07/22/14 07/22/14 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica, this is democracy now! we have serious concerns about the rising number of palestinian civilian deaths and the loss of israeli lives. and that is why it now has to be our focus in the focus of the international community to bring about a cease-fire that ends the fighting and can stop the deaths of innocent civilians, both in gaza and israel. >> as international pressure

mounts for cease-fire in gaza, the palestinian death toll tops 600, overwhelmingly civilians. we will go to sharif abdel kouddous in gaza city then to tel aviv to speak with israeli journalist gideon levy. as over 100,000 people in gaza take refuge in you in shelters, we go to jerusalem to speak with a representative of the u.n. relief and works agency for palestine refugees. all of that and more them enough. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the palestinian death toll in gaza has topped 600 as the israeli siege enters its third week. most of those killed are civilians, more than 100 are children. israel says it has lost 27 soldiers since the ground invasion began last week. earlier today, israel confirmed the remains of one of its soldiers present to have been killed in gaza had still not been found.

hamas has said it captured the soldier. meanwhile, the un's secretary-general ban ki-moon is due to arrive in israel to push for a cease-fire. earlier today, he met in cairo with your secretary of state john kerry. egyptian officials and leaders from the arab league as well. we will go to gaza for more on the crisis after headlines. in eastern ukraine, pro-russian rebels have handed over flight data recorders removed from the crash site of malaysia airlines flight 17. 298 people on board died when the plane was shot down last thursday in a rebel-held area. a train carrying the remains of many of the victims has arrived in the eastern city of kharkov, which is under ukrainian government control. european foreign ministers are meeting in brussels today to discuss a possible new round of sanctions against russia for its support of the rebels, who are suspected of shooting down the plane. also in the news, president

obama has signed an executive order ending workplace discrimination against lgbt people employed by the federal government or firms with federal contracts. >> it doesn't make much sense, but today in america, millions of our fellow citizens wake up and go to work with the awareness they could lose their job -- not because of anything they do or fail to do, but because of who they are. lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender. and that is wrong. >> texas governor rick perry is sending up to 1000 national guard troops to the mexican border amidst a rise in children fleeing violence and poverty in central america and crossing into the united states. his move came as the white house announced the number of unaccompanied children detained at the border appears to have dropped this month. last friday, another round of 59 women and children were deported to honduras, while others were

sent back to guatemala and el salvador. on friday, obama will meet with leaders from guatemala, el salvador, and honduras at the white house to discuss the crisis. in honduras, tv journalist has been down shot dead and half naked alongside the highway a day after he went missing. herlyn espinal was a reporter for channel 3 television in san pedro sula, the city with the highest homicide rate in the world. the university of connecticut has agreed to pay nearly $1.3 million to settle claims it mishandled complaints of sexual assault and harassment. the five plaintiffs include a hockey player who session was kicked off the team after being raped, and a student who said when she reported her rape am a a campus police officer said -- the university is one of nearly 70 schools under federal investigation over handling of sexual assault. detroit, michigan is suspending its mass shutoff of water to residents for 15 days after mass protests.

since march, detroit has cut the taps of more than 1500 households with more than 90,000 others at risk after falling behind on their bills. the pause came as residents filed a lawsuit saying the shutoffs violate the constitutional rights. in utah, about 21 people were arrested after activists locked themselves to equipment and blockaded construction at the first-ever tar sands oil mine in the united states. utah are tar sands resistance said about 80 people joined the action against the mine in the book cliffs, which they say devastates -- threatens to devastate land, water supplies, and the climate. in a report by human rights watch finds agents or their and performance later direct role in the must every major domestic terrorism case since 9/11. the deputy washington director described the targeting of muslim americans in sting operations. >> if law enforcement has a reason to suspect some has a propensity toward violence, has an interest in engaging increment activity, of course

they should investigate and they should use all the lawful resources they have at their disposal. but in some cases, they were doing more than that. they were expecting people would be terrorist and doing every thing they could cap the become terrorists. >> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with aaron maté. >> welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. the israeli assault on gaza has entered its third week as the palestinian death toll has topped 600, mostly civilians. more than 100 of the dead are children. more than 3700 palestinians have been injured. israel says it has lost 27 soldiers since the ground invasion began on thursday. earlier today, israel confirmed the remains of one of its soldiers presumed to have been killed in gaza had still not been found or identified. this comes two days after hamas said it had captured the soldier. >> so far today, israel has struck more than 70 sites inside gaza including five mosques and a football stadium. on monday, at least 103

palestinians died including 11 when israel bombed a residential tower block in gaza city. five children died in that attack. shelled hospital monday and became the third medical facility to be struck by israel in the past two weeks. the injured included about 30 medics. gunshots were fired into al jazeera's bureau and gaza strip today, one day after israeli foreign minister said his country will work to close down al jazeera in israel. as we continue our coverage of the attacks, we're joined from gaza city by democracy now! sharif abdel kouddous who is been writing for the nation magazine and we will have a link to those. can you tell us what has been happening in these last 24 hours? --as you said, it has been heavy bombing or bombardment of gaza continues amongst the targeted were five mosques from

a sports stadium, and many homes and businesses. palestinians continue to die inside their homes in gaza. i saw supermarkets that were still smoldering from what appeared to be a drone strike today. the owner was sifting through diapers and food. all of his inventory has been completely ruined. and his livelihood has been lost. as you mentioned, i am talking to you from the ap studio, which is just across the same floor as the al jazeera studio. these were to death apparently 50 caliber or heavy caliber shots that came into the window at 9:00 in the morning or 9:30 in the morning, pierced the window and hit the wall. these are not regular bullets. they make is huge booming sound. one of the al jazeera people i spoke to said they thought it was what the israelis call a

knock on the roof, a warning shot. we had people here both in apn al jazeera is actuating the premises -- evacuating the premises. ap confirm they were not jazeera has not had a confirmation. a staffer at the bottom of the building is sitting there. the ap staffer back on here a voluntary basis. meanwhile, as i said, people continue to die. yesterday, there was a family where nine people of the same family were killed. i spoke about the single deadliest strike since the conflict began that killed 25 people, 17 of whom were children. indescribable loss at a place where family sizes continue to be shrunk by falling bombs. >> on monday show, you also

talked about the massacre in shejaiya were 72 palestinians were killed, mostly civilians by the reports we have seen. the palestinian ministry of health in gaza has warned of an environmental disaster if israel keeps locking indolence is from retrieving the bodies. what we know the latest about shejaiya? >> there were attempts for a cease-fire negotiation, humanitarian cease-fire that is been going on since last night. these talks appeared to have fallen through. it is reported the israeli government is saying a cease-fire was not on the israeli government agenda at the moment. yesterday, we saw very heavy bombardment of shejaiya the came a day after heavy artillery shelling in the bloodiest day so far of the conflict. still cannot get in. we're have footage of the bodies in the streets and perhaps

wounded, they're still alive, not being able to get out. city, very serious humanitarian crisis. the number of internally displaced has risen to over 100,000. the u.n. is struggling to cope with the number of people. the number is clearly low. one family today, i saw six families arrived from a district in the north of gaza which is -- was hard-hit yesterday, arrive, and live in that house. most people are not counted by the united nations. is coming to palestinian families only three hours a day -- i'm sorry, only three hours every three days. people are forced to stock up on water. they only get power from between four to eight hours a day. this is a serious crisis, humanitarian one as well as the number of dead and wounded. ertyesterday, dr. mads gilb broke the news that the hospital

had been a ca attack. what happened to the patient's inside and the doctors and nurses? myself toot go there report firsthand yet, but there was an attack that hit the floor that housed an operating room as well as an intensive care unit. four people were killed and a few more were injured. this is a place where the wounded are. the wounded are not even safe anymore in gaza. they attacked two other medical facilities, and hospital which housed severely disabled and paralyzed patients as well as a clinic for handicaps where to handicapped people were killed. only are places were not the wounded go, but for palestinians go to seek refuge. is a place ofital refuge to many. they go there because they feel

it is a safe lace. increasingly, those kinds of places are no longer safe. in gaza, there is nowhere to run. >> sharif, the nbc reporter, we reported last week that he was pulled out of gaza after he witnessed the killing of the four boys between nine and 11 years old who were playing soccer on the beach in front of of theel were so many international reporters were staying. but then nbc announced on friday toht they would return ayman gaza. can you talk about the significance of this and now we have seen him back on the air? >> well, it is great to have ayman back in gaza. he is one of the best international correspondents, especially from here. a lot of social media pressure and outrage over his transfer cost thema last week

to come back. i think it is a good thing. it is great that he is here. he reported yesterday the four boys he saw killed, the other house was bombed, although, initial reports -- they have not been confirmed. the tragedy continues. i told you about the family, eight of whom were killed while watching tv when a tank shell came crashing through their wall. they were forced to move. there now displaced. than 100,000 more who have been displaced. this crisis doesn't seem to be going anywhere. these calls for a cease-fire, these calls for an end to the bloodshed only seems to be fueling the violence. the violence is getting steadily worse. have been killed since the ground invasion began a few days ago. isthe level of fighting

ramping up instead of the escalating. >> is there support amongst palestinians for the hamas? from the vast majority of palestinians i've spoken to, i would not say they support hamas, but they support the resistance. they support some kind of fighting back against this brutal military assaults. they support -- the resistance until the conditions are met. the number one condition everyone mentioned is the lifting of the siege. it affects every aspect of life in gaza from the water to power to jobs to food to freedom of movement to very basic human rights. cease-fire --he as the conflict ends without a return or it returns by to the

same situation that it was with gaza under siege, that their lives -- they need some change in their lives. yeah, i mean, i would not say hamas is a political movement, but as a resistance movement, that it is right now, most palestinians are unified behind it, even though people are critical of it, even political opponents say they support the resistance in this time of conflict. >> i know we may lose you by satellite at any moment in gaza city, but when you talk about the siege, it is not something that is covered very much in the united states. can you elaborate more fully what you mean when palestinians say "lift the siege"? >> gaza is a thin strip of land that borders mostly by israel and egypt and has a big seacoast. palestinians can't get in or out of gaza.

they're prevented by israel and egypt, which largely executes u.s. and israeli policy. food, basic goods, the right to import and export -- all of these things are banned from them. this has devastated the economy, devastated lives. people feel trapped. they often speak of how they live in a biggest open-air prison in the world. even the sea, fishermen cannot go out to fish where israeli warships await them. you really feel it. you feel this war exacerbate ing. you hear the booms of the ships, the drones in the air. even if you wanted to leave, you can't. the egyptian border is closed as well. there are no shelters here. orre are no defense systems

sirens. there's really nowhere to run. you don't know where it is safe. people are dying inside their homes. inside hospitals. not from theirwounds, but from being bombed and wounded again by the israeli military. >> sharif, thank you for being with us. please, they say. sharif abdel kouddous in gaza city. at can see his reports nation.com and we will have a link at democracynow.org. when we come back, we're going to tel aviv to speak with the heart columnist -- ha'aretz columnist gideon levy, author of "the punishment of gaza." stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with aaron maté. a new push is under way for an internationally brokered cease-fire. you and secretary-general ban ki-moon is said to arrive in

israel shortly. earlier today he met with secretary of state john kerry and leaders of the arab league in cairo. speaking monday from washington, president obama continued his backing for israel's assault and said the u.s. will intensify its role in the cease-fire effort. >> i've said many times israel has a right to defend itself against rocket and tunnel attacks from hamas. as a result, israel has artie done significant damage to hamas terrorist infrastructure in gaza . i have also said, however, we have serious concerns about the rising number of palestinian civilian deaths in the loss of israeli lives. that is why it now has to be our focus in the focus of the international community to bring about a cease-fire that ends the fighting and can stop the deaths of innocent civilians, both in gaza and in israel. >> israeli justice minister said earlier today "there's no real

hope of an immediate cease-fire because hamas is conditions are too far from those of israel, the u.s., and egypt." some estimates have centered on an end to the blockade of gaza and the release of its prisoners. this is --- >> the demands of our people are clear. a guarantee should be given it would not be repeated. the blockade must be lifted. this unjust blockade that are palestinian people are living in. >> the seven-year siege is crippled buses economy, water supply infrastructure. rely on humanitarian aid. the u.s. has warned gaza could no longer be livable by 2020 unless urgent steps are taken. the lassies are november 2012 was supposed to ease the blockade. israel only intensified it. with a mass going to continue fighting against what it called the slow death, and the cease-fire, largely hinges on

whether the u.s. and others will pressure israel to reverse its stance. >> are now joined by israeli journalist gideon levy. he writes -- gideon levy, welcome to democracy now! why don't you lay out the premise of this piece, what you're trying to convey in your article in ha'aretz. tend to beat our enemies and never to listen to them. and many times, listening even to the enemy, even to the most of your enemy, can serve a much better cause than beating and

beating and beating. unfortunately, the israelis are just using violence right now without listening to their conditions. conditionsw if their are acceptable. i don't know if those are really their conditions, but they say very clearly they asked for freedom for gaza. they asked to lift the siege. can you recall a more just require than this? i say something more than this. doesn't serve the interest of free andeeing gaza seeing gaza building its economy and living -- and not living those inhuman conditions in the biggest cage in the world which only perpetrates more violent? it is really at our door now to decide, do we want to go from one cycle to the other, from one

circle of bloodshed to the other not serving anything? or are we really wants and for all to put a real just solution to the problem in gaza? >> with the massive civilian toll in gaza, benjamin annan was asked if he was worried about losing international opinion. he was speaking to brian williams of nbc news. >> a certain point, he said, what choice have you got? what would you do? where you're sitting now would absorb hundreds of rockets. you know what you would say? you would say to your leader, a man has got to do what a man's got to do and a country has to do what a country has to do. we have to defend ourselves. we try to do it with the minimum amount of force, with targeting best as wergets as can, but we will act to defend ourselves. no country can live like this. >> israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu speaking on

monday. gideon levy, he is saying this is about self-defense. the blockade has been justified, well, we have to stop hamas from smuggling rockets. your response to that? so did you stop the smuggling with the siege? did you really stop? equippedw how really hamas is. this is ridiculous. any siege can be broken for certain purposes. but the siege breaks the people of gaza and pushes them again of again to the corner violence and the corner of desperation. but i would also like to comment about the prime minister's remarks, as he says israel has to react. sure, israel has to react and defend itself, but, mr. prime minister, where did it start? those rockets fall on our heads just by chance?

there is no context to this? the breaking of the political negotiations by the israelis refusing to release some few veteran prisoners? war declared on hamas in the west bank after the kidnap and murder of three israeli youngsters? activist, who were not involved in this kidnap, did israel stop [indiscernible] workers and employees in gaza. wasn't israel against the unity government? what did israel think, that all this will pass like nothing and hamas will accept everything? so i have news. those who believe that nothing will happen were either extremely arrogant or blind or both. ,> can you explain, gideon levy

the feeling of israelis -- you are in tel aviv and we are about to be joined by guest in jerusalem -- of the rocket fire that is coming from gaza, something like 2000 rockets? look, i don't want to underestimate. it is certain fear from a for sure, closer to the gaza strip. this morning there were two sirens in tel aviv and five minutes later, life was back to its routine. i don't say that people don't carry some kind of fear, but by and large, the life -- at least in the center -- by and large, life is more or less continuing with some changes.

people go out less, but it is not the big fear of the world will days of the second intifada with exposing -- exploding buses and vehicles. the sufferer of gaza, this is really a children's game right now. there are almost no civilian casualties in israel. having said this, i don't call let's just israel, try to solve it once and for all and not go again to the old game , which they proven already leads to nowhere. >> i want to bring in nathan thrall. his recent article for "the new york times" is headlined, "how the west chose war in gaza." we just heard gideon levy talking about the context of israel undermining the palestinian unity government.

your piece deals with how this was carried about with eu and u.s. backing. can you lay out for us what happened here, why this context is so critical to the current crisis in gaza? >> sure. i would step back a little bit further to the last sigh between hamas and israel which occurred in november 2012. that was brought to a close after several days with a cease-fire brokered by egypt. in that time, hamas had an ally, egypt in power. basically, that cease-fire, the terms of that cease-fire included various positions from hamas.to although israel implemented some of them in the media days and weeks afterward, shortly later, those were retracted and we once again went back to a situation where exports were all but nonexistent, imports were reduced, and there were severe restrictions on travel for gazans. nevertheless, that cease-fire basically held and during 2012

and 2013 -- i'm sorry, during 2013, israel had one of the quietest years, if not the quietest year, it had since rockets started coming from gaza -- which, by the way, began before the israeli withdrawal from gaza in the fall of 2005. fast-forward to july 2013 when there's a coup in egypt and there's a new leader whose free hostel both to the muslim brotherhood, of which hamas is the palestinian chapter, and hostile to hamas as well of course, and there was a radical change in policy on the part of inpt and a radical change the closure regime that was imposed on gaza. very, very few gazans were able to access through the rafah

crossing. this is the main exit of gazans to the outside world. there are some gazans were permitted to leave via israel, but it is really not available to most gazans. it is for exceptional medical cases and high-level erp businessman and so forth. and so forth.sman the exit was closed and pressure started to build. in addition, the tunnels through which many goods were coming, particularly construction materials and fuel, were coming into gaza through these tunnels crossing the gaza/egypt border. regime following the 2013 cu basically eliminated these tunnels. with that limitation, almost complete elimination, hamas no longer had these goods coming through and can no longer tax them. they relied on those tax revenue in order to pay the roughly 40,000 employees who run gaza

and have been running gaza even without pay for the last several months. what you had was a pressure cooker inside gaza and is began to build and build to the point where december 2013 we had a massive storm here and sanitation plants started to shut down for lack of power. there was a radical reduction in electricity, which were already at very low levels. sewage is being dumped in the sea, sewage in the middle of the streets of gaza. hamas is looking at the situation in egypt, and they're hoping there's going to be a change in regime there and at least if not have a muslim brotherhood president, someone less hostile than them will allow some kind of using of the closure of gaza. as they came to the conclusion earlier this year but that really was not going to happen in the near term, they realized they had to do something to get out of their predicament.

and in particular, the predicament of not being able to pay the employees are running gaza. these employees, by the way, are not simply hamas members. many are hamas members, but others are members of other factions as well. they came to this conclusion, they decided what they would do as a way out of this was to form a reconciliation agreement with the palestinian leadership in ramallah. this was a years long process of debating the various points of in plummeting palestinian reconciliation. it is a very distant dream, but hamas basically caved on all of the demands they previously been making. i don't want to overstate the nature of this reconciliation. this was not a reconciliation of the political programs, not calling for disarming hamas in gaza, not addressing the massive problems dealing with the

security forces and so forth, but it was a step toward palestinian unity. and an important one. what is allowed for was divesting of authority with the ministries controlled by rmallah controlling gaza once again. what happened after this hamas to my for caving on their demands, the first thing they expected was an easing in the closure imposed particularly by egypt on the raw for crossing. the official reason for that closure being in place was that egypt had its campaign against the muslim brotherhood and against hamas and security threats in sinai and so forth, and they said, look, if we are no longer manning the border and now you have pa security forces loyal to the leadership, then they should at least be some significant easing of people should be able to exit gaza. the second thing they expected

was the civil servants whom they can no longer pay would begin to be paid. and neither of those things happen. in fact, life in gaza does became worse. months went by without any solution to this building crisis, of hamas having made these concessions in order to find a solution out of the predicaments in gaza. and also, for their own self-interested reasons as well. they did not want to be overthrown by the population in gaza will stop great turmoil and instability in the region when they could not provide for their people. they handed responsibility for that over to the government in rome a lot -- ramallah. presumably, that would be an interest to the west. they say how much they want to strengthen leadership in ramallah and fatah. if that is what they desire, the data's government was formed, there should've been increases in electricity in gaza, the rafah crossing should have been open significantly -- major made.s should of been

salaries should've been paid on the day the government was formed. nothing of the sort took place. if it had taken place, nothing would greater strength than the leadership in ramallah and fatah. what subsequently happened were the kidnapping and murders of the three israeli students followed by the revenge, torture, and killing of the 16-year-old palestinian boy in east jerusalem mohammed abu khdaeir. they found themselves in a campaign to arrest hundreds of hamas members in search for the perpetrators of the kidnapping and murder. hamas did not claim responsibility for the kidnappings and the murder, but he did say it supports such kidnappings as a means of getting prisoners out of jail. it essentially found an opportunity with rising protest, particularly in the wake of the

killing of mohammed abu k hedeir. a for hamas,n reconciliation. that was thwarted. plan b is the crisis that we're dealing with today. >> right before this, you are pretty major development with the u.s. agreeing to recognize this unity government will stop with hamas included. in early june, as palestinian president abbas swore in and the government, joining hamas after years of conflict, state department spokesperson jen psaki said the obama administration would recognize this new government. >> it appears president abbas has formed an interim technocratic government that does not include ministers affiliated with hamas. moving forward, we will be judging the government by its actions, based on what we know

now, we intend to work with us government that we will be watching closely to ensure it upholds the principles the president abbas reiterated today. >> nathan thrall, can you talk about how israel reacted to this decision and then what the was subsequently did in terms of its commitment to recognizing the unity government? >> sure. the step the u.s. took was supposed by israel and it has to be said that the reason -- one of the main reasons the u.s. actually took this extraordinary step of recognizing this unity government was, first of all, their frustration with israel during the kerry-led peace possible so if that had not happened and it had received an extension, the u.s. almost certainly would have imposed much more strongly the reconciliation agreement than it did. the second reason that the u.s.

recognized the government was aat it basically was capitulation by hamas. there was not a single hamas number within this government, not in affiliated minister within the government. the government basically looked at integral to the u.s.-backed government in ramallah it was replacing. there was not even really a legal reason for the u.s. to oppose the new government. but behind the scenes, the u.s. that your ensure reconciliation did not take place, that further steps toward reconciliation did not take lace . the u.s. very strongly told president abbas met for example, the the palestinian legislative council could not convene. why? the palestinian legislative council because of the 2006 elections and the west bank and gaza which hamas won in both places had a strong majority of hamas cemetery ends.

parliamentarians. if that council were to convene an hamas all that as a critical part of this reconciliation agreement, they were giving up the power that they had won two elections to group of people who had not been elected, then at the very least, they expected to have some kind of legislative check on this government. in the u.s. told abbas very clearly that there would be a cut in american funding and there can be no support for this unity government if the legislative council were to convene. and there were numerous other checks word reconciliation -- toward reconciliation that could not take place because of european and u.s. opposition. it should be said also that the palestinian authority itself was very reluctant to implement the agreement, and was dragging its feet considerably. you can say partly there were doing it because of these threats from the u.s. and europe on a but there was certainly a lot of foot dragging on their part as well. is speaking tol

us from jerusalem, senior analyst at the international crisis group. gideon levy is with us from tel aviv, the ha'aretz columnist and number of the editorial board will stop. gideon levy, in a piece you wrote israel does not want peace . that was the headline. why? you just have to look at the records. i mean come assure, israel wants peace, they just don't want just peace. it is all about just peace. you look backward and you ask yourself in which stage, in which moment was israel willing to give up the occupation. give me one example in which there was a genuine readiness to put an end to the occupation. it was never there. it was all about gaining time and maintaining the status quo.

gainingow, it is about time and maintaining the status quo. mainly, the west bank occupied, gaza under siege, peaceful life in israel. this cannot last forever. but i i would be wrong, cannot recall one example in which there was a genuine willingness to put in and to the occupation. end to the occupation. we had other peace talks, but it was never there. if you want the most ultimate proof, it is the settlements. nobody is saying, we will continue the settlements if he has intention to return those lands. but israel never stopped building settlements. as israel never stopped building settlements, israel is saying to

the palestinians in the world, i have no intention to give up this piece of land. >> gideon levy you also wrote a in which you write -- can you explain this for us? again, i wish i would not write those harsh things, but look at reality. in the recent wars recent 30 years were finally aimed at civilian populations with horrifying scenes. like those days in gaza. finally, a war between israel -- lebanon, and

the recent surge in years was always the same. israeli killing many many civilians, and the resistance -- the palestinian resistance is trying to fight back. but as i wrote in this article, it is a meeting between an elephant and a fly in terms of capability and equipment. same withends up the hundreds and hundreds of civilian casualties on the palestinian or lebanese side with much fewer casualties and many times not at all in israeli side. cyclere we go to the next , to the next confrontation. >> gideon levy, you also wrote a pilotsbout the air force who were bombing gaza.

can you talk about what you said in response to this piece? this article was published one week ago in the middle of the operation. israel almost got united in a very aggressive reaction to this article. iings became so bad that needed to be accompanied by a bodyguard in those days. not ready to listen to any kind of criticism. what i tried to write is that watching all of those horrible scenes in gaza -- and believe me, they are horrible scenes there because watching the israeli tv, you see none or almost none. but watching international networks, you can see the real tragedy there.

someone has to be taken accountable for this. someone is responsible for this. and i thought the pilots were the best, the most intelligence, the highly appreciated ones -- really, the elite of israeli society. this and they in cannot remain out of any kind of responsibility -- or at least, aboutind of moral doubts what they're doing. yes, they don't see their victims. they sit in the cockpit. but i thought they should see their victims and the civilian victims -- whole families which were exterminated in the recent days. and succeeded,m at least, and creating a huge public debate in israel. >> you said they should resist, that they should not engage in the bombing? say did not say so, i just

and 12,000 -- in 2003, some very courageous pilots did not participate, wrote a letter of refusal and said they don't want to take art in this. is nothis time there one. i did not go further than this. we don't know yet all the details, but i would expect at least some kind of awareness and public discussion about this issue because they cannot be above discussion or above doubts. also, pilots can be doubtful. >> you are now traveling with a bodyguard? >> unfortunately, yes. >> why? >> because of the level of threats and the atmosphere in the streets.

believe me, i'm quite experienced with the threats. now it is becoming really unpleasant and maybe dangerous. i don't know, but too many people warned me my life is in danger. ha'aretz decided not to take risks and i had to take a bodyguard, yes. >> i want to ask about this new palestinian effort to take israel to the international criminal court. speaking to abc news this past weekend, the influential palestinian legislator and scholar said the palestine liberation society has decided to apply joining the criminal court which could open up war crimes charges against israel. >> who have threatened to bring for the application, and application for palestine to join international criminal court. but yes. >> are you doing that? >> yes, we have taken the decision and we're going to

exceed to the own statute, which would qualify as to bring cases to the international criminal court. but i don't believe the world has to wait. --gideon levy, your reaction august the, the palestinian authority has dithered for a long time on joining these international conventions under israeli and u.s. pressure. is this a positive sign now they're talking about going to the icc? >> i am one of those who believe that the only way to get out of this vicious circle is by international intervention because israel will not change by itself. the only ways are also by making israel pay a price for the crimes of the occupation. there must be a wake up call for the international community, which is rather passive and especially so, the american

administration who could have done so much more and is doing so little -- so little. so any kind of steps in this direction, hopefully, will be a wake-up call for israel, first of all, and for the international community. >> we have just lost gideon levy at the studio in tel aviv. we thank him for being with us, , authorretz columnist of "the punishment of gaza." nathan thrall, thank you for being with us, senior analyst at international crisis group covering gaza, israel, jordan and the west bank. we will have a link your op-ed piece in "the new york times" headline, "how the west chose war in gaza." when we come back, we will talk about the numbers of palestinian refugees, of the displaced. over 100,000. we will go to a spokesperson for the united nations relief and

works agency for palestine refugees known as unrwa. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with aaron maté. while the two-week old israeli offensive in gaza has killed more than 570 palestinians and 27 israelis, we look at those who have been displaced. said the number of people seeking refuge in gaza has soared to more than 100,000. this is secretary-general ban ki-moon. .ocks violence must stop they must stop now. all sides must provide the necessary space to aid the victims, assist the wounded, and help to trap siblings. these immediate steps should open the door for more permanent cease-fire. and as an open wound band-aid won't help.

the opportunity [indiscernible] isovery and reconstruction needed more than ever. >> that is secretary-general ban ki-moon. for more we go back to jerusalem where we're joined by christopher gunness the spokesperson for the united nations relief and works agency for palestine refugees. it is known as unrwa. chris, welcome back to democracy now! can you talk about the situation for refugees on the ground in gaza right now? >> the situation for refugees on the ground in gaza right now is an immeasurably catastrophic -- unimaginably catastrophic. it has gone up now by 2000 and just the last hour or so come which i think is the testimony to the intensity of the israeli ground offensive which has led to a crisis of human displacement. unrwa is accommodating the

displaced in nearly 70 shelters. ,he top party is food, water medicine, hygiene, sanitation. but first and foremost in our concern is the question of forget, because, don't in 2008 and 2009, we took direct hits on the israeli army with white phosphorus in buildings which were housing hundreds of refugees in exactly the same sort of circumstances. on one occasion, amine compound in gaza was directly hit with white phosphorus and a warehouse burned down. the secretary-general condemned it. interestingly, that took place just as he arrived in the region. the israeli defense minister apologized and israel paid millions in compensation. to be honest, that is not good enough. they must respect the sanctity

of life and the u.n. premise. just a few days ago, we strongly condemned the groups or groups who put in one of our schools a cachet of 20 rockets. all sides need to respect the obligation under international law for the protection of civilians and respect the united nations premises. >> you mention the targeting in 2008 in 2009 of your facilities. is that happening today? is the israeli military targeting your homes and schools? >> we have no evidence of that as we speak. an initial report has come through of one of our -- internally displaced people have taken refuge has been hit. have sent an investigation team out to the site. it is extremely worrying and concerning development. we pray that our facilities with

civilians in them are not being hit. it is an initial report. we are investigating and hope to have more soon. >> explained further what it is you understand happened, christopher gunness. >> is impossible to say more at this stage. we know one of our schools, a girls school in central gaza, which have been turned into one of the shelters in which we are housing more than 100,000 people , took a direct hit. i understand there may have been an injury. it is is very early days where investigating -- we are investigating, but it seems to be an extremely worrying development. >> can you describe these facilities were so many people are taking refuge? what are the conditions like there? >> it is very depressing. in ordinary times, inasmuch anything is ever ordinary in gaza, these are schools. they are schools which we used to educate 1000 pupils at a time. him any schoolyard, i guess

anywhere in america or anywhere in the world. suddenly, they are transformed into reception centers for thousands of people and thousands of people who are staying there 24/7. you can imagine the problems that brings with it. sanitation is a huge problem. a massive airlift is underway from to buy as we the, a cargo 150 metric tons of aid has arrived in the jordanian capital. some of it has been put on a truck in the convoy is not the weaeli border with jordan hope it will come in as early as tomorrow to gaza [no audio] blankets, hygiene kits. these are desperately needed items. as we speak, displaced people, the hungry, the needy, the sick and the elderly, babies, women

are streaming into our facilities. we desperately need money, but also items such as those in coming from dubai. we had launched a flash appeal to $60 million and we've had to nearly double that. it is now one hundred $15 million because were simply overwhelmed by the numbers that are pouring into our facilities. >> christopher gunness, thank you for speaking to us from jerusalem, the spokesperson for the united nations relief and works agency for palestine refugees known as unrwa. that does it for our broadcast. you can get a copy of today's show by going to democracynow.org. we are hiring. for more information, visit democracynow.org/jobs. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

[applause] >> once again, thank you for taking the time to come out. coming out here at 8:00 or 9:00. much love to all of you. started from aan