whoa ♪ ♪ i'm walking on sunshine, whoa ♪ ♪ i'm walking on sunshine, whoa ♪ ♪ and it's starting to feel good, hey ♪ ♪ all right now ♪ ♪ and it's time to feel good, yeah ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ walking on sunshine ♪ ♪ w w w w w walking on sunshine♪ ♪ i'm margaret brennan and this week on "face the nation," six months to the day hamas attacked israel, there is breaking military and diplomatic news in the conflict that has cost tens of thousand of lives. overnight in a surprise development, the israeli military has pulled many of their troops out of southern

gaza. is the move signaling a new phase of the conflict? we have the latest. and the outrage following the killing of seven world central kitchen humanitarian aid workers by the israeli military in gaza has led president biden to change course this his dealing with prime minister netanyahu. but will it be enough to change the course of israel's war. we'll also look at the enormous toll of the war on aid workers and children in the israel-hamas war with doctors without borders and also save the children president. as negotiations to release the hamas-held hostages are set to restart in cairo, we'll talk with rachel goldberg, her son was captured six months ago. plus the city of baltimore continues cleanup efforts and prepares for the daunting rebuild following the collapse of the key bridge. maryland governor wes moore is here with the latest.

it is all just ahead on "face the nation." ♪ good morning and welcome to "face the nation." there is breaking news this morning, we are seeing some significant developments out of israel. the idf has pulled some forces out of southern gaza. and prime minister netanyahu said they are one step away from victory. the israelis will also send a delegation to cairo to meet with cia director bill burns and qatari and edistinguish shan officials to try to negotiate a ceasefire and goat the more than 130 hostages believed to be held. six months into the war the israeli military says they have eliminated 12,000 terrorists in gaza.

but at the expense of thousands of palestinian lives. the gaza health ministry reports more than 33,000 palestinians have been killed. the aid organization save the children cites the number of children killed in gaza at 14,000. we'll hear from their president later in the broadcast. we begin with our holly williams who is in tel aviv. what can you tell us about these developments? >> reporter: well, israel's military says it now only has one division inside the gaza strip. the other division that was there has left in the last 24 hours. the remaining troops are all either along gaza's border with israel or north of an east/west rote that bisects the dgaza strip. a spokesman says this is an

evolution of the war earth and not a partial withdrawal. he would not give me any exact troop numbers. and my colleague is in southern gaza and he says that it is now possible to move freely from southern gaza all the way up to central gaza and that has not been possible for the past three months. >> there is also a lot of political pressure within israel right now and these ongoing protests against the netanyahu government. how is that affecting things? >> reporter: we actually just heard from prime minister netanyahu a short while ago ahead of a cabinet meeting here in israel. he didn't mention the troop movement at all. in fact he vow the for total victory. but he is under enormous pressure also from the right wing on netanyahu not to give up too much to hamas in negotiations. and then on the other side of the political spectrum, last

night across israel, tens of thousands of people took part in anti-government protests, many here are angry with the government, with their own leaders, for not doing more to bring the remaining hostages home. and a car rammed into a group of protestors injuring several people. and the opposition leader says it is the direct result of rising incitement from the government. so more criticism there for benjamin netanyahu. >> holly williams, thank you. we turn now to john kirby. welcome back. >> thanks. >> and so prime minister netanyahu says israel's one step away from victory but they still plan to go into rafah. has netanyahu agreed to the request to make this targeted and not a ground assault? >> we have been very clear with the prime minister that we don't

support a ground operation in rafah, that there are other options to look at for how they will go after the hamas threat. we had a virtual meeting last week. we expect to have an in-person meeting with israeli counterparts in the next week or so where we hope to be able to present in more detail, our thinking, what we want them to learn from our own experiences about how do operations in this regard. >> so as you heard, the idf says this is an evolution of the war to drawdown some of these troops. exactly what are they preparing for, is this for another front in this conflict? >> i certainly wouldn't speak to the idf operations or their planning. it is a sovereign military. the indications that we've been getting from them this morning is this is largely rest and refit for troops that have been on the ground consecutively now for four months and they need a chance to come out. what they will do with the troops after rest and refit, i can't speak to. but we don't support a major

ground operation and that has not changed and we're looking forward to having conversations with the israelis about allege ter alter alternatives. >> there is a lot of criticism how israel is waging this war.g alternatives. >> there is a lot of criticism how israel is waging this war. you said tuesday the u.s. has not found any incidents where the raisraelis violated international law. >> and we have a normal process where they take a look at incidents, particularly those that are being -- operations be conducted by partner countries and they assess them against international law. and they are doing that in real time. so some of them they hae looked at and concluded, some they are still looking at. >> so they may be in violation of international law. >> thus far we have not seen any indication that they have violated international hug

humanitarian law. but we'll keep looking at this. >> the secretary-general doctors without borders rejected israel's explanation of what happened in that world central kitchen attack. because he lost in gaza, more than 200 dead today. >> we don't accept it because what has happened to world center kifftchen is part of the same pattern of deliberate attacks on humanitarians, health workers, journalists, u.n. personnel and schools and homes. this is not about deconfliction mechanism. this is about impunity, a total disregard for the laws of war and now we must become about accountability. >> this is not a mistake he says, this is a deliberate pattern. and he is not the only aid organization to say so.

will there be accountability? >> we understand the frustration and we share it. and there have been too many aid workers killed by israeli operations and that is why the president was so firm with prime minister netanyahu in their call this week that they have to change the way they are doing this. and the deconfliction process does matter because there is already communication between a aid workers and clearly it broke down. our case to the israelis is you have to do it better. it has to improve. because we've already seen some aid organizations now pulling back, not just world central kitchen, but others. this is a time when the people of gaza need food, water, medicine, fuel, more than any before. >> the president's own memorandum stipulates that there can't be an impediment to delivery of aid. so is gross negligence, failure to communicate and protect the aid workers a violation? is there any accountability? >> certainly those things are

not acceptable and that was the tone of the conversation the president had with the prime minister. they have taken some measures of accountability here. we'll be looking to see -- first of all, we'll go through the investigation ourselves. we'll reserve judgment until we've had a chance to look at their findings. and we sxexpect that the announcements israelis have many while important can't be the end of it. we have to see sustained changes. >> and as you know the israeli government says they had nothing to do and had already planned to take some of these measures. >> the president specifically asked for the measures they announced. >> we'll see if they follow through. former defense secretary leon panetta said on the cnn in his experience israelis usually fire and then ask questios. is the biden administration

position still that there should be zero conditions on aid, military aid to israel? >> i'm not going to get ahead of the president or decisions he might or might not make going forward. he was very clear in his call with the prime minister that if we don't see some changes in their policies in gaza and the way they're prosecuting operations, we'll have to make changes of our own. >> you do think these are israeli policies then to block aid? >> they get to decide how they prosecute this war. it is their operation. they decide how they prosecute operations. we get to decide how we react to that and how we administer our own policies. and the president was clear if things don't get better, then we'll have to make changes of our own. >> so the president is considering withholding, conditioning, doing anything? because for six months we've been hearing complaints like this, humanitarians this program telling us what is happens. >> we see it ourselves. we're not blind to the risks.

we're not blind to the suffering that the people of gaza are going through. i won't get ahead of the president. i won't pre-judge decisions he will or won't make. >> but we haven't heard from on this. if he feels so strongly, why isn't the president out there talking about this? >> you saw your statement -- >> i read a paper statement. >> and he will continue to talk to the american people and members of congress about what we're doing and what we're not doing. >> it is of direct national security concern, is it not, that as director of national intelligence says there is a generational impact from what is happening on the ground there, that there could be an impact long term here. >> no question. >> so what is the u.s. policy other than wait and see? >> it is not wait and see. i have to take issue with that. that is not the policy at all. two things can be true at once. you can still be a friend of israel and make sure that they have what they need to defend themselves, and they do need things. wire talking about the war in

gaza, but they are under threat from iran and iran backed groups all around. they still have a need to defend themselves. how they do that matters. how they conduct these operations matter. and that is what we're talking to them about and we need to see some changes in the how or we'll have to make changes in our support. >> there is a time line for when they need to act by? >> we're looking right now. again, they made some announcements in the few hours after the call, another announcements the next day about opening up crossings. all that is welcome. but we'll be watching this very closely. it has to be sustained and verifiable. >> john kirby, thank you very much for coming on. and we turn now to continue the conversation with democratic senator chris van hollen from the state of maryland. i want to pick up on this same topic in terms of the developing policy. because you have been pressing for the white house to ability on the president's own standards

for national security and hold israel to account in terms of possibly conditioning military aid. were you clear on what the white house position is? >> i'm not clear. first of all, i should say i'm glad bill burns is in cairo and i hoippe we get a ceasefire and return of all the hostages. i was groolad to see the presid finally say to netanyahu that if you don't follow these -- my requests, that there will be consequences. but the president and the white house have yet to lay out what consequences they have and they want to impose. and we've had a situation where for months the president has made requests to the netanyahu government, they have ignored those requests. and we've sent more 2,000 pound bombs. we can't revert back to that. we have to make sure that when the president requests something, that we have a means to enforce it. >> the president has the power

to put limits on arms delivery to any country in the world that receives u.s. military support, even things approved by congress in the past. they get $3.3 billion a year to buy weapons, $500 million more for missile defense. and you've voted along with other senators on an additional $14 billion in aid. it is held up in the house ight now. is any of that being reconsidered? >> first of all, that $14 billion is part of a much larger assistance package that provided $60 billion to the people of ukraine to fight against putin. so what i have said is once monies are appropriated, you still have to go through this process to actually transfer them. and the president's own national security memorandum you raised says specifically that if recipients of military assistance is restricting the delivery of humanitarian aid,

that we should not be sending floor more weapons. so it is very important that the biden administration enforce its own policy that was signed by the president of the united states as a directive to the government. it needs to be enforced. >> when i've talked to folks who would be asked to implement the policy you are talking about in trying to say, okay, you can have defensive but not offensive weapons, they say it is next to impossible to try to separate that out and to define which weapons are okay and which are not. dho how do you respond to that? >> there is a clear line here. i was involved in the defensive weapons being like air defense, iron dome. we're not taking the position that we should not be sending israel systems that it needs to defend himself. but offensive weapons, airplanes, bombs, artillery, everything that is being used right now in gaza, these are offensive weapons that are being used. so what it says is that you

shouldn't be shipping more weapons to the netanyahu government when they are not meeting their commitments including the delivery of humanitarian aid or not complying with international law. >> so as part of this directive, may 8 is the day by which a report has to be delivered to congress about whether israel is abiding by along with other countries by the way who are being held to this standard. should it be made public whether or not they are violating international law? >> yes. we need more transparency. >> have you asked the white house to do that? >> it requires the report be public to the extent possible but obviously that leaves running room for the biden administration. we want this to be public, not just with respect to israel but as you say all the other countries that this report will cover. and it is quite extensive report on whether or not israel is complying with these provisions.

also very important provision that asks whether or not they are using best practices to limit civilian harm. >> so are congressional democrats comfortable with approving some of the weapon systems that are being asked for and may be in the pipeline, things that won't be delivered for years? because israel does live in a tough neighborhood. should they be able to get things like fighter jets? >> yes, when they comply with the terms of nsm 20 and when they meet president biden's requests. this partnership cannot be a one way street. so my view is that the president needs to do what he said he was going to do which is see if the netanyahu government is going to implement these changes in terms of allowing more human kritaria assistance. and we should measure that by people not starving, people getting medical equipment, kids not having

anesthesia. so a long way go. and until those conditions are met, then, no, we should not be sending more offensive weapons to israel. not to stop them permanently, but to h.effectively use our leverage. >> and i have to ask you about your home state of maryland and the disaster in baltimore. congressman trone said the bill pledging federal funding to help rebuild this bridge should essentially be trump-proof. just in case president biden is not reelected. do you share his concern? >> well, first of all, president biden has been on this from the beginning and president biden has already made sure that maryland is part of what we call the emergency relief program, which automatically means that the state of maryland will get 90% of the funds for rebuilding

the bridge. and so what we'll do is we will introduce legislation for the other 10%. and also make clear that any monies recovered through lawsuits on liability come back to the u.s. federal taxpayer. >> and i will ask governor moore about the details of that. thank you very much, senator. >> thank you. "face the nation" will be back in a minute. "face the nat back in a minute. stay with us.

for more on the recovery following last month's collapse of baltimore's francis scott key bridge and the plan to rebuild it we're joined now by maryland governor wes moore. governor, welcome.

>> thank you so much. thanks for having me. >> we are so sorry about the recovery and the fatal accident. how do you describe where we are in this process of recovery and potentially rebuilding? >> well, i think first the state is still heartbroken. we lost six marylanders. just yesterday we recovered the body of maynor sandoval and our hearts continue to be with the families and with all of the families. we also know we have a long road to recovery ahead of us, but that road and recovery is now happening. the enormity of this collapse cannot be overstated. we are talking about a ship that is the size of the eiffel tower and the weight of the washington monument that is now sitting in the middle of the river with a bridge that is iconic. i don't know what the baltimore skyline looks like without the key bridge. it's been there since i was alive. it's now sitting in the bottom

of the river with part of it sitting on top of the ship. the recovery will be long, but the resilience that we have seen from the people of our state and the people of the city of baltimore has been inspiring. where we really rallied. >> we heard when the president visited that reiteration of an aggressive timeline to get things up and running again, perhaps even by the end of may. is that realistic? >> it's realistic. and i think that it's going to take something that's going to be a 24/7 operation -- >> full functioning. >> to have full functioning and that means being able to not just continue the maritime operations that we have, but also it's understanding how important that port is, not just to baltimore, but to the entire country and right now if you look at the port of baltimore we have operations taking place via truck and rail. it's the maritime operations that have come to a halt. but we are going to do everything in our power to make sure we are bringing closure and comfort to these families, to be able to reopen this channel, to

be able to support our workers and support families who have been impacted by it and begin the process of a rebuild of the bridge. it is an aggressive timeline but we are going to work around the clock to make sure we hit this timeline. >> i have more to talk about with you but need to take a commercial break. please stay here with us. we hope all of you will stay with us as well. back in a moment. we hope all of you will stay with us as well. back in a moment. you need weathertech. [hot dog splat.] laser measured floorliners front and rear. [drink slurp and splat.] (scream) seat protector to save the seats. [honk!] they're all yours! we're here! hey, i knew you were comin'... so i weatherteched the car! can we get ice cream? we can now. kid proof your vehicle with american made products at weathertech.com.

we want to recognize one we want to recognize one of our favorite renaissance men, the legendary bob schieffer. since leaving the moderator seat at "face the nation" bob has been fine tuning his artistic skills and his work is now being featured at a solo exhibition that opened yesterday at american university here in washington. the 25 paintings on display were inspired by recent headlines from the covid pandemic to the january 6th attack on the capitol. and the exhibition is on display until may 19th. we'll be right back.

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