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the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". ♪ >> this is "bbc world news america." the u.s. president promises a drops to gaza as calls grow for an investigation into a deadly incident at an 80 convoy. thousands gather to say goodbye to alexei navalny two weeks after his death. iranians said to the polls for the first time since antigovernment protests. one of more than 50 countries holding major elections this year.

welcome to world news america. u.s. president joe biden announced plans friday for a military airdrop of food and aid supplies into gaza in the coming days, saying, we need to do more and the united states will do more. other countries including jordan, the u.k., and france have carried out aid drops into gaza. the desperation for supplies is growing. according to the united nations, at least a quarter of the population is uno the brink of famine. data groups have criticized -- aid groups have criticized air drops as an inefficient way to provide relief. 116 palestinians were killed as they crowded around and aid facility in northern gaza. the israeli army admits soldiers opened fire at one point, but says most deaths were caused by

crash or vehicles running people over. this report contains some expressing -- distressing images. >> shots cracked through the night. people start to move. then run to get away. in this section of the crowd, as casualties streamed into local hospitals, the testimony of witnesses. >> the situation was unimaginably crazy. if aid is going to come to us in this way, we don't want to live uno the blood of our children. >> the israelis say that up 4:40 a.m., the convoy left under tank escort and begin to move to the

crowds waiting for food. the army supplied drone footage, but there is no way of telling the sequence of the images because there is no timestamp. the israelis say crowds began to search around the trucks. others can be seen crawling away. here someone looks as if they are dragging themselves using their upper body. what we don't see is what caused these casualties. the idf said people had been trampled rushing the trucks and also that shots were fired by soldiers who felt threatened by a crowd. this tank is seen withdrawing from the scene. later, the military blamed people in the crowd for the chaos. >> thousands of gazans dispensed upon the trucks. some began violently pushing and even trampling other gazans to death, looting the material

supplies. the unfortunate incident resulted in dozens of gazans killed and injured. the israel defense forces operate according to the rules of engagement and international law. no idf strike was conducted toward the aid convoy. >> a doctor we spoke to said the dead and wounded he sour all gunshot victims. >> [speaking foreign language] >> today, aid was dropped by jordan's air force into northern gaza.

the hungry rushed toward the food. but nearly five months into this conflict, there is no operation to deliver aid to know the scale that is needed in a place where 85% of the population is displaced. >> people are so desperate for food and freshwater, any supplies that they risk their lives in getting any supplies to support their children and themselves. >> how many were shot and how crash?rampled in a desperate it is not yet possible to say, but without a secure aid operation in the midst of continuing war, the people of gaza wait for the next tragedy. bbc news, jerusalem. >> as the humanitarian crisis arco -- in gaza deepens, the say they will increase emergency support to palestinians in 2024.

the u.s. and u.k. are among countries that paused funding due to allegations that staff members may have been involved in the october 7 attacks by hamas, which has been declared a terrorist organizations by several governments. those claims are being investigated. a short while ago, i spoke to the spokesperson for the un secretary-general about this new european funding and the call for an investigation into the deadly incident at the aid convoy. i wanted to ask you about this investigation. the u.n. and several nations backing that. what would an investigation look like and how possible is it to conduct one given israel's continuing military operation in gaza? >> at some point there will need to be a credible investigation. there will need to be accountability for what happened. it is challenging to say the

least to conduct one in the midst of a conflict. this is one of the reasons we want to see a humanitarian cease-fire as quickly as possible. at the end of the day, we have more than 100 people dying because they were dying to get food. they were trampled by others, killed by bullets or run over by trucks. none of this is acceptable and all of this is heartbreaking to say the least. >> you mentioned the death toll and the level of panic. who right now is responsible for ensuring the safety of civilians in gaza? >> right now israel as the occupying power has a responsibility toward the civilians. but it also bears to say that all parties to the conflict have a responsibility to protect civilians and ensure that they are not being targeted, to

ensure that civilian infrastructure is not destroyed or used arco military operations. >> in that case it bears asking, what needs to be done to ensure the safety of gazans and make sure incidents like this don't happen again. >> the best way to ensure their safety is to end the fighting. right now, the you and is doing its utmost to deliver humanitarian aid in a conflict situation, which means we are really being opportunistic instead of being able to scale up to meet the needs of 2 million civilians. there is a breakdown of civil order arco gaza. we have very little if any de-confliction and coordination with the israeli forces. we don't have enough trucks in gaza. there is not enough aid going in in gaza. despite all this, we had a

colleagues who spent two and half hours at the hospital in the north of gaza to deliver fuel and medicines and vaccines and supplies, but it is all a drop in the bucket. >> i want to ask you, the israeli prime minister has said he wants to see the permanent closure of an agency. will you stand by if israel orders it to be shut down? >> get operates under a mandate given to it by the u.n. general assembly. that is the authority. it operates in gaza and the occupied west bank, in jordan, syria, and lebanon. it is the backbone of health and education and social services in so many parts of the region. and in gaza, it is the humanitarian heart of the work that we are trying to do to keep

people alive. the collapse of unrwa would be disastrous for more than 2 million palestinians currently in gaza, not to count for those who were like no our services in other parts of the region. >> spokesperson for the u.n. secretary general, we thank you for your time. >> thank you very much. >> joining me now is the former israeli ambassador to the united states. thank you for being here. hundreds dead in that eight incident in gaza and we are hearing about the increasing desperation and lawlessness in the territory. how much blame should israel soldier for failing to maintain basic order and the safety of gazans? >> all of these pictures and the entire incident is utterly heartbreaking, heartbreaking, so difficult to watch. the question is the degree to which israel is responsible for this. we are investigating. israel has had four convoys

going into gaza. eight has piled up outside of gaza. our soldiers are risking their lives to bring in aid to the palestinians while they are being under fire. >> a spokesperson saying it is the security situation that means that they have had to pull out and shouldn't the israeli army be responsible for maintaining at least a level of order to bring in aid? >> it is very difficult. hamas is firing at our soldiers, it is firing even at palestinians who are trying to get at the aid. i guarantee if you go down to the tunnels to wear hamas terrorists are hiding, they are very well fed. they don't care about their own civilian populations. the head of hamas gave an interview where he said he welcomed the fact that palestinians are starving, that civilians are being killed.

that is increasing pressure on israel to impose a cease-fire and that means hamas gets away with mass murder, re-arms, and mounts the next attack against israel which is what hamas officials have sworn to do. the entire situation is unbearable. >> those negotiations over a cease-fire, do you think this incident will change the calculus and might bring more pressure to both sides to find some sort of a deal? >> it might. i'm not a spokesman for the state of israel so i'm watching this and thinking if i were in the driver seat in jerusalem, i would say this would increase the chances of a hostage exchange deal. a cease-fire has the additional benefit of creating a certain amount of space where these aid convoys could go in. i think it enhances the chances for a deal. >> building on that, we heard

claims from hamas that seven more hostages have died in captivity. what will that due to to the israeli government? we have heard from families calling for nonmilitary means of bringing those hostages back. might we see that one horizon? >> you are going to see increasing pressure all the time. the hostages are starving. we don't know whether these hostages have died in captivity or they were dead already and dragged into captivity. they have the bodies of two of our soldiers from the 2014 conflict. we don't know. the notion of hostages and redeeming hostages is a sacred principle and deeply ingrained in jewish law. yes, it puts pressure on the government. at the end of the day, they are

going to have to lower their demands. there was even a hamas demand that they take over the temple mount. i don't think that that is a good bargaining point. it would be any israeli minister. there is also the question of how many prisoners are released from israeli jails. you have to explain to their families why they are getting out of jail. that is a very difficult situation for any government and certainly the government of israel. >> the former israeli ambassador to the united states, thank. thousands of people turned out to pay their respects to russian opposition leader alexei navalny

as he was laid to rest in moscow. he was buried two weeks after he died. our editor sent us this report from moscow. >> they came to say goodbye to the man who had given them hope, but died in prison. outside the church, longer and longer the queue of russians wanting to pay their last respects to alexei navalny. he was our hope, she tells me. i feel like i'm burying my own son. >> he was the only person i could trust. i was dreaming of him to become our president. it is a huge tragedy for me and my people. >> the kremlin have called mr. navalny an extremist, a criminal , but listen to the reaction

when his coffin arrived. [chanting] by now, the whole street was watching and chanting the name of vladimir putin's fiercest opponent. navalny. we won't give in, they cried. and suddenly, the climate of fear that has descended on russia seems to clear for a time despite all the police that were here. [chanting] no towar, they chanted. in church, alexei navalny's parents sat by the open coffin as an orthodox priest recited prayers for the soul of their son. mr. navalny's death first and foremost, a family tragedy. when the service was over, the coffin was carried back to the hearse. then from his supporters, a

spontaneous show of respect for the man who challenged the kremlin. with carnations and roses, they sent him on his final journey. and the crowds followed. as they walked toward the cemetery, they chanted the kind of antigovernment slogans unheard on russian streets for two years. [chanting] freedom to political prisoners. and russia will be free. the authorities did not want alexei navalny's funeral to become a very public event, a public display of sympathy for the man who was a vocal critic of the kremlin. but that it is what it is turning into. lots of flowers, but one tribute today came in a message from mr. navalny's wife who is a broad and may risk arrest if she returns. she sent farewell by posting, i don't know how to live without you, but i will try my best to

make you up there happy for me and proud. as alexei navalny was laid to rest, a band played music from terminator 2 and the sinatra classic "my way." is way had been to challenge the kremlin and he had lost. bbc news, moscow. >> some are calling 2020 for the year of elections. more than 50 countries are holding national elections with voters casting ballots for presidents, parliaments, and national assemblies. one closely watched upcoming election is right here in the u.s. it is expected to pit incumbent joe biden against the likely republican nominee former president donald trump. in the u.k., prime minister rishi sunak must call an election for mid-december although a date could be announced sooner. his conservative party trails badly behind the labour party in

polls. in mexico, campaigning is officially underway for an election in june that is expected to be the biggest in the country's history. voters will elect a new president as well as 600 numbers of congress and thousands of local representatives. it is very likely mexico will soon have its first female president as the two leading candidates are both women. let's go now to mexico city where we can speak with our correspondent. i guess the big headline here is that a matter what the outcome, we are expecting the country to elect its first female leader. tell me about the significance of this upcoming vote. >> that would be interesting in mexico at any stage, the idea of the country's first woman president, but when you are talking about a country steeped in machismo for so long, it is an important step forward. people at this event feel that.

i'm standing at the event for the mayor of mexico city and she is the chosen candidate and the preferred candidate of the income rent -- incumbent. polls have her very far ahead, she looks like she already has a 25% to 30% lead over her nearest competitor, also a woman. she has launched her campaign in one of the states where drug violence is at its worst. that will be one of the many issues that is knocking around. it is always the economy when we talk about latin america and particularly mexico. it will be security and crime that play important roles in these election platforms. >> mexico has really been struggling with organized crime, violence. how are the candidates and the parties proposing to tackle that?

>> it is an extension of the social and economic policies. she knows that that will echo very well. his strategy on crime has been broadly criticized by many. it will be interesting to see whether in the coming weeks she proposes something more solid and more direct. certainly her competitor is talking about prisons for drug cartel members. it is going to be very hard to knock her down off the platform that she is on, which is supported so much by the supporters of the president. >> our correspondent will graham in mexico city where campaigning is getting off to a raucous start. thank you so much. iranians have been voting.

friday's elections are a crucial member of national support, but many people are reluctant to vote or choosing not to following mass demonstrations two years ago. the bbc has not been allowed a report from iran in five years, but our correspondent has been granted rare permission and she has more on the public mood. >> we saw in central tehran where foreign and domestic media have been invited to. there was a bride dressed fully and had ditto dressed in white. ministers have given their comments to the media. many spoke to us about the fact that they felt it was their duty

to vote, that they had been urged by the supreme leader to do so and they needed to show they were invested in iran's future. we also went to a different part of iran where people were doing their shopping ahead of the new year. there we could barely get people to talk to us about politics. those who did did so anonymously and many of them said they were planning not to vote because they did not feel like their voices were going to be heard or make a difference. we don't know what the final voter turnout will be and that will more likely come out tomorrow. >> sticking with our elections theme, india will be going to the polls in a couple of months. on thursday, the watchdog group freedom house released its 2024 pole on global freedom levels were treated india partly free. the prime minister's government has said in the past that india's democratic principles are robust and thriving.

we met the former governor of india central bank who expressed concerns for india's democratic prospects, but also a measure of hope. >> you have expressed concerns about democratic backsliding. do you think we are dangerously veering toward autocracy? >> i think these words are pretty strong. i would stay away from that for now. what i would say is the direction of drift is very clear. it has been clear by every index that you can look at. at the same time, one can always hope and india has done this in the past that you have a strengthening once again. >> you can watch a special program all about india's upcoming elections.

"this is india" is on the bbc news channel over the weekend. thank you for watching. "bbc world news america." ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: "usa today" calls it, "arguably the best bargain in streaming." that's because the free pbs app lets you watch the best of pbs anytime, anywhere.

♪ amna: good evening. geoff: on the newshour tonight, thousands gather for the funeral of russian opposition leader alexei navalny devine the kremlin and fears of a police crackdown. amna: four years after the first covid-19 death in the u.s. we speak to the cdc director about new guidance. >> we think we found that the balance to protecting the most vulnerable and having a clear and simple way for most folks to