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pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: a now, "bbc news" ans america. ans displaced gazans returned to the south after israeli troops withdraw. netanyahu says he has confirmed a date for a ground offensive into nearby rafah. a rare total solar eclipse brings darkness to millions as it sweeps acrossorth america. reporter: we have been experiencing a one cent and lifetime celestial event. ♪

anchor: welcome to world news america. we begin in the middle east care --, where benjamin netanyahu says a date has been set for a ground offensive into southern gaza. he has not yet sad when it will take place. he is facing international pressure to not invade the city without a specific plan to keep civilians safe. as many as one million people are begin -- believes to be shelters there. it's more than half of them are children. >> today, i received a detailed report. we are constantly working to achieve our goals. the release of all of our hostages. and achieving a complete victory over hamas. this requires entry into rafah. it will happen. there is a date. anchor: reports say the u.s. state department has not been

briefed. the department spokesperson responded. >> we have been clear with israel that we think a full-scale military invasion of rafah would have an enormou harmful effect on civilians. we think there is a better way to achieve a legitimate goal, which is to degrade and dismantle and defeat hamas battalions. anchor: this comes as the qatari foreign minister has said he is optimistic about a new proposal in t cease-fire talks. there are conflicting reports in the regional media about the progress being made in cairo. the u.s. says it is hopefully releasing hostages soon. this will lead to a six week cease-fire. a white house spokesperson said hamas is reviewing a new

proposal. the u.s. has more aid trucks entered gaza on sunday and it will press israel to allow more assistance. our middle east editor since this report. reporter: there have been more signs of a possible cease-fire coming to fruition. we have heard from the israeli defense minister telling troops on opportune moments. we have heard from mediators that they are more optimistic. most importantly, the gap. the new proposal may be bridging the gap. thwhite house has said there seems to be serious progress happening. the head of the cia was there over the weekend. he confirmed that the hamas

delegation has gone back for consultations to decide on its proposal. even as we hear about all of this, we are hearing more rhetoric from benjamin netanyahu about rafah, the southernmost town in gaza, where he has promised to root out where he believes there is hamas leadership left behind. he says without this, there is no true victory that israel will be able to say it has achieved. he has said there is a date for this incursion. that is probably rhetoric. >> all of this comes as is really troops leave another city. 45,000 buildings have been destroyed.

we have been examining the situation. reporter: israel has announced that it is reducing the number of soldiers in southern gaza to prepare for future operations. some palestinians have begun to return. but one of a returning to? bakeries and local restaurants have been reduced to rubble. schools destroyed. entire neighborhoods flattened. we have been examining satellite images. let's te a look. at the beginning of december, israel hurried out intensive airstrikes. the army said it advanced on the area. this is a district near a hospital, he once densely populated area. this is what ilooks like now. you can see large swaths of buildings completely flattened. let's focus on this stadium right here. before, it was a small patch of greenery among neighborhoods that families lived in.

this is what is left of it now. it is barely recognizable. much of it has been completely turned up and destroyed. -- churned up and destroyed. satellite imagery shows these are the vehicles we have highlighted in red that in the eight a military presence. although some palestinians have started returning to their neighborhoods, the israeli army has stressed that a significant force will remain in gaz and this withdraw is tactical. anchor: as we heard, many residents have returned to find homes and belongings destroyed. take a listen. >> the house was full of we left all of our things here and we went out with all -- only are close. we came and found the house demolished. >> we had no one. my father was martyred.

we do not know where to go or where to stay. anchor: israel insists that this withdraw is a tactical move and military operations are still ongoing. i spoke to the director of the international institute for counterterrorism in israel and the retired colonel for the israeli defense forces. benjamin netanyahu says he has set a date for the invasion of rafah. more than one million palestinians are still sheltering there. do you aee with this decision as we understand it to go ahead with an operation? >> the biggest challenge we have right now is destroying the hamas military capability and saving the innocent lives inside the gaza strip by destroying that capability. the only portion left is the hamas terror but grade i -- brigade in rafah.

i support the fact that it needs to be destroyed. i do not know of a different way to do that aside from a military operation. >> i will come back to the civilians, but i want to ask, the u.s. does not support a ground invasion of rafah. john kirby was speaking to our partner here on sunday and he said that the u.s. wants to meet with israeli counterparts. >> we hope to be able to present in more detail our thinking, our alternatives, the kind of ings we want them to learn from our own experiences. anchor: if there are possible alternatives, why not take those into account before starting any ground operation? >> i am absolutely for it. sadly, usually the alternatives are not about this ring the hamas capability. we are all open to that. nobody likes a we are going to the last six months of been a

nightmare in israel. and i am aware that it is a nightmare in the gaza strip. the idea that hamas would be able to put together with a brigade what they have in rafah, the kind of attack that happened on october 7 is not something anybody should have to wait for. i do hope for other alternatives but i have to say, i do not understand what they can be. anchor: h can israeli forces ensure that more than one million people who are sheltering in rafah, men, women, and children, some of them there for months, that they are safe and secure? that they are able to access aid? >> that has always been the question throughout. it is a question that was in every single one of the operations as they were done. you asked me about the north. this is a harsh, ugly war. the way that hamas built its

infrastructures into the population and under the population. they are part of the population there there is no nice plan. everybody expects it to be a happily ever after. you gave early notice, you tell people to move, he define the areas that are safe. none of this makes it pretty or easy. but it saves lives and that is what we are trying to do. you provide military capabilities. anchor: at the same time, more than 33,000 palestinians have been killed. the senior hamas leadership is still at large. there are several thousand hamas fighters still at large. around half the hostages who were taken are still in captivity. what has israel actually achieved? and at what cost? >> the military campaign against the hamas terror infrastructure is a military campaign.

you said the hamas numbers. the idea that the defense forces as stated clearly, and it does not make it any easier for the civilians, half of the fatalities are hamas fighters. if i'm allowed to present that number, 15,000 hamas terror fighters and 15,000 uninvolved civilians. that is the horrible price of war. when i ask about what we were supposed to do, this war was initiated by hamas. they are trying to keep the capability to do the attack they did on october 7. the systematic infrastructure of trying to dissolve that is not an easy thing to do. that is the military aspect. the casualties, my heart breaks over every single one. i will just say, the situation inside israel is not a happy

one. everything we just described was our own failure to defend ouelves from the beginning. from having that happen at all. here we are. this is the way we're going to go about it. both to get the hostages and make sure hamas cannot create an attack like that again. anchor: those 15,000 fighters, we do not have any independent verification of that actually being the case. i want one more quick question, we know negotiations are going on for a cease-fire and a hostage deal in pyro at the moment. -- cairo at the moment. do you have hope that that could be successful before anymore military operations? >> before you put us on the same moral ground as hamas, when israel says that has to be checked, i would check what hamas is saying. the same goes for the hostages. we are six months into an event where hamas has never said how

many hostages they have. condition is.e and what their everything is based on israeli information. i hope every single one comes home. i do believe hamas. they are a terrorist organization. i hope we bring back as many as possible as soon as possible. anchor: we have to leave the conversation there but as always, thank you for speaking with us. >> thank you so much. anchor: turning to our other top story, the awe-inspiring total solar eclipse. millions of stargazers in north america watched as the sky went dark. some saw a 100% black out when the moon passes between the earth and sun, perfectly obscuring the sun. in some places, that lasted as long as 4.5 minutes. the redline here shows the path of totality. some only saw a partial eclipse.

we will hear some cheers as totality hit mexico, where people camped out on sunny beaches to catch a glimpse. in arkansas, a special moment for hundreds of couples who said "i do" in the dark. for their -- further north, the fog and mist around niagara falls made it tough to see. reporter: it is a multisensory experience. you want to see the corona. that moment. the weather lucked out for us, thankfully. [cheers] everybody just taking that moment in. it is incredible. >> there it is. it is peeking through the clouds. there it is. wow! that is spectacular. fabulous. anchor: that was just a glimpse

of some of our correspondence taking in that moment of totality. let's bring in a couple of our correspondence who are covering this today. great to see you both. we will start with you because you were first in line. tell us what it was like for people watching across mexico. reporter: those first cheers went up in mexico. i think the people who were standing looking at that unfold in mazatlan in the state of center lowa -- sinaloa really felt privileged to be the first people on the planet to view the totality of this eclipse as it made its way across continental north america. what a moment to be witnessing something that will not come around again for many years. there were some people standing there with their children sharing it with their families. a very touching moment.

something that was echoed outside the zone of totality as well. as places like here in mexico city got around 75% coverage. everything turned to desk -- dusk momentarily. anchor: how about for you? you got to see that incredible moment of totality in ohio. reporter: the word people have used time and time again is awesome in the truest sense of the word. inspiring awe. we were incredibly lucky here in ohio. i think we have one of the best seats in the house here in america. you can see behind the lake erie. when we turned up this moment, there was quite a bit of cloud. but that burned away and we had a bright blue sky and then that fantastic moment of totality. a lot of people say it is difficult to find the words to

describe it. for me it was mystical, mesmerizing, magical. one of the best ways i can sum it up for you is like the fourth beats new year's eve because there was that moment where we saw the colors. some fireworks here over lake erie. it was just fantastic. i talked to lots of people during the event including a man here here with his dog. you have to think about what animals made of all of this. take a listen to what he told me. >> there was incredible. kind of overwhelming, honestly. to have everything goes dk except the lower parts of the sky. to take off the glasses and see a big bright ring in the sky. really cool. to be able to experience it with all of these people in the park. anchor: you can really hear that sentiment there from man you spoke to. very quickly, remind us how historic vit -- this is.

reporter: it is incredibly rare. here in ohio, we have not seen a total eclipse sense 1806. there will not be another one in this part of the world for another 400%. 99% of america got to see a partial or total eclipse. like the super bowl or a beyonce album, this is a unifying moment that connects us to a true natural phenomena. anchor: indeed. thank you both so very much. monday was not only a big day for space enthusiasts but also for scientists who conducted a number of experiments throughout the event. they observes the sun's atmosphere, the behavior of wildlife, and even launched rockets to see how the earth's atmosphere response to the eclipse. this is one of the 600 balloons launched into the atmosphere to study h the eclipse affects

weather conditions. they studied gravity, pressure waves, humidity, and wind. we can talk to one of those scientists. she is the lead at the nasa ballooning project in texas. great to see you. i will ask you about the science and a moment. but first, i was witnessing this? >> just amazing. it is my second total eclipse. lucky, both of them are here in the u.s. it was absolutely amazing to have another one just seven years after the one in 2017. definitely something our member forever. anchor: an important for scientists like yourself. an opportunity to remember more -- learn more about the atmospheric. tell us what you found. >> the goal of our project is to understand how that whole, dark shadow of the moon on the earth affects cap there -- the

atmosphere. it is like night in the middle of the day and the deftly has effects. studying this helps us understand the eclipse in that helps us understand things like climate change. we can better understand what is happening. anchor: can you explain what exactly is happening in the atmosphere at that moment? >> it gets called, as you can imagine, the temperature goes down. the temperature changes different throughout the atmosphere. we get wonderful things that we call gravity waves. those happen all the time but special ones happen during the eclipse. they transport a lot of the energy through the atmosphere. better understanding that helps us to understand the atmosphere in general. anchor: that is fascinating. can you tell us how this affects

our natural world. we were talking about animal behavior, birds often go silent in that moment of totality. how is that affected? >> the birds, we actually witnessed here, they were going back to roost. we heard crickets chirping and all of those things. it gets cold, the wind might change. things are happening to animals. humans are animals as well. it was wonderful to witness all of the heightened and almost spirituality around the eclipse. anchor: what do you think is the most important thing you have taken away as a scientist? >> for me personally, i am an educator at heart. the most important thing is the experience that all of our students were involved in this around the country.

also, this data we have gathered will be studied for a long time. all of it wille available. starting with college students and moving on to all of this amazing data that will be shared in conference is and scientific papers. anchor: one more question, i saw astronomers are predicting that the next one might not happen until 2045. that is a long time from now. do you think we will have a different idea of an eclipse by then? >> we might. hopefully we will learn quite a bit more in 20 years. the next one in the u.s. is in 2044. there is one that hits part of alaska. it will be in montana and north dakota. the one that will come across the u.s. substantially will be

in 2045. i'm sure we will know a lot more. a lot of scientists were studying the sun today and about how anchor: anchor: our atmosphere works. great to talk to you. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. anchor: just a bit of other news for you. turning to the race the white house. a judge has denied the former's bid to delay his hush money trial and move it out of manhattan. that case is not expected to take off as planned on april 15. donald trump has been clarifying his policy on abortion rights. he says laws should be left up to individual states. in a video posted on social media, the former president did not specify at what point in a pregnancy he would ban abortion. but he supports exceptions for rape, incest, and protecting the

life of the mother. he also said he supported ivf. >> my view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both and whatever they decide must the law of the land. in this case, the law of the state. many states will be different. many will have a different number of weeks. some will have more conservative than others. that is what they will be. at the end of the day, this is all about the will of the people. you must follow your heart or in many cases your religion or faith. anchor: just a quick note, the president's campaign responded blaming the former president for crlty and chaos that has overcome after the overturning of accounts to show abortion. remember that you can find more on the days news on our website.

to see what we are working on at any time, check us out on your favorite social media site. announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, ymond 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. amna: good evening. i am amna nawaz. geoff: and i am geoff bennett. on the newshour, israeli forces withdraw from southern gaza and cease-fire talks resume in cairo, six months after hamas's october 7 attack. amna: millions of people across the united states witness a rare total solar eclipse. we will bring you a view from along the path of totality.