UN warns of “full-scale war” as Israel-Palestinian violence intensifies

 the un has expressed fears of a

full-scale war

as the deadly conflict between israeli

forces and palestinians

continues for a third day israel's prime

minister benjamin netanyahu warned

palestinian militants that this was just

the beginning

threatening to strike with blows they

haven't dreamed of

tonight president biden said he had

spoken to mr netanyahu and said he hoped

the violence would end

sooner rather than later at least 65

palestinians including 15 children and

six israelis are reported to have been

killed since monday

in the past few days palestinian

militants have fired a mass barrage of

rockets into israel

including on tel aviv and israel has

carried out a heavy bombardment of gaza

launching hundreds of airstrikes

tensions have been growing in jerusalem

partly fueled by a long-running threat

to evict palestinians from their homes

in east jerusalem

it all came to a head on friday at

al-aqsa mosque the site where it stands

is highly sensitive

sacred for both muslims and jews israeli

police used cs gas and stun grenades at

the mosque and palestinian youths

threw rocks at them here's our middle

east correspondent tom bateman

the world's asking if the region's on

the brink of war

people who work to this feel it's

already here

[Applause]

palestinians in gaza face the fiercest

israeli bombardment

since the last all-out conflict israel

says it's going after militant leaders

some were killed in their homes

but civilians died in this strike say

palestinian health officials

in gaza a territory under blockade grief

quickly turns to anger

dozens have died here since the violence

erupted on monday

and they're still counting their dead

rocket fire from gaza has continued deep

into israel

and the sirens are near non-stop in

towns close by

we've heard airstrikes pound the gaza

strip just a couple of miles away

throughout the course of this morning

into the afternoon more

retaliation more fire from gaza

under fire asha and his son ran for

safer

but their neighbor an 89 year old woman

didn't make it

she's seriously injured her carer died

in the strike

says

there are growing international calls

for restraint

but for now it seems that no one here is

listening

it is the intensity of these attacks

that has led both sides

to say they will step up their strikes

in retaliation

a descent into much further violence

seems inevitable

[Music]

more rockets are shot down in israel's

skies

tonight in a mixed jewish arab town i

saw how fear and chaos

is spreading violence between jews and

arabs inside israel

is spiraling

here jewish extremists attack an

ambulance

and then check a car to see if arabs or

jews are inside

along the coast a popular arab

restaurant comes under attack

in another mixed town a jewish man is

beaten

by arab israelis a synagogue has also

been torched

israel's leader calls it anarchy

a wave of anger that started in

jerusalem

has spilled out to the occupied

territories and into israel itself

the country is engulfed in multiple

flashpoints

it may be too late to contain it now

a curfew being enforced in one of those

towns it seems to be

largely ineffective tonight and israel's

prime minister benjamin netanyahu has

said that he is now considering sending

in army troops

to some of those areas experiencing

those kinds of confrontations

as to the wider military conflict as you

were saying sophie the u.s president joe

biden

says that his expectation and hope is

it should end sooner rather than later

while also saying that he

believes israel has the right to defend

itself

but with more airstrikes pounding the

gaza strip in the last couple of hours

and more rocket fire

within that time that certainly seems

from this perspective

a long way off our middle east

correspondent tom bateman in jerusalem

thank you well let's talk to rushdie abu

alof who's

in gaza city and what's the situation

there tonight

the sound of bombs and airstrikes are

continue

shortly after midnight here in in gaza

it's been the longest day of

uh fighting since years israel

hit hundreds of targets and hamas the

militants group fired hundreds of

of rockets this this situation is

leaving this ablaze in a very a grim

sort of

of picture people are suffering from uh

the sound of sonics the sound of pumping

a very angry and shocking mood to see

the the scale of destruction

around the gaza strip after this a very

long

day and very long night of fighting and

it doesn't seem the night is over yet

in the last five minutes the israeli

airplanes have targeted a place in in

ghanians they are talking about

also casualties in the place and the

latest

health ministry a figure is talking

about more than 60 people killed

half of them are civilians

thank you very much well it's the worst

violence in the region for seven years

tensions have been mounting in jerusalem

throughout the holy month of ramadan our

correspondent caroline hawley looks at

what has sparked this deadly

confrontation

the conflict between israelis and

palestinians hasn't made headlines in

recent years

but it's been a tinderbox waiting to

explode the spark

jerusalem a city of sacred sites and

simmering tensions

the heart of the conflict and now with

depressing familiarity

it's ignited violence once again so

what's behind the latest escalation

palestinian anger has been mounting for

weeks they've been clashes over a threat

to evict dozens of families from their

homes in israeli-occupied east jerusalem

in favor of jewish settlers

there's also been trouble between

israeli police and palestinians

infuriated by restrictions on them

gathering at the entrance to the old

city

at sunset and then on the last weekend

of ramadan

came clashes at al-aqsa mosque

where israeli security forces said

palestinians had been throwing stones

on monday israel accused worshipers

preparing to attack a planned march by

israeli hardliners

and troops stormed into the holy

compound

hamas which rules the gaza strip is now

portraying itself as the protector of

jerusalem

the defender of muslim worshippers it's

called its barrages of rocket fire

operation sword of jerusalem so why does

jerusalem matter so much

the importance of jerusalem is perhaps

the one thing that the two sides can

actually agree on

it has both religious and national

significance the israelis see it as

their eternal

undivided capital while for the

palestinians they want it or at least

the eastern part of it

as the capital of their future state but

this latest escalation has gone way

beyond jerusalem it's revived memories

of the war in gaza in 2014

which left more than 2 000 palestinians

and dozens of israelis dead

that's the last time there was an

explosion of violence on this scale

so what's been the international

response one of growing alarm

the un secretary general said peace

talks were the only way forward

and must be revived boris johnson and

the americans

urged israelis and palestinians to step

back from the brink

we believe palestinians and israelis

equally deserve to live

with safety and security and we'll

continue to engage with

israelis palestinians and other regional

partners

to urge de-escalation and to bring khan

but for now neither side show the

slightest sign of backing down

and as so often it's civilians on both

sides

paying the price caroline hawley bbc

news

and there's more explanation of what's

happening on the bbc news website that's

bbc dot co dot uk

forward slash news

The United Nations is warning of the risk of "full-scale war" as the clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians continue.

Israel's Prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, warned Palestinian militants that this was just the beginning, threatening to strike with “blows they haven't dreamed of”.  

The United States is sending a senior diplomat to the Middle East to urge Israelis and Palestinians to end the violence. 

At least 65 Palestinians including 15 children and six Israelis are reported to have been killed since the fighting began.

In the past few days Palestinian militants have fired barrages of rockets  into Israel, many aimed at Tel Aviv. Israel has carried out a heavy bombardment of Gaza launching hundreds of air strikes. 

Tensions have been growing in Jerusalem, partly due to a long-running threat to evict Palestinians from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem in an area claimed by Jewish settlers. 

Sophie Raworth presents  News at Ten reporting by Tom Bateman in Jerusalem, Rushdi Abualouf in Gaza and Caroline Hawley.