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pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news" ♪ >> bbc world news america. an israeli airstrike kills the son of hamas' military leader. as concerns mount for the remaining -- fate of the remaining hostages in gaza. the u.s. and japan launch plans to cooperate in space and defense as president biden represents the japanese prime minister to the white house. ♪

welcome to world news america. israel confirms its forces killed three sons of hamas' political leader and diplomatic presre launches on israel to change strategy in gaza. we will bring your reporting of internal dissent within the biden administration over the president's handling of the war. cease-fire negotiations have been stalled for months. hamas says it is currently unable to identify and track down 40 israeli hostages who could be part of a cease-fire deal, raising fears that more hostages may be dead than publicly are known. it comes as a hamas leader says the deaths of his three sons in an israeli airstrike will not affect hamas' demands in the current cease-fire talks, including a permanent cease-fire, the complete withdrawal of israeli troops, and the return of displaced palestinians. president biden pushed for cease-fire and hostage negotiations to continue. >> hamas needs to move on a

proposal that is made. as i said, we will get these hostages home, where they belong, but also bring back a six week cease-fire that we need now. >> and are middle east reporter has more from jerusalem. >> what we now know was an israeli strike has killed three of the hamas political leader's sons. also, what we heard from hamas and from himself is that some of his grandchildren were killed in this strike as well. this is what israel said it will continue to do. he described the three men as hamas operatives, saying they had carried out terror activities in the central gaza strip. even though israel has pulled up most of its troops from gaza, there is no sense israel is ending its operation and it is continuing to target anyone that they regard as somebody who is a fighter, an activt for hamas.

this is what israel has said it will do. on the response from hamas and from their leader himself, he has said this doesn't change anything, that he has already lost members of his family, so many others in gaza have as well. he will not let this shift or change the policy that hamas is following. he referred specifically to the latest cease-fire negotiations, these are at a very delicate stage. we heard some optimism a day or two ago, we are not hearing that now. hamas in particular said it does not think the new proposal satisfies the conditions it has long set out. it doesn't seem in the mood for concessions. i would say that after this strike, it is even ls ready for concessions than it was before. from the israeli side, the security cabinet was meeting last night. we have been getting leaks from the israeli media that things the cabinet ministers have said.

if these leaks are correct, there is no consensus within the israeli cabinet. some ministers are saying this deal that would release 30 or 40 hostages, and there are 130 or so who are believed to be in gaza, that this is pointless, that they want all the hostages released now or no deal. they say there probably will not be another deal, so this is the moment to accomplish that. as i say, the minutes have been released on the israeli media, showing dissent among the israeli cabinet. on both sides it seems at the moment that hopes for a cease-fire deal at least in the imminent, in the short term are not very high. >> families of those hostages being held inside gaza are holding out hope for a deal. this man'uncle is still being held hostage by hamas. his aunt and his cousin and her son were released after 49 days

in captivity. his other cousin was killed on october 7. i spoke with him earlier. how are you and your family doing? >> it has been an emotional roller coaster for the last six months actually, but the last couple of days, i think this is the fifth or sixth cycle oa deal is getting done in a few days and then nothing happens, so a lot of hope and despair, mixed emotions. it is not easy. >> previously hostages who had been released did confirm seeing your uncle in captivity. since then, do you have any more information on where he is, how he is doing? >> no, actually not. the last we heard was one hostages were released in the last faced of the hostage deal over three months ago.

ever since, we know nothing other than the actual tunnel he was in was already being occupied by the idf. we know he has been moved. >> you have been talking about the fact that the military operation in gaza, you said it is not helping theostages. tell us more about what you mean. >> the fact of the matter that after six months of military operation inside the gaza strip, no hostage deal, no hostages out for the last three months. the first hostage deal was on certain conditions. we need the follow-up and the follow-up is not coming. although the idf did put a lot of efforts, it did not succeed

in recovering more than three hostages. and by the way, killing others. the military maneuver is giving us nothing. it is giving us nothing. the price -- every day that goes by, i worry for my uncle. you know, but when his grandson was released, he was asked on one of the interviews -- he is nine years old -- what do you feel the most about your grandfather's condition captivity? without even thinking, he immediately replied, the idea of bombing. because they also risk the hostages. >> you have hope as we all do that negotiations are successful in being able to secure the safe release of the hostages. i want to ask you, we have seen

cnn reporting today that hamas told negotiators they nnot locate, identify, track down 40 hostages for the first round of a proposed agreement. what does that make you feel? >> i hope that this is only a negotiation tactic. i hope. i want to believe that more than 40 hostages are still alive, i need to believe this. i want to believe that this is only something you say during negotiations. because if so, i don't know, it is horrid, it is beyond words. >> just one more question before we let you go. how do you and your family keep up hope in this long stretch of

despair and difficulty, as you've described it? >> sometimes, you don't. you drink more, you smoke more, you try to cope with life, with this thing looming over your head all the time. and a lot of us didn't really go back to work or normal life. life is kind of stuck for many, many, many membe of hostages' families and are still waiting on something to lift us up because until the hostages will be back, we cannot stop the process of grieving. i also lost family members on that dreadful saturday. i lost friends. we are not grieving yet. we can't even start to grieve.

we can't even start to heal ourselves or lick our wounds in away because of the hostage situation. we are still waiting for my uncle abraham to come back. so we can start seeing what happened. we are kind of like in a suspended moment. the only thing that can bring some life -- light's international intervention. the situation is terrible. the government of israel does not do enough supporting them. the american administration is more committed to the hostages than the israeli government. >> thank you so much for sharing your story and the story of your

uncle. we really appreciate it and we hope he is returned safely. >> thank you very much for having me and i pray for the end of violence in this region as soon as possible and the safe return of everyone to their homes. >> meanwhile inside gaza, it is thend of ramadan and palestinians are marking the holiday in destruction and widespread hunger. desperately needed food and supplies are not getting inside. save the children says no aid trucks have been able to enter gaza via the erez crossing. on wednesday, president biden urged israel to step up humanitarian aid to gaza. the u.s. continues to criticize prime minister benjamin netanyahu putting increased strain on israel and the u.s. relationship.

some officials in the usc bidens pressure on israel is not enough. the bbc has exclusive reporting with current and former officials who say internal dissent in that government are groping -- growing. tom, tell us more about what you have found. >> it was nearly a week ago now that president biden had that really defining moment phone call with benjamin netanyahu, the israeli prime minister, after the israeli airstrike on those world central kitchen workers. mr. biden basically said, if you don't take drastic measures to reverse the catastrophic humanitarian situation on the ground in gaza, than the u.s. will reassess its policy toward israel. that was seen as really ramping up the pressure and it was within hours of that phone call that we had an announcement from the israelis that they would open the erez crossing, for example, use the port of ashdod

for aid supplies, and also to improve communication on the ground with humanitarian workers. but you say, what the bbc has learned is that dissent within the government that we have known about for quite a while when it comes to u.s. policy toward israel has been growing and that over this particular issue there are officials who say that this is simply not enough. it won't go far enough. and in the case of one official who said it simply doesn't reflect the moral urgency on the ground given that gaza is on the brink of famine. i spoke to seven current and former officials, those in post speaking anonymously, those who are of no -- are no longer talking on the record about how they also see this as in one of their words "too little, too late."

one official said it did not go far enough and they read it as israel doing "the bare minimum" to get through the day and avoid arms transfers being halted. another, an official who resigned from the state department in protest a fortnight ago, said the white house simply could have done this months ago and prevented famine in northern gaza. it is a flavor of how dissent continues to spread over this particular issue and all of those officials urging more pressure to be exerted. >> do you get a sense of how widespread thidissent is? >> well, we know that it involves hundreds of officials because back in february, we reported on the fact that a letter had been written -- a so-called transatlantic statement -- involving hundreds of officials both from the u.s. and from european countries. and at that time, they were writing about their fears that

european governments and u.s. policy could result in breaking of international law. the humanitarian state has worsened. the unease within the administration has deepened as well. one of the things i was told about by some of these officials was for example that there are messaging groups on whatsapp and signal in which one person scribed to me at least a dozen federal employees where a lot of these things are being discussed and basically criticized. they talked about a lot of eye rolling about the explanations that were being given for policy. on that crucial issue of an assessment of humanitarian law,

another of the officials who had resigned in protest said there simply hadn't been the full legal evaluation by the state department that there needs to be into arms transfers. that is what they said. the state department declined to comment on that accusation. >> thank you so much. the united states and japan announced a new strategic cooperation after the u.s., the u.k., and australia said they are considering working with japan. mr. biden said the upgraded military pack was quickly defensive in nature. he announced that a japanese astronaut would become the first non-american to land on the moon. mr. kishida emphasize the importance of a free in pacific region amid a perceived growing threat from china around the

china around the tennessee and taiwan. >> we confirmed that unilateral attempts to change status quo by force is absolutely unacceptable wherever it may be in that we will continue to respond resolutely against such action through cooperation with allies and like-minded nations. >> we can talk about this with the former director for asian economic affairs at the national security council. great to have you with us. new era of strategic cooperation. tell us more about what this means. this is a big difference. >> we have seen an acceleration of cooperation over the past few years. it is a continuation of the growth of the alliance under former prime minister abe. we have seen it in the deepening of defense industrial production that was planned and announced at the summit today. we have seen it through the

expansion of joint exercises that will involve other partners in the region. we will hear more about that in the trilateral summit. >> we heard president biden say this is a purely defensive packed. how closely aligned are japan d the u.s. when it comes to how to deal with china. >> kate has been remarkable the increasing alignment on china. this has a lot to do with china's expansion of its military capabilities. it's increasing assertiveness in areas where it has contested territories where japan has to do with incursions by chinese ships and aircraft. it has to do with china's increasing assertive stance around the waters of taiwan. as we will see highlighted in

the discussion with the philippines, serious concerns about china's activities in contested territories off of the philippines and elsewhere in the region. >> this is supposed to send a message to china? >> there is a real need that both countries see to expand capability and demonstrate the will to deter and respond to china to increased capabilities in the region and increased assertiveness. >> it is not all rosy between the u.s. and japan right now. president biden opposed an offer of the sale of u.s. steel, a pittsburgh-based company. how big is this rift? >> i think both lders have agreed to not discuss it in washington. this is a sensitive sector that always gets a lot of attention.

the administration has raised its concerns, but have said it will go through the regulatory process to assess national security risks. i think the decision will most likely come following the election. but the japanese understand our situation. >> you are saying that president biden up closing -- opposing the planned sale is really about politics? >> he has raised concerns that reflect the importance of the steel industry in the united states. we can't ignore the fact that trade unions have raised questions about the deal and they are very important constituencies for the biotin in its ration. >> would you anticipate this deal happening after the election perhaps? >> one hates to prejudge, but i

think the regulatory process will move through following the election and i think there are real reasons to think that national security issues can be managed. >> how close is the u.s.-japan relationship right now given the challenges you mentioned? >> i think it is unprecedented in how close and aligned we are. it has been remarkable, the ability of the two countries to deepen our communication on some of the most serious ways to expand our security cooperation but also to expand it across an array of new economic areas. and to collaborate as best we can. >> adding the philippines to the

max, what do you expect from that? >> it is another demonstration of the way the u.s. and japan are expanng their work with other partners in the region. the philippines as manager medic change in its posture to china and it really demonstrates the need for the u.s. to work with partners across the region. >> great to have you on the show. let's take a look at some other important news from around the world. after years of negotiations, the european parliament approved sweeping reforms to do migration and asylum rules. it will reque member states to share responsibility for refugees. eu leaders have touted the new regulations, but they have come under criticism from hungary's

leader. inflation in the u.s. rose more than expected for the third month straight. president biden downplayed the 3.5 percent rise in consumer prices, saying his policies have helped cut inflation from 9% when he took office. but u.s. stocks did close lower. the u.s. is imposing its first-ever nationwide limits on harmful chemicals found in tap water the country. federal officials finalized rules requiring six versions of chemicals known as pfa's to be removed from water. they are kno as forever chemicals. they are nearly impossible to degrade. research suggests millions of americans' drinking water is contaminated with p fuzz -- pfa's. the new regulations announced

wednesday give local municipalities three years to monitor for pfa's in the water supplies. if harmful levels of the chemicals are found, governments have five years to reduce the amount of pfa's in the water. the government has allocated $1 billion to cover the costs. that is on top of $9 billion through the bipartisan infrastructure law passed in 2021 which provided $12 billion for general drinking water improvements. before we go, take a look at this. a two-story house complete with a white picket fence was towed through san francisco bay after the owners were asked to leave redwood city, marina. it took the precarious journey across the bay to san rafael. it was apparently one of dozens told to leave the marina as they were blocking public access to a state waterway. they were offered compensation for the move. you can find more on

bbc.com/news and do download our app for the latest headlines and original reporting. in washington, announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. bdo. accountants and advisors. cunard is a proud supporter of public television. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. the xfinity 10g network. made for streaming. geoff: good evening. i am geoff bennett. on the newshour tonight, is inflation under control enough for the fed to lower interest rates? we'll talk with one key player. the environmental protection agency puts strict limits on the amount of so-called forever chemicals in drinking water. and christian groups face a violent crackdown in russian oc