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announcer: and now, "bbc news" n washington and this is bbc world news america. tentative signs of progress on the latest israel-gaza cease-fire proposal as the u.s. secretary of state urges hamas to approve it. antiwar protesters at columbia university to fight in order to dismantle their tent camp as demonstrations on college campuses continue across the u.s.. scotland's first minister resigns following a dispute over his parties climate policy pledges. ♪ caitriona: hello and welcome to world news america. let's begin in the middle east where there is a cautious

optimism for a cease-fire agreement between israel and hamas afteweeks of stalled talks. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken is on another diplomatic push in the middle east with renewed urgency for the two sides to reach an agreement. blinken met the saudi crown prince, urging hamas to accept the proposal for a truce. a hamas official said the group has no major issues with the content of the new israeli proposals. speaking at a meeting of the world economic forum, secretary blinken said he was hopeful a deal could be reached. >> hamas has before it a proposal that is extraordinarily generous on the part of israel. in this moment, the only thing standing between the people of gaza and a cease-fire is hamas. they have to decide, and they have to decide quickly. so, we are looking to that. and i am hopeful that they will

make the right decision and we can have a fundamental change in the dynamic. caitriona: mediators from egypt, qatar, and the u.s. have been working on a new agreement between israel and hamas. details have not been officially released but the bbc understands and includes concessions from israel on the number of hostages released from gaza, and a compromise on the hamas request for a permanent cease-fire. our security respondent frank gardner is in jerusalem with more details. frank: what has been debated is the permission by the israeli military for large numbers of palestinian displaced people, currently who are sheltering south of the gaza strip and the city of rafah to move back to their homes in the north. that is something israel has resisted in the past. israel would also remove some of

its forces from gaza. this would be during a 40 day truce. there would of course be the exchange of hostages and prisoners. probably hundreds, if not thousands of palestinian prisoners coming out of israeli jails in return for a rather lower figure than what was originally demanded by israel. an initial figure of about 33 israeli hostages. now, from the israeli side, there is dual pressure going on. pressure from e united states to do this deal and pressure domestically from all the families and friends of the hostages who have been demonstrating and shouting louder and louder against the government your policy is not working. the m netanyahu government said the best way to get hostages out is by military pressure but it is not producing any results. they can see that, and every day that goes by, it increases the

risk that more of the hostages will die in one way or another. caitriona: let's break down this deal a little more. we can speak to the cofounder and direor of forward thinking, a charity focused on conflict resolution and promoting peace in the middle east. thank you for joining us. you have experience of these types of negotiations. we have seen the diplomatic efforts intensified in recent days. antony blinken says this offer is a seemly generous and all that stands in the way of peace is gaza. what is your reading of the deal? oliver: well, first of all, i would hope for the sake of the hostages and the families and the 2.3 million people in gaza, that some conclusion would be reached. i am rather cautious because i don't think it is helpful to have this public -- going on.

i don't think blinken's words today are actually helpful. if you are a negotiator, you don't want this constant sideshow, you might say, going on, saying we want this or that. it impedes the work of the negotiators. caitriona: presumably, that would be the comments that hamas has to decide quickly on this. oliver: yes, because what i understand, as frank gardner ferred to, there has been some concessions by the israelis. the fact that they are now talking, the refugees in the south of gaza to return north. there is a concession. the fact that they are considering removing their troops outside the boundaries of the gaza strip. that is a concession. i understand that the details of

these concessions have to be negotiated. and it is very difficult for the egyptians and qataris to be engaged deeply in these negotiations if all the time you are having on the one hand netanyahu briefing that they will go into rafah, and on the other hand, blinken saying this is the most generous deal. it is putting the wrong sort of pressure, i think, on the negotiators because they have to work and build a confidence and trust with the two parties to move things forward. i really say i think this is a distraction, a sideshow. for me, it is worrying because whilst this is going on, we have innocent, ordinary people -- women, children, all people are dying. 2.3 million suffering from

life-changing conditions. equally, the israeli hostages. all of those hostages have suffered life-changing conditions and their families. that is where the focus should be. caitriona: on that point, we have heard from hamas on a few occasions that they don't necessarily know where all the hostages are, and that some of them have been killed at this point. so, how can a deal be reached that has a set number of hostages to be returned if perhaps the whereabouts of all of them is unknown? oliver: well, i think that is a very good point. that has been a point that has been met from the beginning that we needed a cease-fire in order to be able to coordinate where the various hostages were. because as we understood, they were taken by different groups, held in different places. as things have evolved, we have seen that is true. so, one of the difficulties with

the present negotiations, as far as i understand, there has been no talk of a permanent cease-fire or the terms of cease-fires have been reduced. i really do think that you need a cease-fire, you need a period where the safety of the hostages -- if they have to be gathered into one place, then that should be a prime concern of the negotiators and of the israelis and hamas. i think without -- for me, the prime thing is a cease-fire and i don't think we get that unless president biden uses his political and moral authority to say enough is enough. we've had enough killing. we need a cease-fire. we need the hostages returned. and we need the lives of the people of gaza to be restored to some sort of normality after this catastrophe. caitriona: just briefly on that point, if this deal is not

agreed at this point, if it is rejected, what do you think that will mean for israel's plans to push into rafah that we've heard for many months now? oliver: well, my fear is if there is even a deal and if the hostages, if there is some sort of exchange of hostages, palestinian prisoners released, i fear there is a mood in israel still to push into gaza. i think that will have disastrous consequences, first and foremost, for the people gaza, but i also for israel and its standing in the region. no one is looking beyond the day after. no one is saying what are we witnessing now day after day? what impact will that have in the region and israel standing in the region? that is where i say israel is at

present a very traumatized country, particularly the political leaders. what they need in this situation is good friends who will say to them the way you are acting now will have long-term consequences. and i fear that is not being set at present. caitriona: we will leave it there for the moment. the introduction of negotiator and cofounder and director of forward thinking, thank you for joining us on bbc. oliver: thank you very much. caitriona: those cease-fire talks continue all the while as israel continues with its military campaign against hamas in gaza. on monday, israeli airstrikes killed at least 25 palestinians in rafah. and in gaza city, israeli warplanes struck houses killing at least four people. the war has claimed the lives of more than 100 urnalists. international journalists have not been allowed to enter gaza freely to cover the impact of

the war on the local population. this duty has fallen on the shoulders of palestinian journalists who have reported from inside gaza, including bbc's arabic reporter. amid relentless israeli bombardments, supply shortages and communication blackouts, gazan journalists have faced risks on a daily basis. a video diary documenting the war in gaza, but also keeping his family, his colleagues and himself safe. this report contains distressing details. [cars honking] >> right now, tens of thousands of citizens from northern gaza are moving south. i'm with my family. we are almost 15 people in the car heading to the south. ever since i started journalism,

i have been covering conflicts. i covered all the wars that have happened in gaza. this was something different. it was strange. as soon as we understood that there had been a breach into israel by members of hamas, we knew there was going to be a response and that response would be unprecedented. i'm part of the story with my family, what are they upo, how should i cover this more journalistically? >> the qatari news network said the family of its correspondent was killed in a strike at a refugee camp. >> what happened affected me.

seeing journalists targeted, i started asking am i a target? his family were bombed in the sameeighborhood my family were in. i'm now in a cemetery in rafah. it's the first time in my life that i have seen a scene like this. a large collective grave being excavated. the army wanted to hand over a number of remains. there were about 80 to 100 bodies. they were delivered in a big box in a van.

and the stench was overwhelming when they opened the box. i apologize. there is a very unpleasant smell. so, we have got to the gate. >> are you filming? if it wasn't for this situation, i would not be leaving. it's with a heavy heart we leave gaza. first and last choice is gaza. i should go back. when will it all end? no one knows. caitriona: if you want to know more on bbc arabic's reporter's story, you can search for report in gaza: my war on the youtube

page. protests against the war in gaza are ongoing on college campuses across the u.s. these are pictures from the university of texas in austin on monday where we are getting reports of some arrests. at campuses across the country over the weekend, hundreds of students were arrested. universities in at least 22 states and in washington, d.c. have seen protests flare up as students set up encampments to protest the war in gaza. many are peaceful but clashes with police have been widespread, and the have been some reports of anti-semitic incidents. antiwar and pro-palestinian protests have spread to france with students also demonstrating in paris. in the u.s., protesters are demanding that universities withdraw from investments that support israeli military operations. many of the universities say that support students rights to protest, but that the encampments violate school policy.

the white house declined to say if president biden believes student protesters should face disciplinary action, but it did warn against hate speech. >> the prote must be peaceful. students must be safe. when we see violent rhetoric, we have to call that out. when we see physical intimidation or anti-semitic remarks, we have to speak that out. caitriona: meanwhile at new york's columbia university -- this is the scene at what is the epicenter of the demonstrations. the deadline set by university administrators for demonstrators to vacate an in cabinet there or face suspension has passed. students have defied the order, saying they will not move until columbia means their demands. 21 house democrats called for the columbia board to t decisively to end enchantments or resign, increasing pressure on the university. let's speak to our north america correspondent now who is at

columbia university for us. tell us, what is the situation like there at the moment? >> at the moment, everything is pretty calm. it has been a day where people have not felt as tense as previously. the encampment is still standing. you cannot get inside. you have members of the university guarding the entrance. you mentioned the deadline of 2:00 p.m. local time. it has come and gone. there was a sense that perhaps police would start arresting people. that has not happened. the students said they are not going anywhere until their demands are met. i'm joined by a student here at columbia university. mahmoud, you are one of the negotiators. the president of columbia university said the negotiations have failed. can you tell us why that is? >> they have failed because columbia is refusing to acknowledge this movement.

they are dealing with this movement as a matter of internal discipline, internal student discipline rather than a movement, an antiwar movement into what's happening in palestine. >> essentially, you are calling on the university to cut economic and academic ties with israeli institutions? >> exactly. our first and basic demand is for the institution to divest its funds from companies that were contributing and profiting from the genocide that is happening in gaza, and the whole apartheid system in palestine. >> it sounds like you will not get what you want. she is saying negotiations have failed. what happens next for the movement? do you think people will stay or start moving? >> we are now three hours past the deadline. this is not the first time the university has threatened their students with discipline and police. they have done it throughout these 12 days. every day with a different threat. yeah, we can see the students

are here. they are holding their ground until they get what they want which is divestment from israeli occupation. we have worked with the university and have compromised a lot. we have reached a point where we asked them to divest from weapons manufacturing companies and those companies who are complicit in human rights violations. the university refuses to do that. what they offer is more mechanisms and processes for the vestment with any sort of assurances that the board of trustees, which holds the highest authority on this campus, that they will actually follow the recommendation. >> i suppose you cannot stay out in tents for weeks on end, or do you think you can? my family lived in tents for over 20 years when they were expelled from palestine from 1948 until the early 1970's. so, this is nothing compared to what actually the people of gaza are now facing. the people of gaza are under

bombs, they live within open or closed shelters. this is nothing compared to them. >> are you worried at all might see the same scenes of what we saw 10 days ago of police arresting people, using zip ties and what have you? are any of you scared or worried, and what the consequences might be? >> of course. the protesters here know the consequences of this. the university has done it before. it's highly probable that the university will bring police again. even after the first time they brought the police here, they threatened us with the national guard. everyone here, they know the risks and they know this risk could be imminent. yet, they are holding their ground. >> very quickly, what would you say to those students who are not on one side or other side and saying we just want to graduate, this is a distraction? >> this is a distraction of

what's happening in gaza right now. this is indeed a distraction. again, the movement's goal is not to cancel the graduation for any of them. we realize graduation is a huge moment, a huge milestone for families and students to celebrate. but, it is in the university's hands. if the university says we are willing to negotiate with you in good faith, then we can end it in a matter of days. >> good to talk to you. that is one of the negotiators here at columbia university. caitriona: thank you. now in scotland, the first minister says he will resign after just a year in power, triggering a search for a successor and new leader of th country. the leader of the scottish national party said he underestimated the level of hurt after the collapse of his coalition government. that comes after he tore up an agreement with green party lawmakers over a climate policy dispute. the government abandoned its

pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 75% yby 2030. the greens said they would vote against him in a confidence motion in response, triggering his decision to leave. our scotland editor james cook has more. >> are you resigning today? james: i simple answer. yes. not at home, but here at the official residence of the first minister in edinburgh, the place which gave its name to the power-sharing of the greens which he dumped disastrously last week. >> unfortunately ending in the manner that i did, i clearly underestimated the level of hurt and upset i caused. i've concluded across the political divide can only be done with someone else at the helm. >> mayor yusuf --

>james: he will have a place in the history books as the first muslim, first descendant of immigrants, and first scots asian to lead scotland's government. his time in office was tough. most of all, when his in-laws were trapped in gaza for a month. he also lost the election to labor and endured policy problems from hate crime to gender health care, all with his party under the shadow of a police investigation. the drama today is not just about who occupies this house. it is about what they want to do while they are in there. this whole affair has highlighted divisions in the smp, divisions on how to achieve independence. divisions on economic policy and divisions too on social issues, not least the most contentious topic of gender. so, who will inherit those challenges? >> are you the next smp leader? >> obviously, there is work to happen. >> could it be john swinney who

led the party to decades ago? >> i am giving that issue very active consideration. it is likely i will have more to say about that in the days to come. james: what about kate forbes, the former finance secretary? she said to be thinking about the job. but the greens are not fans of her agenda. >> it is entirely up to the smp to decide who they want to leave their party. it is for them to decide what kind of party they want to be. james: as he found out, governing his heart, but governing without a majority is much harder. james cook, bbc news. caitriona: that is it for today. keep up-to-date as always on bbc.com/news. for the moment, i'm caitriona perry. thank you for watching. do stay with us. ♪

announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. 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. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: get the free pbs app now and stream the best of pbs.

amna: with protests against the