after days of bbc news. after days of bombing, israel's military says they're offensive in the south will be as strong as it was in the north of gaza. tensions in the north of gaza. tensions in the west bank continue to rise. a us warship shoots down drones attacking multiple commercial ships in the red sea. and ukraine launches an investigation against russia, accusing them of killing surrendering soldiers. i'm helena humphrey's, good to have you with a. israel's ground forces are putting deeper into southern gaza after days of heavy bombardment in areas where civilians had been told to go to for safety. israel told groups at operations in the south will be conducted with no less strength than in the north. hospitals inside gaza are struggling to take on casualties, with un officials

describing a degree of panic in medicalfacilities that describing a degree of panic in medical facilities that has not been seen before. and advisor to benjamin netanyahu told the bbc that israel was making the maximum effort to avoid killing civilians in israel has been dropping leaflets with maps showing gazans the areas it planned to strike. paul adams explains why that often is not protecting civilians. this has been a problem to the last two months. but to leave certain areas whether fighting is months. but to leave certain areas whetherfighting is most concentrated they believe these new maps with this detailed grid, numbered grid, should help that process because they are saying in certain numbered areas, these other areas you have to leave. the trouble people do not know where they should leave to. it is also the

case that even though israel may be concentrating on one particular set of areas, they are also hitting targets elsewhere, outside of those demarcated areas. anything that the israelis regarded as a high—value target, where hamas might have some of its infrastructure or where hamas commander might be living, those places are also in danger of being hit. people frankly do not know and this has been a problem for the last two months. they do not really know where they can go to get out of harms way. as fighting continues in gaza, tensions have been rising in the west bank. a territory home to more than 3 million palestinians. and increased presence of israel's military and jewish settlements there. settlements have been viewed as illegal under international law although israel disputes this. jeremy bowen brings us this report on gaza and the situation in the west bank. morning, it does contain images

you my find distressing. lost boys, brothers, looking for their father — "my dad's been killed. "i swear my dad's been killed." they're lost in the mighty vengeance promised by israel. then they found their father and brother were dead. the strike, filmed by a freelance journalist, destroyed the home of this family in northern gaza. these are the latest israeli army pictures. they're pushing forward into southern gaza. the american defence secretary says he's warned israel repeatedly that if its troops don't stop killing so many palestinians, they will drive civilians into the arms of hamas, turning a tactical victory into a strategic defeat. in khan younis, civilian casualties are overwhelming the hospital. israel insists civilians are getting warnings and time to get

to designated safe areas. a un official on the spot says that's not happening. everything's broken down, the war on children has resumed and with a ferocity, at least here in southern gaza, that has not been seen before, during this war. another narrative that is so dangerous, this idea of "what happened in the north will not be "allowed to happen in the south." well, i can bear witness to it happening. on the west bank, this village was mourning a man. local people said he was killed last night by armed israelis from a nearbyjewish settlement. palestinians said jewish settlers entered the village late on saturday afternoon, protected by the israeli army. settlers, they said, opened fire when local men rushed to stop them burning cars and a house. it was dark by the time they found the body of ahmed.

they prepared the father of six for burial. attacks byjewish settlers on palestinians are repeatedly condemned by the american, british and other allies of israel. around noon, after the funeral, the men of the village paid their respects to ahmed's family. settler violence against palestinians has risen sharply since hamas attacked on october 7th, it is rarely prosecuted. among the mourners was the dead man's eldest son. the settlers are violently opposed to a palestinian state alongside israel. and they have powerful allies in the israeli government. "the lack of security has helped "them act like this," say ahmed's brother. "the army are protecting them, not stopping them, "but the future will be good as god promised us." "this land is ours, this

country is ours," he said. one things come out very strongly in the last couple of days of talking to palestinians in the west bank. something has changed since october 7th the settlers are more aggressive, they're better armed and they're pushing harder. the increase in violence is a direct result of the gaza war, making international protests that the settlements are illegal even less important to those who believe god gave this land to the jews. you speak a lot about the law, the law, ok, the international law. it does not exist here, because arabs, all the time, break the international law. what about these videos of young men , settlers, with guns, intimidating palestinians? we're not happy to carry weapons. ok, i don't like weapons. but if we not carry

weapons, the arabs destroy all the jewish people. after this war, the americans want an independent palestinian state alongside israel, to secure the future, but rising violence in the west bank shows that might be impossible. jeremy bowen, bbc news. here in the us, the pentagon says three commercial vessels operating in international waters in the southern red sea have been struck by drones or missiles fired by houthi rebels in yemen. it said its warship, the uss carney, shot down three drones launched from the houthi controlled areas. there were four attacks against three separate commercial vessels believed to be launched by houthi—controlled areas of yemen. no injuries to personnel or the vessels was reported. in a statement, the us central command said, "we also have every reason to believe that these attacks, "while launched by the houthis in yemen, are fully "enabled by iran."

the us says it will work with international allies and partners on an appropriate response. the houthi military spokesperson confirmed the group attacked two ships in the red sea which he described as israeli vessels. the attacks started just after 9 o'clock in the morning when the uss carney detected an attack in the vicinity of the mv unity explorer. almost three hours later, the carney was patrolling international waters when it shot down an unmanned drone headed its way. it's not clear if it was targetting the carney. at 12:35pm, the unity explorer reported it was struck by a missile. the uss carney responded to the distress call and destroyed another inbound drone. at 3:30pm, the mv number 9 was struck by a missile while operating in international shipping lanes. the vessel is shared among panama, bermuda, and the uk. and at 4:30, the mv sophie 2 sent a distress call stating it had been struck by a missile. the uss carney again responded.

the incident lasted 8 hours all up. our north america correspondent, nomia iqbal, has more. it is worth remembering the rebels declared war on israel in september saying they were doing so in support of palestinians in gaza and they said they attacked israel ships but israel is saying those ships have nothing to do with us. the fact this is happening, mi us. the fact this is happening, mi of the most important parts of the world, a crucial waterway incredibly important to global shipping also reflected in the statement by the pentagon, this is of going to be a concern to the us. i want to add, last month the pentagon expressed confidence that the israel — hamas what would be contained and would not spill out into the region. but in the last month we have seen us attacks in, syria and now there. i think this will be of huge concern to the us. one of huge concern to the us. one of theirfears has of huge concern to the us. one of their fears has always been that this conflict could spread further.

around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at another story making news. snow and ice is causing considerable problems across parts of the uk. police in north—west england declared a major incident after hundreds of drivers were trapped in their cars in cumbria. more than 2,500 people were left without electricity. yunis mulla has more from the lake district. few have witnessed these scenes in recent years. motorists were stuck for hours on the m6. drivers were told to leave their cars and go to an emergency refuge. in the dark we ran into inaudible on his way to a family wedding, this man was stuck the 19 hours without food or water or he says help from emergency service. cumbria police declared this a major incident and i want stage around 7000 homes and businesses were without power.

——at one stage the met office has warned that parts of the country could be facing an "ice rink monday", as snow refreezes overnight. yellow weather warnings are in place for large parts of england, scotland and wales. you're live with bbc news. ukraine has launched an investigation after it accused russia of killing unarmed ukrainian prisoners of war. the investigation is based on a video that emerged that ukraine says shows russian troops killing two ukrainian soldiers that had surrendered. the video has not been independently verified, and russia has not commented. it's not the first time one side has been accused of what could amount to war crimes, with both kyiv and moscow accusing each other of violating international humanitarian laws, especially with treatment of prisoners of war. our correspondent jessica parker has more. this video emerged on saturday and ukrainian soldier said

this video emerged on saturday and ukrainian soldiersaid it two men from his unit being shot by russian soldiers as those two men were surrendering. it is alleged to have happened near the village at step bay which is near the town where there has been fierce fighting in the region of donetsk. what this video appears to show its two men emerging from a dugout — the first comes out with his hands on his head. he lies down on the ground. a second man comes out of the dugout as well and lies down on the ground. the soldiers who have been staking at the position appear to open fire. the video is pretty graining and you can't really see what's going on in the surrounding area either. ukrainian military say it is a ukrainian military say it is a ukrainian filmed media and the general prosecutor's office he has launched an investigation. russia has not commented but it has previously denied allegations of war crimes in this conflict. it comes as winter is closing in on ukraine and the war is inching closer to its two year anniversary

with progress on the battlefield limited. on saturday, nato secretaryjens stoltenberg encouraged the west to "support ukraine in both good and bad times," adding a warning that they should, "be prepared for bad news." meanwhile, inside russia, president vladimir putin signed a decree friday to troop numbers by 15% adding about 170,000 personnel in stages. that brings the total troop numbers to more than 1.3 3 million. let's take a look at some of the internal politics in russia and president putin's potential strategy going forward. and to do that i am joined by angela stent, the director of the center for eurasian, russian and east european studies at brookings institution and professor at georgetown university. angela — we are approaching the two year mark in this war. global attention now is fixed on the middle east and people in russia will know that.

and yet soldiers are still being sent to the front line and president putin only wants to increase troop numbers. is there a risk that could backfire? so president putin is determined as move towards his re—election this year, that people in this country should believe that russia is in fact winning the war and what he has done is what they are going to done is what they are going to do is recruit 170,000 new troops, largely from these poor regions of russia, they will offer them large sums of money they will earn much more than they will earn much more than they would earn if they found a job where they live. so so far, the kremlin has managed this rather well. 18 months ago they had a major recruitment drive

and that is when large numbers of young men leave the country for kurdistan, parts of central asia and the former soviet republics because they did not want to be mobilised. this time the incentives are somewhat different. intercourse they are recruiting prisoners as well. that is the current stage of the recruitment drive, you mention the presidential election which will take place in russia on 17 march, could we see a more full—scale mobilisation potentially after that date? . , that date? that is quite possible _ that date? that is quite possible president - that date? that is quite | possible president putin that date? that is quite i possible president putin is deliberately not doing that be the election, once he is re—elected see a larger one, this is a war of attrition, at the moment largely a stalemate but he is determined to soldier on and assuming next year there will be less western support for ukraine and therefore it

will be easier to achieve his goals although he has not completely clearly defined what those are. ., _ , those are. you say he is determined _ those are. you say he is determined to - those are. you say he is determined to soldier. those are. you say he is i determined to soldier on, i wonder if you think you could potentially meet any resistance because we know that groups of mothers, wives of russian soldiers have been trying to organise a protest, that has been quashed by authorities the past week but it is interesting to see some organisations once again when there has been very little of that recently, mothers we know were a powerful force in the conflict in chechnya, what does that tell us if there is the possibility of more organisation? it tells us clearly _ of more organisation? it tells us clearly the _ of more organisation? it tells us clearly the mothers - us clearly the mothers organisations as you say they were much more successful and visible during the chechnya war and during the soviet — afghan war as well. that opposition is there at least they want to know what has happened to their male relatives. but the system

in russia has become so repressive, and people are arrested on the slightest worm for questioning what is going on in the so—called special military operation, you are not going to see more of it because it will be squashed before it happens. it will be squashed before it ha ens. , ., happens. something else i want to touch on _ happens. something else i want to touch on a — happens. something else i want to touch on a small— happens. something else i want to touch on a small domestic i to touch on a small domestic policy from president putin, we have seen the top court in russia declaring the lgbt queue movement and extremist movement, we have seen raids in gay clubs and president putin calling on women in the country to have more children, up to eight children to replenish the population. to this younger population. to this younger population in russia which has been used to a more open society, where does that leave them? ~ ., , society, where does that leave them? ~ . , ., them? well, it leaves them in a ve bad them? well, it leaves them in a very bad position. _ them? well, it leaves them in a very bad position. first - them? well, it leaves them in a very bad position. first of- them? well, it leaves them in a very bad position. first of all. very bad position. first of all to say to show the —— to say

the lgbt queue movement as an extremist organisation, there is no such thing, there are obviously organisations in different countries representing the interests but this is very vague and gives president putin an excuse and the other people in the women to just clamp the other people in the women tojust clamp down. the other people in the women to just clamp down. so the other people in the women tojust clamp down. so i think this is very worrying for members of that community and the russian federation as you said, there have been raids already on different clubs and bars, there have beenjailing this. but this combined with demonisation of feminism and saying women should not get higher education and they should start having babies at the age of 20 and continue having them as long as they can, this is returning to such a patriarchal society, there has always been elements of that there and the persecution of the lgbt community did not begin this year but he has just taken it to a much more extreme position and i doubt this is

going to appeal to 18 — 30 —year—olds who he wants to come and vote for him next march. that is the question isn't it, when it comes to the war in ukraine, where do you think the west is standing on this right now. if we look at the comments from gaines stoltenberg he seems to be warning we should prepare for bad moments, when it comes to the us it has sent less money than it had intended to ukraine. do you think the west are still prepared to back ukraine for as long as it takes? ~ , ., , , takes? well, the unity has been remarkable _ takes? well, the unity has been remarkable since _ takes? well, the unity has been remarkable since the _ takes? well, the unity has been remarkable since the beginning | remarkable since the beginning of the war but it is getting more difficult now as you say in the united states there is a fierce debate about whether the us should continue supporting ukraine and among trump followers and other republicans there is a resounding no and you see echoes of this in different european countries

and different european movements there will be a number of elections in europe next year that may change who is in power, while mr stoltenberg was urging the resolve remained there and the support remained there there is also growing concern within europe about how long the war is going to take and how much more europe can do in the united states to support ukraine and then there is the question of sheer ammunition and weapons. in most western countries are running out of them and it is going to take a longer time to supply the extra weapons to ukraine.— weapons to ukraine. angela steen director _ weapons to ukraine. angela steen director of _ weapons to ukraine. angela steen director of the - weapons to ukraine. angela steen director of the centre | steen director of the centre for eurasian, russian and east european studies, also professional at georgetown university, great to talk to, thank you. —— professor. it's thirty years since nelson mandela was awarded

the nobel peace prize alongside the last white president of south africa, fw de klerk. now nelson mandela's party — the african national congress — could be facing its biggest electoral challenge since the end of apartheid. it's being plagued by corruption scandals and accusations of poor public services. and in one key region of the country, infighting rooted in corruption has led to a surge in political murder. our special correspondent fergal keane who covered the fall of apartheid reports now from the province of kwa zulu natal. a violent conflict once spread out from these hills to threaten the future of south africa. it seemed nowhere was safe. as we interviewed this british peace monitor, a sniper intervened. in the end, apartheid was defeated. but we shall all live like the children of paradise. free elections happened. but 30 years later, a deadly new struggle is under way in the hills of kwazulu—natal. lombo thembinkosi, a councillor with the ruling anc,

was one of over 20 local politicians murdered in the last year. "it was people from the anc fighting for a position," says mrs lombo. "that's why he was killed." you're working with us as a journalist here, and translating, but your own grandfather was killed in political violence recently. what do you feel, when you hear what mrs lombo has to say? it hurts. it hurts a lot, because my grandpa was killed right at the gate in my house, about six, seven, eight bullets. 60% of people here live in poverty — billions that could have helped them, stolen, by corrupt politicians and officials, fuelling the infighting that's tarnished africa's oldest liberation movement. this memorial to nelson mandela in the hills of kwazulu—natal is a reminder of the long history of violence and repression in south africa.

but when democracy came, 30 years ago, millions hoped for a land where human life would have more value. in the old colonial city hall of pietermaritzburg, capital of kwazulu—natal, we met up with the anc mayor. he blames much of the present decline on apartheid's legacy of inequality. with respect, mayor, you're the ones who've been in powerfor 30 years. we do have challenges, and some of those challenges are the corruption you're talking about. but we are saying the effect is undoing what has been done and created for over 300 years cannot only take 30 years to repair. so, as you can hear, i have lost my voice because of the absolutely incredible event that we have here at the durban exhibition centre. but with elections looming, a popular opposition leader is fighting corruption. chris pappas, white,

zulu—speaking, and gay, was elected mayor of a socially—conservative rural area with a black majority population. obviously, you know, issues of racism and issues of identity do feature in our country strongly. but i think when it comes to just moving the needle forward, in terms of service delivery and progress, peoplejust want to get things done. the hope for peace hangs in the balance, with fear, in a place all too familiar with mourning. fergal keane, bbc news, kwazulu—natal. breaking news out of indonesia. rescuers have found the bodies of 11 climbers after the marapi volcano erupted early monday morning local time. that's in west sumatra. three climbers were found alive. 12 more are still missing. we'll continue to follow this story and bring you updates as we get them.

now, in wales, what was thought to be a garden ornament has turned out to be a hundred—year—old missile. sian and jeffrey edwards say the device had been outside their home all their lives, and they thought it was a dummy. the couple said they used to bang garden tools against it to remove the soil. imagine their surprise when the bomb squad was called in to detonate the device, said to be a 29—kilogram naval projectile. you're watching bbc news, i'm helena humphrey in washington dc. thanks for your company. you can get the latest on our website, see .com. stay with us here on bbc news. bye for now.

hello, there. plenty of wintry scenes recorded by our weather watchers across the uk, throughout the weekend, such as here in derbyshire, with the lying snow, but further south, across much of england and south wales, then it turned milder on sunday, with outbreaks of rain moving northwards, and for all of us, the current cold spell will be coming to an end as we head through this week. it will be turning milder, but the payback is it's also going to be wetter and windier for much of the time. now, we've seen this deep area of low pressure just roll its way northwards and eastwards, strong, gusty winds towards channel coasts through the night. still some heavy downpours of rain around, snow over any elevation. this is how we're starting off monday morning. cold and frosty still towards the north, but milder further south, five to seven degrees celsius here. but let's just zoom in on the north of england and north wales, where we could see some icy conditions, tricky travelling conditions, i think, particularly over the higher passes of the pennines and across north wales, with some of this rain turning to snow with any elevation. but most of this will be falling as rain, maybe wet snow to lower levels, though, at times with any intensity, and there's a brisk northerly wind blowing. we'll see some strong,

gusty winds, particularly across western wales and to the southwest of england. it's going to feel cold in exposure to that wind, despite the fact that, in theory, temperatures will be higher than yesterday. largely dry for northern ireland and much of scotland, away from the east, with perhaps a few isolated showers around. so still feeling pretty raw with the briskness of that wind on monday. the same still true on tuesday, but our deep area of low pressure is gradually pushing its way further eastwards. it's very slow—moving. there'll still be some patchy outbreaks of rain, i think, across much of northern england. again, with any elevation, this could be falling as snow. still some rain too, just feeding down from western wales towards the southwest of england. but elsewhere, i think it will tend to turn a bit drier, particularly away from east anglia, as we head through the afternoon. largely dry for scotland, but still temperatures struggling to get above freezing over any lying snow. but a drier, brighter day, particularly out towards the west. and it's going to be a very cold night on tuesday. again, a widespread frost with some patches of freezing fog developing. then we've got another low just working its way in from the south west, and this is going to drag with it some much milder—feeling air.

so just look at those temperatures go up. by the time we get to thursday, we're back up into double figures across the board. but it will be wet and windy at times, with perhaps some transient snow in the north. bye—bye.

case adjourned — a hong kong cord grants crisis it evergrande more time before it makes a decision on liquidation. going back to live in caves — controversial comments made by the president of the cop 28 climate talks when asked what would be needed to phase out fossil fuels. hello, and welcome to asia business report. i'm arunoday mukharji. a hong kong court has granted evergrande more time yet again to come up with a restructuring plan, adjourning a liquidation hearing until the end of january. the company is a world's most indebted property developer and its lawyers told the court that with more weeks it could" refine its restructuring proposal." to understand a little more let's go to our correspondent nick

marsh. through what