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caitriona: this is bbc world news america. fighting continues in gaza, but signs of rs on a cse-fire deal. the cia director joins talks in egypt ahead of the arrival of the hamas delegation. world press freedom day syrians light on global threats to media, with gaza the most deadly conflict for journalists. and u.s. college campuses prepare for their first graduation ceremonies since violent protests are about at antiwar encampments. caitriona: hello and welcome to world news america. hamas says it will send a team to egypt on saturday in the latest negotiations on a

cease-fire in hostage release deal with israel. the group said it is determined to secure an agreement in a way that fulfills palestinians' demands area israel has reportedly given hamas one week to accept the current deal or face a ground invasion of rafa, gaza's southernmost city. egypt, qatar, and the u.s. are facilitating the talks. israel wants dozens of hostages returned home and a temporary cease-fire before it resumes its mission, it says, to destroy hamas. our security correspondent explains. hamas wants guarantees of a permanent withdrawal of israeli forces and an end to the park, something israel has not shown willingness to accept. frank: everyone is waiting for the hamas team to give its first full response after they arrive in cairo. cia director william burns is reportedly icairo. delhi that is important because u.s. -- that is important because u.s. support for this deal is

crucial. sticky point is that hamas wants aommitment by israel that the fighting stops. israel would not get that commitment, partly for military reasons, partly for -- reasons. it is believed four militants of hamas are hiding out in rafa, possibly in tunnels, and the leader of hamas, the military leader and the architect of the october 7 massacre, is amongst them, hiding out there, possibly surrounded by hostages. the israeli military want to go in and finish the job, allowing cease-fire deal -- and while a cease-fire deal would certainly postpone if not shelf tt rafa operation altogether. hamas are taking their time in responding, and i think they would on some reassurance that they do not give up hostages and then immediately find themselves under massive attack because that is not much of an incentive to them. caitriona: they'd organizations

are sending the alarm over israel's plans to invade rafa. the world health organization has a contingency plan in place at the israeli army moves forward with an invasion of the city where 1.4 million palestinians are sheltering. israel has been bombing rafa for months. the pictures on your screen are from friday in the aftermath of an israeli mrs. -- an israeli missile raid that killed five children and two adults. israel says ground troops must invade rafa to the pete the last of the battalions and they say it is planning an evacuation of women and children. the white house says it is not seeing a compliments of -- comprehensive plan from israel, and there is morning that an asian could result in a bloodbath of the slaughter of civilians. >> p hundreds of thousands of people who are there would be at imminent risk of death if there is an assault.

we are looking at, if this happens, both what the emergency relief has warned about could be a slaughter of civilians, but at the same time an incredible blow to the humanitarian operation in the entire strip, because it is run primarily out of rafah. caitriona: unsanitary conditions are widespread in gaza after nearly seven months of our. aid agenciesay none of gaza's wastewater treatment systems are working. the destruction of infrastructure and road blockades have prompted officials in one area of central gaza to create a landfill in a public area. this is footage where residents say sewage is seeping into their homes, causing children to all it. the u.n. says humanitarian aid trucks have regularly been locked oa road reading to a key israeli checkpoint inside gaza. it says these delays are

hindering aid efforts. israel denies this and says it is doing everything necessary to facilitate aid delivery. >> people in northern gaza are facing imminent famine, and humanitarian groups samore food is urgently needed. the majority of aid comes overland on lori's, collected from southern gaza and taken north. how quickly these lorries are able to drive through rafah is critical. israel says it is doing everything it can to make that possible, but queues inside gaza rope you to -- are reportedly hampering efforts. we have been investigating reports of blockages here over the past month. exclusive satellite images show a bottleneck of lorries just north of the checkpoint. in this photo from the 15th of april, you can see dozens.

we counted 70 in a kilometer long queue. almost half of the fleet used to deliver aid was stuck at its peak. the human has previously sent us these images from on the ground. you can see a line of empty lorries pulled up on the side of the road. similar blockages have happened before into the u.n. we found satellite images that confirm this, like this incident in early april where you can see dozens of trucks ahead of the checkpoint. we asked israeli authorities about these reported delays, but we have not heard back. israel has previously accused the human of being too slow to distribute aid. according to this tweet, they said there was sufficient aid for 600 lorries waiting to be picked up at that the bottlenecks are not on the israeli side. a week later in another tweet,

it was said the aide built up further, urging the u.n. to do its job. the u.n. says their work in gaza is often restricted by israeli rules. israel says it has reopened the main aid crossing into the north, but as people their inch closer to famine, the u.n. says better cooperation is needed by all sides to distribute aid properly within gaza. caitriona: gaza is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. around 100 journalists have been killed by israeli strikes since the war began. one in 10 journalists in gaza have died. it is world press freedom day, when those killed in the field are remembered and the importance of a free press around the old is encouraged. unesco has awarded the freedom prize to palestinian journalists covering the ore in gaza in recognition of their sacrifice in dire conditions. but it is not just in gaza where press freedom is threatened.

according to the latest research, the environment for journalism is defined as bad and 75 percent of the countries are ranked. earlier i spoke with the ceo of the committee to protect journalists. thanks for joining us on bbc news. let's start today by discussing the journalists who have paid the highest price of all by doing their work, those who have been killed, in particular those in gaza. 97 journalists killed since october 7. you might just talk to us a little bit about the work journalists are doing in gaza, why it is so challenging and important. >> is challenging because nowhere is safe in gaza. for seven months, gaza journalists have been living the or, trying to document the war. we have seen them going to hospitals, to refugee camps, and we have seen refugee camps bombed. in addition, there were examples where journalists have been

targeted. we know there are these three and we think there are more. journalists are being directly targeted for working as journalists and they are suffering all of the deprivations the civilian population is suffering, lack of food, fuel, and shelter, and after this period of time, equipment is beginning to degrade. it is important to remember they are the only peop documenting the war as journalists. more internet -- no international journalists have been allowed in except on very tightly controlled terms by israel. the eyes and ears of the war our local palestinian journalists. caitriona: why do you think israel has not permitted internional journalists in now? it has done that in past conflicts. >> it is difficult to say, but as your colleague said of a recent world press freedom day event, you have to worry about a country that entirely prevents the outside world from seeing

in. it raises all sorts of questions about what may be going on inside gaza that israel do not want us to see. caitriona: can anything be done about that? can governments do anything? >> we have continued to lobby for allies of israel, for government supportive of israel to put pressure on israel to let international journalists in. many colleagues of ours have signed letters and petitions to be allowed in, but it is ultimately up to israel and to some extent egypt to allow the journalists independent access into gaza. caitriona: when we look at journalists paying the price for the craft with their liberty, 320 are behind bars, many of them in russia or china. how does that impact the freedom of the press when journalists are locked up like that? >> get has a huge impact on freedom of the press. it sends a powerful message to other journalists that this

might happen to you. if you carry on reporting on authorities, we may come for you. we have seen the direct impact of that in places like russia, which has detained the u.s. journalist evan gershkovich, the wall street journal reporter. we have seen international news organizations start to reconsider whether they wanted to put people into the country. it has a chilling effect. we have seen the same in hong kong with the detenti of a media entrepreneur, a british citizen as having a chilling effect on the broader media. it is not just about the arrest of one journalist. it is what that does to the broader media landscape. caitriona: reporters without borders has published its 2024 world press freedom index. you can see there is a lot of red. the u.s. in orange has dropped 10 spots in the last year. what is the correlation between freedom of the press and what it means for democracy in any of these countries?

>> freedom of the press is fundamental to democracy. in fact, the way we treat media, freedom of the press is often a leading indicator of what is happening to democracies worldwide. we have seen an uptick in the killings of journalists, the harassment of journalists, not just in traditional regimes, but suppose it democracies. -- supposed micro-sees. that is indicative of a broader decline in democratic norms worldwide. caitriona: this year more than half of the world will go to the polls. given access people have to misinformation and disinformation, how can journalists be protected? >> journalists need to be protected firstly by the authorities themselves. they need to make sure we have legislation that is protective of journalists. it also authorities speaking out in defense of a free press. too often we have seen more leaders -- world leaders

degrating the media. we also need to make sure we are supporting the media, that we continue to pay for it and support it. the role of journalists is going to be key in this election year. we are deluged with so much disinformation. the world -- the all that journalists can play, providing the truth is really important. caitriona: i want to ask you about a case specific to the u.s. we have seen college campus protests against what is happening in gaza, but we have also seen some student journalists arrested in the course of that. what is your view? >> student journalists have been doing amazing work. when we talk about the gazan journalists being the only ones able to report what is happening in gaza, the same is true for campuses. media have often not been allowed into campuses, so the work is bein performed by future journalists.

we have seen a number of arrests, violence towards journalists doing their work on campuses, and it is simply unacceptable. it is deeply concerning, especially as we go into what is going to be a very febrile election season. caitriona: lots more to discuss, but we will leave it there for now. tanks for joining us. staying with those antiwar protests by students in the u.s., they have inspired some other demonstrations on other campuses, from paris to sydney. palestinian students on the ground in rafah say they felt the support. >> i am telling them to keep going, despite all the arresting and oppression they face, because apparently these days when someone says something right or does something right, everyone stands against them, but we should keep going. we should raise our voices, because we will win in the tope. >> the idea that we saw that now we are thanking you, that means

it is a big thing, a big effort. it is a very huge effort that made us feel we are powerful, that we are not alone, that people around the world feel what we are going through, feel that we have lost everything. caitriona: those intense on campus protests over the last few days have in some cases led to confrontation. policeave arrested more than 2000 students nationwide since demonstrations escalated on monday at columbia university in new york. 137 colleges and universities held in the cabins in the last month, and 30 are holding graduation ceremonies this weekend. some demonstrators have criticized police tactics as aggressive. i have been speaking with the former commissioner of boston's police department. >> we have seen over 2000

students' arrests. we have seen some scenes of violence. we have seen other campuses with complete calm. at one point to authorities at universities decide when to call in the police? >> that is a good question, and it is all individual to the institution, to the circumstances surrounding the protest. there are some campuses i have spoken to that feel there is not much disruption occurring, so they are just going to let them stay there. there are other campuses that believe they cannot continue with the shape and form of the protests, so they have to do something about it. it depends on the level of allowing people to express themselves unfettered. and what their activities are when they are there. caitriona: what marks out at the point at which you cross the line from the right to protest into the point where you are impinging on others' rights to

their education or to access buildings and so on? >> let me give you twexamples. harvard yard in cambridge, i have been there recently, had friends and professors walk through the encampment. it is a relatively small encampment. all students, no outsiders there. they have members of the student body acting as a of moderators to the event. they are very well behaved. they are not -- they are not upsetting the normal flow of business, so they are allowed to stay. conversely, when you see some of the protests that have happened in other parts of the country, they get really nasty. ucla. there have been warring groups at each other, and there has been physical violence that occurred before police were there. there were two groups attacking each other with sticks and bottles.

there are risks to human life in that fight. police were brought in to stop it. those are the two extremes. in the middle, there are decisions made by university presidents across the country as for how far taking no. -- how far they can go. caitriona: you mentioned ucla. the peaceful protesters who were there said it was an outside group of agitators who arrived and became attacking them. does it change the dynamic when you have outside groups involved? >> it does, and that is the case in many of the protests that go back. when you get a large number of agitators, people who are looking for a fight, looking for publish city or a video of them fighting and tusslinwith the police, that is when the trouble starts. there have been cases, like the boston university encampment broken up a few days ago, where

it was a very orderly process where the police came in slowly, talked to each individual protester, and the protesters refused to leave and said they wanted to be arrested, and they were arrested without any difficulty. on the other hand, at emerson college in boston, the protesters all locked arms. the police had a very sort of low-key conversation with everybody, saying what are some of your ideas, but we have been ordered to clear this in a public way and you are going to have to leave. they said no. then the officers had to try to remove them. anytime physical force is used on one side, it tends to increase on the others, and a scrum occurs. caitriona: you mentioned people filming themselves as well. given the development we have seen in recent years, our police protocols adequate in dealing with these types of scenes, or is more training required?

do they need to be reviewed? >> needs to be a constant process in review of tactics. i have talked to police governments across the country, and everybody is struggling with this. their control processes depended on the protesters, but when the protesters want to fight -- there are controlled processes depending on the protesters, but when the protesters want to fight, how far to the police go? do they use requisite force? did they back off? do they use back channels to communicate? all of these strategies are being put in place. the problem is, if you have someone who wants to fight, whether it is a single arrest or a mass arrest, the police look like they are using too much force. that is always the perception no matter what they do. believe me, it is a constant process of review. people are looking at it across the country. caitriona: we have to leave it

there at the moment. ed davis, former boston chief police commissioner, thanks for joining us. so, we are doing antiwar movements on campus go from here? four universities diffused tensions and shut down in cameron's peacefully using alternatives to calling in the police. administrators at northwestern, brown, rutgers, and the university of minnesota agreed to go to the table and discuss protesters' demands. brown's board will hold a vote on the divestment proposal in autumn. student protesters are calling on the university to deal with businesses in israel or aid the country's war effort. o other agreements at northwestern and rutgers include palestinian students.or they also promise to provide improved space for muslim students. rutgers also said it would expand an existing relationship with the university in the west bank. students involved in encampments

will get some level of amnesty and the deals they secured universitydministrators. but the school said they still investigate reports of violence, harassment, or discrimination. now to the war in ukraine. russian officials have warned european leaders that recent comments about providing additional support for kyiv could escalate tensions. that is after french president emmanuel macron repeated an earlier comment that he would not rule out sending troops to ukraine if needed. in an interview published on thursday, he said of the russians were to break through the front lines, if there was a ukrainian request, which is not the case today, we would legitimately have to ask ourselves this question. in response, a spokesperson for macron's statement is part of what he called a dangerous trend of suggesting direct involvement on the ground in grain. whilvisiting kyiv, the ukraine -- the uk foreign secretary david cameron said that the u.k. could decide to use british long-range weapons to strike

targets inside russia. volodymyr zelenskyy urged cameron to expedite the delivery of u.k. military aid, including armed vehicles and missiles to slow russia's advance in eastern ukraine. are you can correspondent -- our ukraine correspondent has this report. correspondent: ukraine has always needed western help to carry out its fight, but what is interesting about lord cameron's comments, he is clearly in a hawkish mood during his visit to kyiv. he said ukraine has the right to hit targets inside russia -- the u.k. has the right to hit targets inside -- ukraine has the right to hit targets inside russia with missiles the u.k. provides. that is not a view shared with western allies. it is a condition that ukraine does not hit inside russia. why? with ukraine hitting energy infrastructure inside russia, there are fears of energy prices rising. also, the west has always been fearful or weary of an escalation in some way you just

have to watch russian state tv to see how they point out or allude to the fact that they've got a sizable arsenal of nuclear weapons. the west tries to keep this war within the boundaries of ukraine, but we have seen ukraine hit russia with drones it makes domestically. nevertheless, this is a sizable offering from the u.k. and a sizable commitment. caitriona: finally, china has launched a rocket carrying a probe aiming to collect samples from the far side of the moon. the country's space agency is hoping to return the sample star of. a mission that, if successful, will take 50 days to complete. the spacecraft will attempt to make a soft landing on one of the largest known impact craters in the solar system. you can find out more about the days news at our website, bbc.com/news. but that is it for the moment. i'm caitriona perry.

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