been attempted over the last several days, what is your sense of what needs to change in the status quo? if we have another cease-fire, you're still julian with the reality that the u.n. has to do all of this work to basically keep the people of gaza alive and functioning. what you feel needs to be done just beyond the cease-fire? >> people cannot just live from one cease-fire to the next. it is incredibly destabilizing. it is a form of psychological , even. am what is needed is the entire conditions under which gaza -- gazan people are made to exist on a day-to-day basis need to be gravely changed and altered. rather than just having a form of existence under all kinds of oppression, suppression, without really the exercise of basic human rights and dignity. gazans deserve the right to live. that is the crucial change. it means opening up gaza. enabling people to move across the borders, bringing in goods. at the current rate, just looking at the rebuilding of the homes and housing units that have been destroyed -- 18,000 is the current number of a 17 thousand or 18,000. it will take 18 years to rebuild under the current restrictive measures, those homes. think about the future families and children under those conditions. >> i want to play a comment for you made by the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to wolf blitzer last month. >> all civilian casualties are unintended by us, but actually intended by hamas. manywant to pile up as civilian dead as they can because somebody said -- it is gruesome. they use telegenically dead palestinians for their cause. the more debt, the better. >> that is benjamin netanyahu saying that hamas uses the telegenically dead, the more debt, the better. pernille ironside? >> the children i have met with our very real and i can assure you that these are lives that have been shattered forever. they are ordinary children and families who truly only want to be able to live a normal -- "normal" life. how can we expect people to do that under these conditions where there are denied their basic human rights and dignity? children need to be given a reason to believe that there is a better future. at the moment, we are on an slope.dinarily slippery we are going to end up with an entire population of kids, people, who all they think about is hatred, intolerance, possible radicalism and extremism unless they're given a more positive outlet. >> we're talking to pernille unicef's gazaf of field office. we will be back with her in a moment. ♪ [music break] >> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. in the last 48 hours, nine more palestinian children have died in gaza. our guest is pernille ironside, chief of unicef's gaza field office. >> i wanted to ask you about the water situation in gaza. it was artie a profound problem before this offensive, but what has happened -- we're talking about now the most basic of human needs, access to drinking water. what happened since the offensive? >> there are a number of water treatment plants, pumping stations, and the gaza power plant that have been struck by missiles and essentially rendered inoperable. so 1.5 million people out of 1.8 have not had consistent access to clean drinking water. there is cross contamination from the sewage pipes that are now leaking into the water system. there is people who have been cut off from water for weeks in their communities, but also trying to restore water trucking when there has been a steady stream of bombardment is extraordinarily difficult. drinking providing water to the installation of water points at communities, a voucher program that is reaching 10,000 families. infrastructureon isso grave and fast that it extremely difficult for any agency to cope with, let alone local water authorities, eight of whom technicians have been killed while on duty. john snowto turn to of channel four, british news anchor. when he returned from gaza last month, he made this emotional on your appeal. >> what i never knew is what i know now, which is that those people who live in gaza are mainly the unbelievably young. the average age is 17. that means about 250,000 are under 10. there was one specific moment that stood out above all others. and that was penetrating the shifafloor of the hospital, one of two floors dedicated to children. met a child, i terribly crippled by shrapnel as it penetrated her spine. that is where i saw this little 2.5-year-old with panda-sized, panda-liketing round ones that almost prevents her eyes from opening at all. they were the consequences of her broken skull and fractured skull. images out ofhose my mind. i don't think you can, either, because they been everywhere. they are the essence of what is happening in gaza. >> that is the report of jon britain.hannel 4 in the littleonside met girl, seven years old. tell us more about her. has recklessly survived -- miraculously survived a grotesque attack on her home. she has lost her parents and four of her sisters. currently, she is paralyzed beneath the neck and requires surgery in order to maybe regain some mobility. she is being looked after by the incredible team at shifa emergency hospital and by her three aunts, who were also around her -- who are also around her at her bedside right now. at this little girl needing to have treatment abroad , even there, she doesn't have somebody to go with her. she is basically in a state of existence with trying to have the best support from what her means canwith limited cope with. the little girl is not alone. she is one of the children -- i have met other children at al shifa and elsewhere. physical very grave injuries, but quite frankly, it is the emotional scars that really will have a lasting impact on gazan children and for whom we all, the entire international community, must to a in common humanity dress a situation in gaza and provide alleviation for children and hope. >> what was happening for this last offensive in terms of psychological support to children who have been through the trauma, this continual on and off again war in the gaza strip? unfortunately, or fortunately, we've had to have a long-standing relationship with incredible teams of psychologists on the ground. palestinian psychologists, who are all too familiar and experienced with providing that immediate relief and coping skills to families who have experienced incredible loss, and helping kids find some means of dealing with their situation. losswill never recover the of a family member, loved one. it is not something you get over. you learn to cope. who were artie in this fragile coping state, which is now just being added to. >> i'm haunted by something you said earlier. thisisrael is bombing are majority children. more than a million of the 1.8 million are under 18. iswe wrap up, the siege that one of the core issues of the cease-fire that keeps ending because they can't resolve this. as the head of unicef in gaza, ,hat does this siege mean outside of the assault of the palestinians have lived with for years, the blockade? of restrictionns in closure, daily monitoring, the overhead drones that one can here at anytime of the day or night -- it creates a climate of of certainly that you are being watched at all times, and that you really come as a child, this is the limit of your world. palestinians are connected to what happens outside in the world through television, to the internet. they're the most literate people in the middle east. what we do now as an international community to bring justice and change in palestine is crucial for the future of gaza. >> pernille ironside, thank you so much. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to [email protected] or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 p.o. box 693 new york, ne >> announcer: in china's yunnan province, tea is an artistic expression as much as it is a way of life. join martin yan as he serves up a cup of his favorite brew. next on martin yan's hidden china. 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